THE
OLD MORICHES POST OFFICE
THE OLD MORICHES POST
OFFICE, which for many years served Center Moriches and East
Moriches residents with mail service, was established in 1827
with James M. Fanning as postmaster. The post office was
located in the same place for nearly 100 years, during which
time it remained in the Fanning family. In 1919 it was turned
over to Ernest M. Rogers. The post office was originally
located in a hotel operated by the Fannings.
The Moriches post
office was located in about the same place and in the same family
for nearly 100 years before it was turned over to Ernest M. Rogers
in March 1919.
The Moriches post
office was established March 6, 1927 with James M. Fanning as
postmaster. This was the only post office in the area at that time,
as there was none at Center Moriches or East Moriches until the
middle of the century.
Mr. Fanning was a
member of one of Long Island’s pioneer families, and his appointment
under President James Madison’s administration reads as follows, “To
all who see these presents, greetings, know ye, that confiding in
the integrity, ability and punctuality of James Fanning, ESQ., I do
appoint him a postmaster and authorize him to execute the duties of
that office at Moriches in the County of Suffolk and State of New
York. To hold the said office of postmaster with all the powers,
privileges and emoluments of the same, during the pleasure of the
Postmaster General of the United States.” It was signed by
Postmaster General R. J. Meigs.
Mr. Fanning held
the office until 1845, when he was succeeded by his son, James M.
Fanning. His successor was his nephew, Edmund Hallock, in March
1877. He held the office for 38 years and then his son Charles H.
Hallock took over the office in February 1915.
Since 1837 the
post office was in the country store of Edmund Hallock and previous
to that time it was in a hotel conducted by Fannings. The store
conducted by the Hallock’s was a typical country general store of
that day and sold nearly everything required by the farmers for
miles around. It was also a social center for the men and boys of
the surrounding neighborhood, as they all came to the store of that
day and sold nearly everything required by the farmers for miles
around. It was also a social center for the men and boys of the
surrounding neighborhood, as they all came to the store to get the
mail and discuss the latest news from the outside world. With the
growth of population, the old country store has given way to the
supermarket, and the small post office of years gone by has been
succeeded by a larger one.
Moriches had no
rail service until 1881 and when the railroad was opened to
Greenport on the main line in 1844 Chauncey Chichester of Center
Moriches was mail messenger. He met the train at Medford and all
the mail for the south side was put into one bag by the train
messenger. He took the bag to Patchogue, where the mail for that
village was taken out, the bag relocked and Mr. Chichester went on
to Fireplace (Brookhaven) and the to Moriches.
In 1881 the
railroad was extended from Patchogue to connect at Eastport with the
line running from Manorville to Sag Harbor, which had been opened
several years before. The only stations between Patchogue and
Greenport at that time were Bellport, Forge and Moriches. Moriches
at that time had a train going east at 11:34 a.m. and 6:01 p.m. and
westward at 8:20 a.m. and 3:20 p.m. These trains connected at the
Flatbush Avenue station in Brooklyn with the Atlantic Avenue Horse
Car Lines for all ferries to New York. One train operated each way
on Sunday.
In the early years
the mail was carried through the Island by post riders on horseback
once a week, and tradition has it that at some places a hollow tree
was designated as the post office and the mail was left there by the
post rider to be picked up by the residents of the neighborhood.