Topics in Chronicling America - Owney, the Railway Mail Dog

Owney, the renowned railway mail dog, returns home to New York on Dec. 23, 1895, after his world tour. Owney became famous as he traveled by mail car around the United States and Canada, then by steamer to other countries including Japan, China, Singapore and more! He became a mascot for the postal service and has recently been featured on his own postage stamp. Read more about it!

The information and sample article links below provide access to a sampling of articles from historic newspapers that can be found in the Chronicling America: American Historic Newspapers digital collection (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). Use the Suggested Search Terms and Dates to explore this topic further in Chronicling America.

Jump to: Sample Articles

Important Dates:

• 1888-1897. Owney travels the country by mail car, becoming an unofficial mascot of the US Railway Mail Service.
• August 19-December 23, 1895. Owney boards a steamer and makes his way around the world, departing from Tacoma, Washington and returning to New York.
• January 1898. After Owney dies, he is stuffed and given a display at the Smithsonian Postal Museum.

Suggested Search Strategies:

• [Try the following terms in combination, proximity, or as phrases using Search Pages in Chronicling America.] Owney, railway mail, dog
• It is important to use a specific date range if looking for articles for a particular event in order to narrow your results.

Sample Articles from Chronicling America:

• "Owney in a Connecticut Town," The Sun (New York, NY), January 7, 1891, Page 8, Image 8, col. 3.
• "Dog Tourist Owney," The Evening World (New York, NY), April 26, 1892, Extra Last Edition, Page 2, Image 2, col. 1-2.
• "Owney, the Famous Tramp Dog," The Big Stone Gap Post (Big Stone Gap, VA), April 6, 1893, Page 1, Image 1, col. 6.
• "A Canine King," The Morning Call (San Francisco, CA), April 20, 1893, Page 3, Image 3, col. 5.
• "Travels of a Dog," Perrysburg Journal (Perrysburg, OH), April 7, 1894, Page 2, Image 2, col.1.
• "Owney Was Here," Daily Public Ledger (Maysville, KY), September 3, 1894, Page 1, Image 1, col. 4-5.
• "Much Traveled Dog," The Morning Times (Washington, DC), March 15, 1896, Part 3, Page 22, Image 22, col. 6.
• "Inspector Owney Here," New-York Tribune (New York, NY), July 1, 1896, Page 14, Image 14, col. 2.
• "Owney the Dog, He Has Traveled Almost Around the World," The Roanoke Daily Times (Roanoke, VA), July 24, 1896, Page 6, Image 6, col. 1-2.
• "Queer Tales from Nature's Book," The Times (Washington, DC), March 14, 1897, Part 2, Page 19, Image 19, col. 1.
• "Owney Bobs up Again," The San Francisco Call (San Francisco, CA), April 28, 1897, Page 3, Image 3, col. 7.
• "Owney Is on Exhibition," The Times (Washington, DC), January 27, 1898, Page 1, Image 1, col. 7.
• "Owney the Tramp Dog," The Record-Union (Sacramento, CA), August 4, 1899, Page 5, Image 6, col. 2.