Special Cancellation to Honor Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial

On Friday, May 16, the Bismarck Post Office will offer a special commemorative cancellation honoring the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial and the opening of the special exhibit of the original Homestead Act, signed by President Abraham Lincoln.

The unique postmark is free and available at Lincoln Bicentennial Station, a temporary post office in the North Dakota Heritage Center, 612 E. Boulevard Ave. The postmaster will apply the cancellation to any item bearing first-class postage from noon – 4 p.m. Pictorial postcards of the Homestead Act will be available for purchase. The public is invited to attend.

U.S. Postal Service representative Michael Leingang will join representatives of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Committee, which is sponsoring the event. The celebration coincides with the Heritage Center’s exclusive, six month exhibition of the Homestead Act, which is preserved in the National Archives in Washington, DC.

As a community service, the Postal Service offers pictorial postmark cancellations to commemorate local events celebrated in communities throughout the nation. They are unavailable at regular retail counters and therefore of special interest to collectors. People attending these local events may obtain the cancellation in person. Those who cannot attend the event, but who wish to obtain the cancellation, may submit a mail order request. Requests must be postmarked by June 16, 2008 and accompanied by a stamped, self-addressed return envelope.

Mail order requests should be sent to:

Lincoln Bicentennial Special Cancellation
U.S. Postal Service
Bismarck, ND 58501-9998

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An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that visits every address in the nation — 146 million homes and businesses. It has 37,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses, not tax dollars. The Postal Service has annual revenues of $75 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail.