Rattlesnake Island stamp pictures Lake Erie vessel

The most famous modern local post in the United States is, without doubt, Rattlesnake Island Local Post. Rattlesnake Island Local Post was established in 1966 to transfer mail to and from Rattlesnake Island, which is located in Lake Erie several miles from the Ohio shore, and remained in continuous operation until 1989, and then again from 2005 until 2010.

In 2022, collector Dave Gill relaunched Rattlesnake Island Local Post with the release of three triangular stamps. I recently received a cover bearing a copy of one of those, a 75¢ stamp picturing the Jet Express II, a vessel sailing on the waters of Lake Erie.

The stamp on the cover shown above is imperforate, but also exists perf. 12 and rouletted 24.

Earlier this year, Rattlesnake Island Local Post issued an additional set of stamps commemorating the 1813 Battle of Lake Erie. We can look forward to seeing what other new issues are forthcoming as we move into next year!

Published 2023-12-07