Post Office, Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Washington, Livingston, St. Helena Parishes now St. Helena Parish, Louisiana File submitted by Mrs. Inez Bridges Tate and prepared by D.N. Pardue ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm ************************************************ From publication "Old Montpelier, 1804, New Montpelier, 1904" compiled by Inez B. Tate and published by St. Helena Historical Association, 1993. Reprinted with permission. A very early Post Office was located at St. Helena Courthouse, Montpelier. Records from National Archives indicates it was estab- lished 7 March 1814. The "Great Mail, A Postal History of New Orleans" by Leonard Huber and Clarence Wagner verifies that this Post Office was connected to the Natchez Trace. The route from Natchez to New Orleans crossed Spanish West Florida. Here the Spaniards "inspected" the mail, a fact that slowed the service and shortened American tempers. In the latter part of 1810 American patriots finally succeeded in capturing St. Francisville and forced the Spaniards from Baton Rouge. This ended the censoring. By 1812 the Trace route was a bustling highway and, in addi- tion to the mails, over some portions freight and passengers were carried by wagons and coaches. A shorter route from Natchez by way of Lake Pontchartrain was also used. This road followed a more southeasterly course: Natchez 0 St. Catherine's Creek 4 Second Creek 14 Homochitto River 20 31st Degree line 55 Amite River 59 Spillers 73 St. Helena Courthouse 88 Tickfaw Crossing Springfield on Natalbany River 98 Ponchatoula Creek 103 Tangipahoa River 112 Madisonville 127 Mouth of Tchefuncta River 130 Over Lake Pontchartrain to Fort St. John 150 Fauburg St. John 154 New Orleans 156 While the route via Madisonville was 60-odd miles shorter than the one via Baton Rouge, it was necessary to cross Lake Pontchartrain from the former town to New Orleans (24 miles by water). High winds on the lake frequently made passage impossi- ble and thus delayed the mail. Because of this, the longer route via Baton Rouge was preferred by the merchants of both New Orleans and Natchez. Postmasters who served at Saint Helena Courthouse are: David Wright 7 March 1814 William Spiller 1 April 1814 Michael Smelser 22 April 1816 James McKie 8 April 1817 Jacob Smith 2 June 1824 Samuel Rannels (or Rannells) 2 January 1825 John Holloway 30 December 1830 Parish Childress 12 February 1833 I. Williams T.G. Davidson 3 July 1833 Daniel Sharp 23 June 1836 Frederick Starns 4 September 1836 Glass Spiller 18 August 1841 George Packwood 20 September 1842 Joseph Killian 20 September 1853 Discontinued 20 January 1859 Listing of Postmasters and dates served were obtained from National Archives, Washington, D.C.