Some more information has come to light as a result of my post about 1851 post offices. One list reader has the privilege of knowing more about the handling of mail at the "post office" "After Josiah Scudder [Osterville Postmaster in 1851], my great-grandfather, George Henry Hinckley, was postmaster in Osterville; the postoffice was in his general store. When the mail bag came in, George Henry would open it and "read the mail." That is, he read out loud the names of the recipients. If the person wasn't present, he put the missile aside to hold for him or her. His daughter, my grandmother Jennie Hinckley, was postmistress at Wianno. (Summers only.)" I have always enjoyed visiting Cape post offices and have gone out of my way to get to some (Cotuit, Marstons Mills, etc) I visited another "summers only" post office at Craigville Beach. I think the Hyannisport post office may also be summers only? Somebody can confirm this? One of my favorite post offices is the one in Cummaquid. There is room for about 6 cars in the parking lot and no more than about 4 people in the post office at a time. I once thought of driving around the Cape and photographing all the current post office buildings so you can see my fascination (obsession?) with the topic. That may still be done someday. Even more interesting would be the storefronts that once held post offices. Further discussion and reading about the East Dennis post office that I mentioned visiting resulted in a find of some details about the source of the name. I had previously considered that Post Offices were named after an existing location/village. But this is evidence contrary to that hypothesis. In Nancy Thacher Reid's Dennis, Cape Cod on p. 301 she says "Thacher Clark (1788-1871) kept a store as early as 1812 on the north side of the main street between the villages on Sesuet Neck and Quivet neck. In 1828, the neighborhood had become busy enough to require a separate post office and Thacher Clark received the appointment as postmaster, designating the office that was in his store as "East Dennis." So there were villages in the East part of the town of Dennis (which town itself was early on called the East Precinct of Yarmouth until it was finally incorporated in 1793) but the post office was not named after either village location. Instead it appears Thacher Clark coined the term East Dennis. My Dad liked to shorten the name to EDEN which is the heaven on Earth that he considered the place to be. So EDEN is not really a village but a group of villages. There are only a few houses around the P.O. There is no church, the church is over on Quivet Neck along with the library. There are now still some stores and a restaurant (our world favorite bird/marsh watching spot -Marshside). We could sure use some more village stories here. How about Dogtown in Wellfleet or Hyannis Park in Yarmouth? Some of the hollows out on the Atlantic facing forearm of the Cape like Cahoon Hollow or Le Count Hollow. Painesville in Wellfleet. There are still signs to Bass River off Rte 6. You might have thought that is Bass River the body of water but I am talking about Bass River, the village (and P.O.) in Yarmouth between Bass River and Parker River. Some of my other favorite village names - Weeset in Orleans, Searsville in Dennis, The Mills and The Plains in Barnstable. My favorite traditional Cape village to "hang-out" in - Osterville. Osterville has absolutely everything - off the track, art/specialty shops, churches, p.o., library, beach, harbor, school (not much longer I guess), fire station, boat yard, museum. And you can walk to everything. If only I can afford to live there when I can no longer drive. Which village is your favorite?