Bushy Hill Mail Hut

208 Salmon Brook Street

The Mail Hut:

This little building once stood in the middle of what is now Barn Door Hills Road, where it intersects with Route 20. The road at that time ended in a Y with the mail hut in the middle. Until the late 1940s, Barn Door Hills Road was called Bushy Hill Road.

We are not sure of the age of this building. We know from old diaries that there was a mail hut in that area during the Civil War. This building is probably a replacement.

The houses that can be seen in the background are 110 and 112 West Granby Road.

A Bit More:

The little door faced Route 20. It had a latch on the outside and a hook on the inside. The mailman would drive up (at first with a horse and wagon and in later years, a car) and hang the mailbag on the hook.

People in the neighborhood would sort the mail on a shelf under the little door. Everyone read all the postcards, noted who got an order from Sears Roebuck, and if young ladies were getting letters from young men.

Outgoing mail was placed in the mailbag to be picked up by the mailman (or, in earlier days, the stage driver) and taken to the Post Office. And in the afternoon, there was a second delivery of mail! .

Corner cupboard from the

Abijah Rowe house

Even More:

This mail hut was used until about 1947 or 1948. Some say it was used as a bus shelter for students attending Simsbury High School (before Granby had a high school). Later, David Palmer used it for many years for a tool shed. It was given to the Society in 1986.

From the Holcomb Collection about Addie Holcomb:

The busybody matrons in the area kept a close watch on all the letters Addie sent to and received from MEN.