[
422]
in
Medford was in September, 1797.
The first office was on the spot now occupied by the town-house.
The post-masters have been as follows:--
| Samuel Buel, | appointed | Sept. 1797 |
| William Rogers, jun., | July 21, 1813 |
| William Rogers, | Oct. 20, 1818 |
| Luther Angier, | May 17, 1828 |
| Samuel S. Green, jun., | April 6, 1839 |
| Luther Angier, | April 8, 1841 |
| Samuel S. Green, | July 19, 1845 |
| Alexander Gregg, | July 30, 1847 |
| James T. Floyd, jun., | May 29, 1849 |
| James C. Winneck (the present incumbent), | Aug. 23, 1853 |
A post-office was established in West Medford in 1853, and its daily mail is an increasing benefit to a growing village.
The
first postmaster was
James M. Sanford; the second,
Thaddeus A. Baldwin; and the third, the present one, is Franklin Patch.
Taverns.
For more than a hundred years, all the land travel to
Boston from
Maine, from the eastern parts of
New Hampshire, and the north-eastern parts of
Massachusetts, passed through
Medford; and its distance from
Boston made it a convenient stopping-place for travelling traders.
Hence the need of public-houses.
No town in the
State, of its size, had so many in number, or better in quality; and they were all placed conveniently on the great thoroughfare.
In early times, no one could “keep tavern” without a special license from the court.
The form was as follows: “
Nathaniel Pierce, of
Medford, is permitted to sell liquors unto such sober-minded neighbors as he shall think meet, so as he sell not less than the quantity of a gallon at a time to one person, and not in smaller quantities by retail to the occasioning of drunkenness.”
The first tavern of which we have any record was built by
Major Jonathan Wade, about 1690, and kept by
Nathaniel Pierce.
It stood a few rods south of the bridge, on the corner of Main and Short Streets, and, for more than a century, offered its accommodations to the public.
It was bought by
Colonel Royal, and had on its sign a representation of
Admiral 
