Cornwall Post Office

This postcard, circulated in 1912, shows Leonard Nickerson (1857-1937) standing on the front porch of the West Cornwall Post Office building. A noted lawyer and prominent figure in the Cornwall of the late 1800s and early 1900s, Nickerson served as West Cornwall’s postmaster for 25 years.

After leaving the Alger Institute in Cornwall where he acquired his education, he taught school for several years and studied law with Hon. A. D. Warner, then of Cornwall. He was admitted to the bar April 22 1879 a few months after his 21st birthday. He started his law practice in Cornwall and represented his district in the House of Representatives where he was later Speaker of the House.

The original post office building stood along Main Street on Route 128 until it was replaced by a new building. The three-story structure next door was the site of the Mansion House. Built as a hotel, it was popular with summer visitors traveling by train. The hotel and its livery stable burned in 1924. The new post office building was also destroyed by the fire.

The postcard is in the collection of the Cornwall Historical Society.