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Bloomfield Blossoms: p. 70-71

Smith, Kay, 1925-

Bloomfield Township Public Library

Bloomfield Township (Mich.) -- History

Postal service -- Michigan -- Bloomfield Township -- History

GB01a037

part of 'Bloomfield Blossoms' by Kay Smith

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OUR FIRST POSTAL ADDRESS WAS "BLOOMFIELD, MICHIGAN" Contact with relatives and friends must have been kept up, in spite of the difficulties of sending and receiving mail, since we see the relatives of the first settlers following them out to Michigan. Actually, it was very early that we had our first official post office, just two years after the Hunters had built their original log house. On March 24, 1821, President James Monroe established the first post office with a charter to Dr. Ezra Parke and the designation "Bloomfield." A carrier on horseback brought the mail from Detroit and local families saddled up the mare, hitched the horse to the buggy or walked to Dr. Parke's house on the northwest corner of Lone Pine and Woodward to pick it up. The house is still there. Earliest reports seem to agree that Sidney Dole was post- master, but Dr. Parke was named in the charter. Today, there is no "Bloomfield, Michigan" as we have no official post office any more. While the Township's popu- lation is now sixteen times larger than that of Bloomfield Hills and double that of Birmingham, all residents use one or the other as their postal address. Rarely does anyone say "I'm from Bloomfield Township"' It's "Bloom- field Hills" or "Birmingham." Similarly, other records suffer. In the prestigious Burton Historical Collection at the main library in Detroit, there is not a single card in the index file for Bloomfield Township, although there are many for the two cities within our boundaries.