Pioneer Village Museum
Ward County Historical Society

The postal service in what is now Ward County began in early 1884, when a post office was established in Burlington, North Dakota. However, mail service began before, with letters and messages carried throughout the area without the civilities of modern postal service: no mail routes, postage stamps, or collection schedules were established. Post offices were later established in Saint Carl (1885), Black [which later became Echo, and finally Sawyer] (1886), Logan and Minot (1887), and Des Lacs (1888). 

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The Burlington post office included a mailbox which featured two separate compartments: one for mail for people living "upriver" and another for people living "downriver." This mailbox can be found in the Post Office, located at the Pioneer Village Historical Museum.