Offered here is an antique 1910 postcard mailed from Pleasant View, Kentucky, a historic coal and railroad community in Whitley County near the Tennessee border.
The card bears a very collectible PLEASANT VIEW, KY. / FEB 22 / 1910 circular postmark, accompanied by a barred killer cancelling the attached green 1-cent Benjamin Franklin stamp.
The postal history is the real highlight of this card.
Pleasant View's original post office was established in 1870 and remained in operation until 1965, giving the independent office a remarkable 95-year history. After the original office was discontinued, postal service continued under Pleasant View Rural Station, which operated from 1965 until 1995.
This postcard was mailed on February 22, 1910, only 40 years after the original post office opened and 55 years before it was discontinued.
Pleasant View itself is not a ghost town. The historic community survives today, but its independent post office is long gone. It is therefore an excellent example of a genuine DPO (Discontinued Post Office) postal-history item rather than a ghost-town cancel.
Pleasant View lies approximately five miles south of Williamsburg along the Clear Fork of the Cumberland River in southern Whitley County.
The community had significant transportation connections by the late 19th century. An 1895 Rand McNally business and shipping guide recorded Pleasant View as having a post office, railroad station, and express office.
Coal mining was also developing rapidly around Pleasant View when this postcard was mailed. Historical mining records show that the Pleasant View Jellico Coal Company opened a mine near the community in June 1903. Thus, this 1910 cancellation comes directly from the period when coal mining and railroad transportation were shaping the communities of southern Whitley County.
Nearby settlements included Mountain Ash, Saxton, Red Ash, Kensee and Jellico, forming part of a network of Appalachian communities tied to the region's coal seams and railroads.
Adding considerably to the local-history interest, the postcard appears to have been addressed to Miss Mary Evans at Mountain Ash, Kentucky, another historic Whitley County coal community.
Mountain Ash was a former coal town along Clear Fork. The Jellico Coal Company operated there from 1903 to 1932, reportedly employing approximately 250 people. Its own post office operated from 1892 until 1967.
This therefore appears to be a piece of local Whitley County correspondence traveling between two neighboring Kentucky coal communities during the height of the area's early-20th-century mining era.
The front features a humorous romantic/courtship scene depicting a young man and woman outside a doorway.
The printed caption concerns the young woman leaving while the young man is overwhelmed by the "waves" of his great love — a charming example of the sentimental and humorous romantic postcards popular during the early 1900s.
The card is identified as part of a Chrom Series No. 1158 and was printed in Germany, where enormous numbers of high-quality postcards for the American market were produced during the Golden Age of postcards.
Post Office: Pleasant View, Kentucky
County: Whitley County
Postmark Date: February 22, 1910
Original Pleasant View PO: 1870–1965
Successor: Pleasant View Rural Station, 1965–1995
Current Status: Discontinued
DPO: Yes
Ghost Town: No — community survives
Destination: Mountain Ash, Kentucky
Mountain Ash PO: 1892–1967
Stamp: Green 1¢ Benjamin Franklin
Cancellation: Circular town/date postmark with barred killer
Postal Use: Genuine period postal use
Type: Printed Postcard
Era: Divided Back Era (1907–1915)
Year: 1910
City: Pleasant View
County: Whitley County
State: Kentucky
Country: United States
Region: Appalachia / Southern Kentucky
Subject: Postal History / Romance / Courtship
Theme: DPO / Coal Mining / Railroad / Social History
Postmark: Pleasant View, Kentucky
Postmark Date: February 22, 1910
Post Office Status: Discontinued
Destination: Mountain Ash, Kentucky
Stamp: 1¢ Benjamin Franklin
Manufacture: Germany
Original/Licensed Reprint: Original
Postage Condition: Posted
Number of Items: 1
Antique postcard in fair vintage condition with substantial age and postal wear.
There is noticeable corner and edge wear, including rounding, surface loss and creasing. The card exhibits age-related toning, discoloration and soiling. The front shows wear around the borders and corners.
The reverse contains extensive period handwritten correspondence.
Most importantly for postal-history collectors, the Pleasant View, Kentucky postmark is quite readable, including the town name and FEB 22 / 1910 date. The original green 1-cent Franklin stamp remains attached and retains its cancellation.
Please examine the photographs carefully, as they form an important part of the condition description.
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