1849 2c Cheever & Towle, Blue on White Paper

Own Cheevers & Towle City Letter Delivery Local Stamp –
Missing from Most Collections

Scott #37L1 is a 2-cent blue local post stamp on white paper issued around 1849 by Cheever & Towle, City Letter Delivery, of Boston, Massachusetts. The distinctive circular design shows a fan of letters addressed to various Boston neighborhoods — E. Boston, S. Boston, and others — radiating outward from a central rectangular label reading "Cheever & Towle / 7 State St. / City Letter / Delivery 2 Cts." It is an imperforate stamp with only one known variety, and genuine examples in sound condition are scarce, as the service operated only until around 1851.

The roots of this service go back to around 1846, when a Mr. Towle established a local post in Boston called Towle's City Post. About two years later he brought on Mr. Cheever as a partner, renamed the service Cheever & Towle, and began issuing stamps to prepay deliveries. The partners placed over 100 collection boxes throughout Boston where customers could drop off letters bearing the 2-cent stamp. Carriers would then collect the mail and deliver it directly to the addresses indicated — a simple, efficient system that served Boston's growing population well before free city delivery became standard.

Like many private local posts of the era, Cheever & Towle filled a real gap in urban mail service at a time when the U.S. Post Office charged higher rates and did not yet deliver door-to-door within cities. The service operated in a competitive and legally uncertain environment, as Congress was gradually moving to assert a federal monopoly over mail delivery. Forgeries of this stamp are known to exist, which is itself a testament to the stamp's desirability. A genuine example of Scott #37L1 is a rare and charming piece of Boston postal history from the earliest days of city delivery.