First Post
We often think that the old postal office at the Church ‘OLV-Tenhemelopneming’ was the first post office in Leopoldsburg. However, this is not the case.
Already before the construction of brick roads, coaches (‘malle-post’ 1) drove our region to Diest and Hasselt on a daily basis. At the time, the round trip took almost a full day. From 1835 there was a daily stagecoach between the Camp and Brussels and from 1836 a daily stagecoach could travel to Herentals. In winter, this ride was only driven once a week.
The first post building was built by the army in 1840 2 on the corner of the old presbytery and the old post office. When the building was transferred to the state, the building was expanded by one floor.
The old post office was taken into use in 1904. It is not known when the first post was torn down.
1 The ‘malle–poste’, was a diligence on 4 wheels, drawn by 4 or 5 horses. … The carriage was driven by a coachman or postillion who sat on top of the carriage or on one of the horses.
2 Several sources talk about dates between 1838 & 1844
Old post cards
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