In 1757, David Bissell Jr. sold part of his land to Jeremiah Ballard, a barber, who built a shop on Main Street, in East Windsor Hill. The remainder of this shop is the present long ell of the East Windsor Hill Post Office. In 1759, Bissell gave the rest of his land to his son, David Bissell III, who later attached a shop/storehouse to Ballard’s shop. This is the gambrel-roofed warehouse with overhead doorway that now houses the Post Office. Different owners divided the structure for various businesses selling dry goods and groceries over the following years, well into the twentieth century. It also served as a post office, receiving its first government post rider in 1783. It is the oldest continuously operated post office in the country.
East Windsor Hill is definitely not the oldest continuously operated post office in the country. It may have received post riders earlier, but has only been operated as a post office since 1837.
This article (http://www.courant.com/community/hc-ugc-article-a-look-at-our-19th-century-postal-system-2016-04-17-story.html) equates receiving post riders with the claim of being the oldest:
“South Windsor’s East Windsor Hill Post Office, considered the oldest continuously operated post office in the country, receiving its first post rider in 1783, about 30 years after its headquarters was built as a shop.”
I don’t know what would officially qualify it to be called a post office.
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