Uncle Sam Gallery
Uncle Sam had three lives. She was powered by a steam engine from 1906-1944 (1st life), and by a diesel engine from 1945-1961 (2nd life). She was the U.S. Mailboat almost her entire 1906-1961 existence, the exception being the years 1932-1933, when the mail was carried by the Marshal Foch. She was replaced as mailboat by the Uncle Sam II (3rd life), a converted WWII PT-Boat, from 1963-1967 (see photos below). The Do-Bo, owned and operated by Ed Lavallee, was the mailboat during the 1962 and 1968 summer seasons. In 1969, the mail franchise was transferred to the Sophie C., where it remains today.
Mail service on Lake Winnipesaukee had begun in 1892. The initial service was called a “Star Route”. On postal Star Routes, private contractors delivered the mail, providing their own means of transportation, which could be of any type, including boats. The contractors were mail carriers only, and could not provide any other postal services. On Lake Winnipesaukee, there were several mail contractors. The Uncle Sam delivered mail from Weirs Beach to the southern half of the Lake, while the Columbia, and later the Tonimar, delivered mail from Wolfeboro to the northern half.
The Dolphin began mail service on the Lake in 1896. Ending date unknown.
The Columbia began mail service out of Wolfeboro in 1911. Ending date unknown.
The Tonimar delivered mail out of Wolfeboro beginning in 1941 and ending in 1966. This postcard shows the Legionnaire speedboat in front of the Tonimar, and the Sophie C. behind.
The Tonimar and the Sophie C. in Wolfeboro.
In 1916, an act of Congress made the Uncle Sam the only official floating post office on an inland water body in the USA. Mail was to be addressed to RFD No. 7, Laconia, NH, and to be cancelled with the stamp “Lake Winnipesaukee R.P.O.” The R.P.O. stood for Railway Post Office, and was meant for mail that was cancelled in transit, rather than at a stationary PO location. (The R.P.O postmark was discontinued at the end of the 1978 season.)
On the Uncle Sam, the post office was located amidships, “…a room just large enough to contain the usual pigeonhole boxes, mail sacks, postmaster and an assistant…” The U.S. Mailboat only delivers mail in the summer, from June 15 to mid-September.
Vessel Statistics:
65′ long
14′ beam
7′ draft
Top Speed:
Passenger Capacity: 100
Uncle Sam morning schedule, circa 1920s
Uncle Sam afternoon schedule, circa 1920s
VERNON COTTON (l) and ED LAVALLEE (r), Skipper and Owner of “Uncle Sam”, in 1961. At the time of this photo, Cotton was 35 and Lavallee was 69. Lavalle died on January 24, 1984, at the age of 92. Cotton died on February 9, 2014, at the age of 88.
A special cancellation stamp aboard the Uncle Sam during Made in Laconia Week (Aug 30-Sep 6, 1948). The stamp states that “The Mail Boat ‘Uncle Sam’ is World’s Oldest Floating Post Office on an Inland Lake”.
A map from a 1950s Uncle Sam brochure shows the route taken on the cruise from Lakeport.
List of the destinations along the Uncle Sam 1950s route.
Uncle Sam II
Photos of the Uncle Sam II at its Lakeport base, 1960s. Sign says: “U.S. Mail Boat • Daily Trips • Leaves Lakeport 8:00am – 1:00pm • Four Hours of Scenic Splendor • Available for Charter
Uncle Sam II in mid 1960s.
The Uncle Sam II in Weirs Bay in the 1960s
The Uncle Sam II in the Weirs Channel in the 1960s.
