Seeking 1890 Post Office Records for Black Rock, NY

Dear Mr. Matthews,

Thank you for posting your request on History Hub!

We searched the National Archives Catalog and located Reports of Site Locations, 1837 - 1950 in Records of the Post Office Department (Record Group 28) which includes the file unit New York: Erie. However, we were unable to locate documentation in that file for the post office at Black Rock. We also located Records of Appointment of Postmasters and the Establishment of Post Offices in Record Group 28 that includes the file unit Postmaster Appointments for Erie County, New York plus appointments for Black Rock. The listing on Image 6 of the file indicates that the post office was discontinued September 1, 1869.

These records also are available via Ancestry as the data collection U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971, which has been indexed and is searchable by name. A keyword search for “Black Rock , Erie , New York” produces 4 results. They are listed below:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Archives has partnered with Ancestry to make the vast majority of their NARA-digitized holdings freely available to the public. Anyone with Internet access may create an account, access NARA records, and use other Ancestry resources, such as their educational offerings and family tree-maker application. For more information see Ancestry’s announcement -- “Free At-Home Education Resources From Ancestry® and Access to Nearly 500M National Archives Records”.

You also may wish to contact the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library and The Buffalo History Museum to inquire about historic maps and other local history sources for Buffalo and Erie County that may indicate the location of post offices.

We hope this information is helpful. Best of luck with your research!