"West Waterford" was a village of Waterford and even had its own post office -- but not for long. If you've traveled Duck Pond Road and seen the lovely landmark "Hovey Place," you've been in the heart of that old village. Names associated with it were mostly Hovey and Carpenter -- in this case, Amos B. Carpenter, whose name is written in very large script (indicating large holding) on the 1875 Beers map of town -- the "A.B. Carpenter" place was located to the west of the Hovey place, about halfway to what was then a T-junction where both a mill and the Town House are marked. Bodies of water nearby include Carpenter Brook and Frog Pond. The Carpenter family settled on the road in 1808, according to the map, and the Hovey family in 1803.
Here is the chronology of the West Waterford post office:
West Waterford, Caledonia County, Vermont
Established on January 5, 1856
Discontinued on February 28, 1902 (mail to Saint Johnsburg) [sic]
Reestablished on April 8, 1902
Discontinued on June 30, 1905 (mail to Saint Johnsburg) [sic]
Postmasters Appointment Dates
Through June 30, 1905
Amos B. Carpenter January 5, 1856
James W. Curtis April 21, 1862
Amos B. Carpenter October 31, 1862
Edwin L. Hovey December 11, 1863
Amos B. Carpenter August 25, 1864
Cosbi B. Carpenter August 13, 1884
Cosbi B. Carpenter (Reappointed) April 8, 1902
Mabel H. Carpenter July 16, 1903
And here, thanks to Dave Kanell, is an envelope (front and back) addressed to Amos B. Carpenter and showing, among others, the West Waterford postmark, in 1897.
If you have more information on the post office -- which probably was in the homes of the postmasters, as far as I can tell -- or on the people mentioned here, please do add comments to this post, or e-mail material to Beth (BethPoet at gmail dot com) for a separate article here.
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