Below is a list of State Postal History Reference Literature that we currently have available. With these references, collectors and dealers can identify and evaluate thousands of different postmarks.
Most of these books are regular stock items, but some are available
in limited quantities. As an example, the total printing of my
Illinois Post Offices book was 418 copies. More than 90% of those
have been sold since it was published in February, 1996, and I
do not plan to reprint it. Such limited-edition titles are often
difficult to obtain once the original printing is sold out.
PUBLISHERS: If you have any reference literature that you would
like to make available through this page, please email 
mehrer@postal-history.com , call or write
to discuss terms.
DEALERS: If you would like to stock any of the literature that
we publish (those showing Jim Mehrer as the author), we give generous
wholesale discounts at low quantities.
Email mehrer@postal-history.com,
call or write for details.
ALL BOOKS ARE PRICED POSTPAID to U.S. addresses.
ILLINOIS RESIDENTS: Add 8.5% state sales tax to your order.
INTERNATIONAL ORDERS: Before ordering, please email us for the shipping charge.
We do not accept CHARGE CARDS, and HERE'S WHY: Card companies would take about 5 percent off the top of whatever we sold. We don't feel like giving it to them, and we would rather not raise all of our prices just for the sake of handling charge cards. (Before you write and tell us that we can negotiate a better deal than 5 percent, we know that. But whether it's 3 or 4 or 5 percent, we still don't feel like raising the prices to "cover" it, as they say.) We were accepting payments through an online payment service for awhile, but then they started charging for their services, too. Maybe things will change someday.
We regret that we're unable to send "bill with" orders, but that just adds to the paperwork, and we've got plenty to do without the extra load. Exceptions: If you're a long-time customer of ours, and you're experiencing some kind of major "reference literature emergency" that won't allow you to wait a couple of extra days, give us a phone call (309 / 786-6539) and we'll discuss the possibilities.
United States Post Offices on CD-ROM. (Mehrer/2001):
Combined for the first time on CD-ROM: the most complete lists
currently available of Post Offices that have operated in the
United States!* Contains: Combined alphabetical list of all Post
Offices from all states (showing towns, states, years of operation
& counties); individual lists of all 50 states plus Indian
Territory & District of Columbia, showing towns, years of
operation & counties; combined list of all U.S. Counties;
and statehood, territorial & Confederate secession dates.
(*NOTE: While Alabama & Georgia have not been fully researched,
this CD includes previously unpublished information for more
than 5,500 post offices from each of those 2 states.)
The most comprehensive collection of U.S. Post Office information
ever offered. The ultimate reference for identifying manuscript
postmarks, real photo postcards, letters, documents, etc., which
refer to specific towns or counties in unnamed states. Available
in PC format (#710701) or MAC format (#710702). $99.00 postpaid,
worldwide.
Following are some of the many comments that we have received from people who bought this CD:
- This remains one of the best investments I have ever made for identifying post offices and the counties they are in! - Don Schiele, North Dakota
- Received the USPO's CD yesterday... what a GREAT reference. I can't imagine how you could pursue this as either a hobby or business without it... I "discovered" how many DPO's I have, and when sold, (they) will probably pay for the disk. - C.G., Florida
- I am a postcard dealer/collector and file several of my states by county. Until purchasing "U.S. Post Offices on CD-ROM," I had to have several large and unwieldy reference books on hand. Now I just need the one CD-ROM. As it is done in Excel format, I was able to customize it to my specific needs and install it on my computer's hard drive. What a time saver!!!- J.S., New York
- The CD-ROM "U.S. Post Offices" is like owning every gazetteer ever printed. I identified over 20 postcards the first week I owned it and it has paid for itself many times over in just six months. - M.C., Iowa
-We have found the United States Post Offices CD-ROM very useful to us as Postcard Dealers. I know that there is a lot more on the CD-Rom than what we use, but it is sure helpful when we are looking for Counties that the towns are located in. We also use it for checking on postmarks to see if they are D.P.O.'s [Dead Post Offices] and when they opened and closed. It is so easy to look up the information on the CD-Rom and find it in a hurry. Thanks again for putting the time into this project and offering it to collectors and dealers alike. As you have other things along this line, please let us know. - J.G. & S.G., Indiana
To see a list of other reference literature available on
CD-ROM, CLICK HERE.
