A post-office was first established in Bristol in 1803, with Thaddeus McLaughlin postmaster. The office was located in the first brick building erected in the town, by the father of Thaddeus, Henry McLaughlin, in 1800, and located about a mile west of the present village. Previous to this the mail matter for Bristol, consisting of a few letters and the Middlebury Mercury, was brought from Middlebury each week by the settlers themselves, who alternately shared in the task. In 1804 Jacob Cadwell was appointed postmaster, and the following year was succeeded by Isaac Cadwell, who retained the office until 1815, when he in turn was succeeded by Joseph Otis. Both Jacob and Isaac Cadwell kept the office in their house, a log structure used as a hotel, about four miles northeast from the village, on the Starksboro road. When Joseph Otis took the office in 1815, however, he removed it to the village, where it has been retained since. Fred Landon is the present postmaster.
