India's modern national postal network was born in October 1854 and on the 160th anniversary of the establishment of the national postal network, it would be appropriate to talk of the introduction of postal services in Mussoorie by the British in 1827.
The first post office of Mussoorie was set up in landour in 1827 making postal services in the hill station nearly 200 years old under the district postal system. This popular hill station figures prominently in the development of postal services in the country.
It is interesting to recall the times when small, district level post offices like the one in landour and the one in Rajpur in the Doon valley made concerted efforts to help people keep in touch with their friends and relatives. It was not an easy task as there was yet no rail connectivity and there existed no motor road from Doon to Mussoorie. This motor road was opened in 1930 when the first car from Dehradun reached Mussoorie. Messengers on horses and mules took the old cart road and horse carriages were also used. The Post Boy (on horse) would courier the article in the form of a chain, the article changing from one rider to the other, till the end of the chain.
It was October 1854 that marked the formation of a centralised control of the subcontinent's post offices under the first Director General.That year also saw the establishment of a Railway Mail Service across India —with a skeletal network of 701 post offices across the subcontinent — and a new sea mail service from India to Great Britain and China .
The first stamps of India came to be known as "Scinde Dawks", as they were issued in the province of Sindh. "Scinde" was how the British spelt the province of Sindh and "Dawk" is the anglicised spelling of the Hindustani word "Dak" or Post. These were used till October 1854.The first stamps used throughout India were released in October 1854 and featured a young profile of Queen Victoria.
Mussoorie was first connected by telegraph with the world around 1865. Dehradun and Mussoorie became part of the All India Postal Network in the year 1900 when the District Postal System was abolished.
In 1859, Christopher William Corbett, father of the famous Jim Corbett, was the Post Master at the landour Cantonment Post Office. It was here that he met and married Mary Jane Doyle.
In Mussoorie, the GPO was shifted five times and finally it was moved from 'Devonshire House' in landour to Rockstone House. In its early days, the weekly clearance of mail, both ways, totaled less than 100 articles. During the Second World War (1939-45), 1,31,562 articles were cleared.
Visitors to Mussoorie are often fascinated by the attractive General Post Office in the Kulri area, just off The Mall Road, in the heart of the hill station. It was around a hundred years ago, when electricity came to Mussoorie, that the GPO was also shifted to its present location. The Survey of India Map of Mussoorie of 1920 shows this GPO located in "Rockstone House" in Kulri area of Mussoorie.
With the opening of Charleville Hotel, Mussoorie's first hotel, in 1854, a branch of the Post Office was opened there to cater to the needs of the guests in 1871. The Oak Grove School (a school of the Railways) requested the authorities to open a branch at Jharipani, which was established in 1901. A branch Post Office was opened at library Bazaar in 1902 which is popularly known as the Savoy Hotel Branch. The Barlowganj Branch Post Office was set up in 1893, to cater the needs of St. Georges College and local residents.