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United States Post Offices. (Helbock/1998-2005): A complete listing of all post offices ever to have operated in the United States. Scheduled to be published in 8 compact regional volumes (5.5" x 8.5"), beginning in 1998 with the first two volumes. This series of books builds on the foundation that was laid by LaPosta's original "pocket book" series. (That popular series is now out of print, and there are no plans to reprint it.)
Post offices within each volume are arranged in one complete alphabetical listing. In addition to post office names, the lists include location by county and state, years of operation and a scarcity index number which, when combined with the appropriate demand factor, will yield an approximate market value for the most common postmark from each office. (These volumes contain the first-ever scarcity indexes for a number of states.)
PLEASE NOTE that, as stated above, all of the post offices from all states within each volume are mixed together into one continuous alphabetical listing. This is a useful arrangement for dealers, accumulators and general collectors because of the great amount of information that is contained in such a compact format. Also, searching on letter strings on the CD-ROM version will help to identify partially struck handstamp markings and cryptic manuscript postmarks. Postcard collectors and dealers will also find these to be great guides for identifying "real photo" postcards.
However, the collector of postal history from a single state might consider this type of list to be inconvenient, especially when compared to the checklist-style arrangement of the original "pocket book" series.
For specific works on individual states, be sure to read the complete list of literature described on this page, including the single-state listings that we have available on 3.5" computer disks (in either PC or Mac formats.)
Volume 1 - The West: contains Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. (222 pages; softbound.) THIS TITLE is SOLD OUT. #980903.
Volume 2 - The Great Plains: contains Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. (238 pages; softbound.) #980904. $35.00.
Volume 3 - The Upper Midwest: contains Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. (264 pages; softbound.) #990801. $35.00.
Volume 4 - The Northeast: contains Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. (288 pages; softbound.) WE HAVE ONLY 4 COPIES AVAILABLE and our supplier is SOLD OUT. ORDER NOW. #710901. $49.00.
Volume 5 - The Ohio Valley: contains Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. (208 pages; softbound.) #721003. $35.00.
Volume 6 - The Mid-Atlantic States: contains Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. (272 pages; softbound.) #740101. $35.00.
Volume 7 - The Mississippi Valley: contains Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee. (320 pages; softbound.) #750101. $35.00.
Volume 8 - The Southeast: contains Alabama, Florida,
Georgia and South Carolina. (224 pages; softbound.) #770801. $35.00
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120 Years of
Alaska Postmasters, 1867-1987. (Ora B. Dickerson/1989.) Each
Alaska post office is listed alphabetically, with postmasters
listed chronologically for each office. Dates of appointments,
resignations, retirement and other data are shown for each postmaster.
Includes Territorial Post Office identification numbers and zip
codes. (75 pages; softbound, stapled.) #980202. $17.00.
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Arkansas Post Offices. (Jim Mehrer/2003): Alphabetical
listing of 5,207 post offices, with counties & years of operation.
(51 pages; loose-leaf.) #730214. $20.00.
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California Town Postmarks / 1849-1935. (John H. Williams/1997.)
Based on the articles which originally appeared serially in the
Western Express, this book is an essential reference for all California
postal history collectors, and is an important source of information
for any collector of or dealer in U.S. Postal History.
This detailed reference is devoted to California town postmarks,
with more than 17,000 full-sized illustrations of all known circular
date stamps, plus descriptions of the characteristics and dimensions
of each. Few killer types are illustrated, but significant types
are described. The "notes" column indicates killers
found with duplex markings, including the various styles of 4-bar
and elliptical killers, as well as notes on flag machine cancels
and others. Opening and closing dates for the post offices are
indicated, along with the dates of the earliest and latest reported
usages of each postmark from each town. The postmark information
is arranged by counties to accommodate specialists who collect
postal history in this manner, but a detailed post office/county
cross-reference ("The County Finder") is also included.
No other U.S. book illustrates such a large number of town postmarks.
Similar in content to the previously published material, the work
contains many changes as well. The numbering system has been revised
to accommodate the many additional reported markings, and there
are a number of changes in the value factors, plus expanded notes,
corrections, format changes, etc.
