I have written this month's Remembering Danvers column about the Hathorne Post Office (see photographs in entry below). Curious about its history, I sent an inquiry to the Danvers Archives. This reply came today from Town Archivist Richard Trask:
"On September 10, 1878 a post office was established in this part of town under the name of Asylum Station, being the name of the railroad depot servicing this area. The station had formerly been called Swan’s Crossing Station, though the name changed with the erection of the Danvers Mental Asylum. The post office was located within the station until the 1890s when postmistress Mrs. Ellen Hines relocated it to the Street Railway Station. In 1899 the name Asylum Station was changed to Hathorne and the post office name was also changed."
Asylum Station was on the Essex Railroad, also known as the Lawrence Branch. The 1893 topographic map on this page about Danvers State Hospital shows the location of Asylum Station.
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1 comment:
Googled into your article.
Interesting! I work up the street from Hathorne Post and am in there weekly. It's cute! I was raised "downtown" and never went to the 01937 post office until I was an adult.
Nice blog!
Glenn from Danvers
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