Morris History
The shuttering of the Morris Post Office marks not only the loss of a pivotal service for residents, but also a fixture of the town center for decades.
Morris’ Post Office sat at 8 West Street up until the United States Postal Service moved Morris’ retail operations to Thomaston in August. That West Street site was established during the zip code era in the 1960s, consolidating what used to be done out of hamlet stores during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
East Morris Post Office operated out of Johnson’s Store at the intersection of Routes 109 and 63, sitting on the site where Don Giovanni's Restaurant now is located. Burgess’ General Store housed the West Morris Post Office, which closed in 1922. There also was Skilton’s Store, which served as the town’s post office until 1962.
Morris’ earliest postal identity comes from its time as South Farms, then technically part of Litchfield, before it was incorporated as Morris. State records show Enoch I. Woodruff as the first postmaster, taking over on Jan. 16, 1817. William L. Smedley was the only other postmaster listed during the South Farms era, with his first appearance on the records coming November 18, 1842.
The South Farms Post Office operated from 1817 until 1859, with the office closing once the name changed. Smedley was the first listed postmaster once the town became Morris, assuming that role from July 9, 1859 until Joseph W. Mason took over May 5, 1865.
In essence, the move to Thomaston means Morris is running postal operations out of town for the first time in over 200 years.
The town center near the now-former post office will remain largely as is, with two buildings at 12 South Street getting listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987. District School No. 6 (commonly known as The Mill School), was built in roughly the early 1770s, while the town hall (Old Town Hall) was constructed in 1861.
Though the town hall has been at the same location since its construction, the school actually has moved multiple times.
“The Mill School is so named because originally it was located about 3.5 miles southeast of the center, opposite King's Gristmill, in a section known as the Mill District where, because of the water power, several mills were located,” the NRHP nomination form says.
“It was moved 0.3 mile west in 1910 to make room for the construction of the City of Waterbury's Morris Reservoir dam, continuing in use as a school until 1915. After standing vacant for 25 years, in 1939 it was moved again to become part of an apple cider mill, and, finally, in 1981 was brought to its present site adjacent to and north of the Old Town Hall, where it was installed on poured concrete foundations over a basement, and was renovated.”
The current town hall at 3 East Street was built in 1932, bringing an end to the original building’s seven-decade run. The Morris Historical Society now sits in the 12 South Street buildings.