This edition is limited to 450 copies, and the publisher has
stated that it will not be reprinted. We recommend that you order
your copy now to avoid disappointment in future. Once this
book is sold out, the price on the secondary market is likely
to be higher than the original. (1,504 pages in two volumes/hardbound,
with gold spine & cover stamping.) #970417. $140.00.
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Preterritorial Colorado Postal History. (Meschter/1994):
History of Overland Mails, the Pike's Peak mail service, and others
serving Colorado's boom mining camps. Illustrated with several
examples of classic Colorado covers and original maps. (98 pages,
saddle staple, stiff cover.) #970301. $25.00.
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Florida Post Offices. (Jim Mehrer/2004): Alphabetical
listing of 3,014 post offices, with counties & years of operation.
(30 pages; loose leaf.) #741001. $16.00.
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The Turbulent Decade, Georgia's Post Offices 1860-1869.
(Crown/2007): A listing of Georgia Post Offices during the transitional
period from the U.S. postal system to that of the Confederate
States and back again. Includes postmasters and appointments with
dates, by town and by postmasters alphabetically, plus a 22-page
introduction, with history, appendix, notes and bibliography.
(158 pages; hardbound.) #771201. $39.00.
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Illinois Post Offices: A Listing and Guide to Postmark Scarcity. (Jim Mehrer/1996): For the first time, an alphabetical arrangement of Illinois post offices, with a RELATIVE SCARCITY index for every office, and corresponding VALUATION GUIDE. Contains opening dates (virtually complete through 1930) and closing dates (complete through 1930, with previously unpublished data about later closings.) Also shows county information and name changes, and comparative data where sources disagree. Limited printing. (192 pages; softbound.) #970302. $25.00.
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Chicago Postal Markings and Postal History. (Leonard Piszkiewicz/2006): Winner of the Literature Grand Award at Chicagopex '07, Chicago Postal Markings and Postal History is the culmination of more than 25 years accumulating Chicago postal history items by its author. This volume provides a comprehensive analysis of all markings known used in Chicago from its beginnings as a post office in 1831 until the mid-1950s, when standardization and streamlining of Post Office operations eliminated most of the makings used earlier. However, the book includes those types of markings that continued to the end of the 20th century and are of interest to collectors (e.g., airmail, registry). (576 pages packed with illustrations, plus 8-page color section; hardbound.) #760801. $80.00.
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The Postal History of Indiana. (J. David Baker/1976): The definitive work on the subject. A two-volume set with post office and postmaster information, manuscript markings, railroad markings, steamboat markings, highway post offices, the rural free delivery system, etc. (1,100 pages plus microfiche; cloth hardbound.) #970418. $85.00.
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Somewhere in Time: The Kansas Territory 1854-1861. (Martin/1987):
Detailed study of the postal markings of 324 Kansas Territorial
post offices. Illustrated with covers, postmark tracings, maps;
historic photos. The basic guide to postal history of early Kansas.
(170 pages; hardbound.) #970303. $35.00.
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Louisiana Post Offices. (Jim Mehrer/2003): Alphabetical
listing of 3,294 post offices, with counties & years of operation.
(32 pages; loose leaf.) #730209. $16.00.
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Postal Markings of Michigan, Periods 1, 2 & 3: 1803-1879.
(Ellis/2007): This catalog contains all known Michigan cancel
types from the years indicated. All basic types are illustrated,
with earliest and latest known dates of use for each type. Towns
are listed alphabetically. This is an important and useful reference
for this popular Great Lakes state. (180+ pages; 3-hole punched.)
#770603. $39.00.
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Postal Markings of Michigan, Period 4: 1880-1900. (Dave
Ellis/2006): This catalog contains all known Michigan handstamp
cancel types from the final two decades of the 19th Century. All
basic types are illustrated, with earliest and latest known dates
of use for each type. Towns are listed alphabetically. This is
an important and useful reference for this popular Great Lakes
state. (243 pages; 3-hole punched.) #770303. $39.00.
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Postal Markings of Michigan, Period 5: 1900-1963. (Dave
Ellis/2005): This catalog contains all known Michigan handstamp
cancel types from the pre-Zip 20th Century period. All basic types
are illustrated, with earliest and latest known dates of use for
each type. Towns are listed alphabetically. This is an important
and useful reference for this popular Great Lakes state. (291
pages; 3-hole punched.) #750701. $39.00.
