A History of The Post Office Canoe Cove would not have been settled when the first mail service was inaugurated by General Patterson. In 1786 the first post office for the Island was built at Charlottetown . Stamps as we know them were not used and mail was delivered for a fee, whoever received the letter paid for it. (Can you imagine how that would annoy us today with the mass of junk mail!) There were no roads thus delivery was by boat. In 1827 county post offices opened and in 1828 three courier routes were established; weekly delivery in summer and fortnightly in winter. It was about one hundred years later that courier service came to Canoe.Cove so Ernest Inman informed me. He has the original mail box that was used at that time. Perhaps some of you can remember the type; the box was on an arm that could swing freely. In 1851 the Island government took over control of the post offices and services and by 1900 post offices began to be established in different communities, by 1893 in Canoe Cove . One early post office was located in the home of Neil MacFadyen , who was also a blacksmith. Later the post office was moved to the Corner where it was operated by the storekeeper. Mrs. John Angus Darrach (Clara) capably performed this service for many years before it was closed, around 1960, when Clyde River Post Office, operated by Robert Matheson and later Ralph Darrach served the area. That post office, too, was closed later and Cornwall Post Office is now our local branch.