Trudeau Post Office

Trudeau Post Office, c. 1938. From Saranac 1937-1940 by Richard H. Ray, who captioned it "To someone far from home and lonely, this is a very important building." Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium Post Office, early 1900s. In later years, the post office was moved closer to the Administration Building (Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 4/28/2007) The Post Office named Trudeau, New York, was operated in various locations at the Trudeau Sanatorium, in St. Armand, Essex County, from 1903 to 1956. The office was established and named even before Dr. E. L. Trudeau died in 1915 and his institution, which had been called Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium, was renamed Trudeau Sanatorium.

Postmasters and the dates they were appointed:

Discontinued on March 31, 1956; mail to Saranac Lake.

Source: Research Administrator/Historian, Office of the Postmaster General, United States Postal Service, March 20, 1992.

See other Post Offices also.

The two photos below had the following letter attached, courtesy of Florence Wright:

October 5, 1993 Courtesy of  Florence Wright

Courtesy of  Florence WrightDear Florence-

Enclosed are the pictures I promised. The one with the vehicle shows the front of the post office (east side). The sign (POST OFFICE TRUDEAU, NY) fronts the south. The car is a taxi that routinely made the Trudeau - Saranac Lake run. The post office’s front door is in the middle opening in front of the building (directly above the motor of the vehicle.) The snow indicates winter, making the photo’s date somewhere between November 1934 and Spring 1935. In enlarging the original photo, Florence, the developer cropped the print more tightly than desired, eliminating a good share of the building. 

The other picture shows either the Trudeau postmaster or a postal office[r] who enacted the part… standing at the front entrance, again circa 1934-35. I’m not sure of his identity or whether he was there when your postmark was stamped. 

If I come across more pictures among the old albums, I’ll send you more reprints.

Jack Shay

The Trudeau Post Office is supposed to have been "hit" in 1911 by a safe-cracker named Canton Eddie Collins.  The following text is unsourced, although everything about the story except the Trudeau PO part is corroborated here:

"...By 1911, Canton Eddie was back at work robbing safes, mostly along the Black River Railroad and St. Lawrence River. On Friday May 19, 1911 he hit the Saranac Post Office located in the H.J. Bull general store. Three explosions blew the store windows out and completely destroyed the safe. Eddie was tracked to Cadyville, near Plattsburgh, but escaped. He hit the Trudeau Post Office in early 1911; by then he was being pursued by the New York Central Railroad Detective Joe McWade, who set up headquarters at various times in Saranac Lake. In June 1911 McWade caught Eddie with John Raymond in a Syracuse Hotel with "enough nitro-glycerin, fuses, and caps . . . to blow up an army." Eddie was also in possession of a razor case with five small saws. Two other accomplices, including an unnamed chauffeur, escaped capture. McWade turned Eddie over to New York Central Police in Utica. According to press reports, prosecutors didn't have enough evidence to convict him of robbery so he was released.

In May 1912 Eddie robbed the Post Office at Black River and on May 22, 1912 he was captured again near Utica. This time, giving the name Edward Burns, he was taken to Verona, near Rome, and handcuffed to a man named Frank Murray — he almost immediately broke the handcuffs and both men escaped. In September and October Eddie robbed the Norwood and Waddington post offices and took $1,800."