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Postal Markings of Michigan: The Machine Cancels. (Dave
Ellis/2008): This catalog contains all known Michigan machine
cancel types from 1893 to the late 1980's, with earliest and latest
known dates of use for each type. This is an important and useful
reference for this popular Great Lakes state. (175 pages; 3-hole
punched.) #781201. $39.00.
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Mississippi Post Offices. (Jim Mehrer/2003): Alphabetical
listing of 4,659 post offices, with counties & years of operation.
(45 pages; comb bound.) #730212. $20.00.
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Missouri Post Offices. (Jim Mehrer/2003): Alphabetical
listing of 6,703 post offices, with counties & years of operation.
(65 pages; loose leaf.) #730210. $20.00.
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Montana Territorial Postmarks. (Wesley N. Shellen &
Francis Dunn/2003): This is the first publication to list and
illustrate all recorded postmarks of Montana from its territorial
era. The authors have assembled an alphabetical listing of all
territorial post offices with chronological lists of each of their
postmarks, the earliest and latest dates of record, and a census
of known examples. Each listing is accompanied by a very nice
tracing for ease of identification. The book begins with an expansive
overview of Montana Territorial postal history and is illustrated
throughout with examples of many fine covers and cards. A set
of county maps assembled from the Montana Postal Route Map of
1883-1884 is presented as an appendix to assist readers in learning
the location of many of the ephemeral "ghost" post offices
from Montana's past. (128 pages; softbound.) #730702. $33.00.
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New York Postal History: The Post Offices and First Postmasters
from 1775 to 1980. (Kay & Smith/1982): Contains information
on the post offices, stations and branches: dates of establishment
and discontinuation, original postmasters, name changes, county
changes, etc. Contains sections arranged by post office, by postmaster
name and grouped by county. (556 pages; hardbound.) #970305. $48.00.
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The First Hundred Years of Historic Guilford (North Carolina)
1771-1871. (Earl Weatherly/1972): A classic example of a county
postal history. Contains many illustrations of Weatherly's award-winning
Confederate collection. (207 pages; hardbound.) #980401. $34.00..
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Pennsylvania Postal History: The Post Offices and First
Postmasters from 1775 to 1994. (Kay & Smith/1996): An
update to the award-winning Pennsylvania Postal History originally
published in 1976. While retaining the format of the original
edition, the new release provides detailed information on almost
thirteen thousand post offices, stations, and branch post offices
in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
In the first section of the book, information is arranged by county.
The second section provides an alphabetical list of all the first
postmasters, and the final section is an alphabetical list of
all post 
offices in Pennsylvania. Detailed
information includes the name of the post office, the county at
the time of existence, the date of establishment, the date of
discontinuation or name change, the county changes, the place
providing mail service on discontinuation, ZIP codes and many
notes.
Over four thousand changes have been made to the original work
to produce the new edition. These include adding post offices
established or discontinued during the twenty years between editions,
adding information of branch post offices and stations, and making
corrections to the first edition. Most of the changes, however,
come from adding 3,700 postmaster names for the second establishment
of a post office. (645 pages; hardbound.) #970307. $95.00.
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South Carolina Post Offices. (Jim Mehrer/1998): Alphabetical
listing of post offices, showing years of opening and closing,
and county information. This is the first time that this state
list has been in print. (60 pages; loose leaf.) #980901. $20.00.
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Tennessee Post Offices. (Jim Mehrer/2003): 6,333 post
offices, with counties & years of operation. (61 pages; loose
leaf.) #730211. $20.00.
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Going for the Mail: A History of Door County (Wisconsin) Post Offices. (James B. Hale/1996): Tells the entertaining history of 140 years of the U.S. Mails in Door County, Wisconsin. Includes anecdotes, stories, letters, maps, photos and events involving postal places, postal people, and the public, compiled from newspaper files, libraries, personal interviews, and the U.S. National Archives. NOTE: THIS TITLE IS NEARLY SOLD OUT. ORDER NOW. (242 pages; softbound.) #970309. $19.50.
ILLINOIS RESIDENTS: Add 8.5% state sales tax to your order.
INTERNATIONAL ORDERS: Before ordering, please email us for the shipping charge.
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