Welcome to the Illinois Postal History Society (IPHS) website and archive. Here you'll find an index and excerpts from IPHS flagship publication, the Illinois Postal Historian. There are also Illinois postal history exhibits and occasional news of our society activities, as well as tips on researching and collecting Illinois postal history.
IPHS 2018 Meeting Calendar
Upcoming FALL meeting - FREE admission and open to the public
Sunday, November 21, 2018 at 1:00pm CHICAGOPEX 2018 "Show and Tell"
Our Spring meeting at COMPEX was well attended and Tim presented on "National Air Mail Week in Illinois".
Illinois Postal History Items:
Illinois Statehood 1818-2018
Illinois Wheel of Fortune Cancellations exhibit by Larry Rausch The Dunning substation (Chicago) post office made the cover of the American Philatelist magazine this month. Once an independent post office, Dunning, IL became part of Chicago in 1894. The office was renamed the Dunning sub-station. You can read the entire article about sub-stations around the USA as the AP feature for November 2016.
1857 Jefferson, ILL manuscript cancel
County maps from the early days and pre-Illinois. Click here for full website.
Early Chicago History Covers at Peoria by Charles Wonderlin
If you want to make the greatest Chicago Postal History find of your life, my advice is to start with common Peoria stampless covers or folded letter sheets. Here is why. In 1825 tax assessments for residents of Chicago appeared in the records of Peoria County, which had been established in that year. Chicago was listed as a precinct of Peoria County. Cook County was established in 1831. On the list was John Kinzie and Alexander Wolcott. Kinzie had the first real home in Chicago, if you can call it that and he was Chicago's foremost pioneer. Wolcott was a physician and Federal Appointed Agent of Indian Affairs. Here is the rest of the story. Back in the early 1980's I purchased a Peoria stampless cover collection for a modest price, which was the then market. I got it to my home near Edelstein, Illinois and about eight in the evening started opening the folded letters. About eight letters in I froze, my heart no longer functioned and things became blurred. The bottomed of the letter was signed John Kinzie and the letter told that Kinzie was having Wolcott carry it to Peoria and be mailed. Sure enough it carried a Peoria postmark. The letter was stated to be written in the Kinzie cabin. Here is the problem. Chicago has had more then one great fire. There are three real Kinzie letters known, I had number four. I did three days of research before the world wide web and made a call. The collector of course went crazy as we both knew what it was. So my advice is for all collectors and dealers and historical societies to start checking the contents of Peoria stampless folded letter sheets. I am sure this publication would like to hear about your Kinzie finds.
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