Postal Museum in Ohio Raising Funds

The Delphos Herald reports retired Delphos, Ohio Postmaster Gary Levitt is in the process of raising funds for a local museum in Ohio in an effort to enhance local residents’ understanding of postal history.

According to reporter Mike Ford, "His long-term vision for the museum includes a Holocaust room on the second floor. He also plans to exhibit the Dr. Walter Wolery Stamp Collection, a replica of an old mail rail car and a chronological timeline of the historical development of mail delivery. Funding is the key issue the museum currently faces."

Dr. Walter Wolery, a Delphos family physician who served his community for many years, donated his personal stamp collection to the museum.

Levitt is quoted as saying, "Including the exhibits, capital improvements and things we’d like to purchase, the museum will be 11,112 square feet when it’s finished and will cost about $300,000. Right now, we’ve raised a little over $55,000 from donations and grants."

Funds were recently raised with a corned beef dinner.

Shown above, a 1959 Eschelman three-wheeled postal vehicle on display at the museum. According to the museum's Web site, this is unit number 7 of only 59 ever made. It was not a favorite with the carriers because they sat over the engine and inhaled the carbon monoxide fumes. Though this quarter-ton vehicle could hold 500 pounds of mail, they tipped over easily. Postal workers who drove the Eschelman note that the only nice thing about it was that it could actually be picked back up.

To visit the museum's Web site, click here.