Kraig Bess was installed as Postmaster of Yuma, AZ, on Tuesday, May 3, 2022, joined by family, friends and team members in a special ceremony. Post Office Operations Manager Donna Fay administered the Oath of Office to Bess during the ceremony which can be viewed in its entirety on the USPS Arizona Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/uspsaz.

“It is a great honor to serve Yuma as your new Postmaster,” said Bess. “In my time with the United States Postal Service, I have seen firsthand the role the Postal Service plays connecting neighbors and our community to the nation. Our Post Offices serve as a lifeline for our small businesses to reach customers no matter where they are.

“On behalf of the 650,000 women and men of the U.S. Postal Service, I thank you for continuing to support the Postal Service. Providing reliable mail delivery while strengthening the future of this treasured institution is our commitment to you.”

One year ago, the United States Postal Service published an ambitious but achievable 10-year strategic plan, Delivering for America.  The plan established a route to building a Postal Service that is financially strong and consistently delivers on-time for the American public, our top customer.

A year into our 10-year plan, and under the leadership of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, we are taking action on its four key pillars: Investing in our people, modernizing our network, providing service excellence, and creating financial sustainability.

Our actions are already leading to concrete results.  We had an exceptionally positive peak holiday season in 2021, learning from the failures of 2020, and followed that up by successfully delivering more than 320 million COVID-19 Test Kits to the American public this winter.  And in the 2021 Fall election, we delivered completed ballots from voters to election officials in an average of 1.4 days. We’ll take that success into delivering this year’s midterm elections. All of this on top of delivering mail and packages to more than 161 million addresses across our nation every day.

The History of the Postmaster Position

Originally, the word Postmaster was referred as the one who provided post horses.  According to the Oxford Dictionary, postmaster means “master of the posts, the officer who has charge or direction of the posts.”

William Penn established Pennsylvania’s first post office in 1683.  However, the real beginnings of a postal system in the colonies dates from 1692 when Thomas Neale received a 21-year grant from the British Crown authorizing him to set up post roads in North America.

In 1707, the British Government bought the rights to the North American postal service, and, in 1710, consolidated the postal service into one establishment.  The principal offices of the new British Postal Service were in London, England; Edinburgh Scotland; Dublin, Ireland, and New York.

In 1737, Benjamin Franklin was appointed Postmaster at Philadelphia.  He laid out new post roads, helped expand mail service from Canada to New York and instituted overnight delivery between Philadelphia and New York City, a distance of 90 miles.  In 1774, Franklin was dismissed from office in 1774 because of his efforts on behalf of the patriots.

When the Continental Congress met in May 1775, they named Franklin as postmaster general for the 13 American colonies.

From 1775 until the early 1800s, Postmasters were appointed by the postmaster general.  In 1836, postmasters were appointed by the president, but this of course changed whenever a new party was elected.  It was not until August 1970, with the signing of the Postal Reorganization Act, which to effect in July 1971, that the patronage system was finally removed from the postal service once and for all.  Postmasters began being appointed on merit alone.

The act also permitted upward mobility for line employees, allowing them to be promoted to the position of Postmaster.

Along the way, there have been several famous individuals, who have served as postmasters.  In 1833, Abraham Lincoln was appointed postmaster of New Salem, IL.

Other notable individuals who served as postmaster somewhere in the U.S.  included abolitionist John Brown, businessman Conrad Hilton, novelist William Faulkner, and humorists Bill Nye and Mark Twain.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services to fund its operations.

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