Mose, a community northwest of Cooperstown, was founded in 1899. Its first name was Florence; its second was Lewis. Then, in 1904, it officially became Mose, which was the nickname of a local lumberyard worker, Morris Greenland. The town was tiny – the highest recorded population was about 25 – and, on the last day of January 1954, the post office closed.

Before that, Mose residents, Mr. and Mrs. Halvor Kaases, had an unusual mail delivery system worked out for their daughter and her husband, Andrew Lynn. The Lynns lived on a farm north of town with no rural mail delivery. So the Lynns would send their dog Curly to town, the Kaases would tie the Lynns’ mail to Curly’s collar, and Curly would take it back to the farm for his owners.

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