In the late 1700s, the U.S. Congress established post roads to carry mail across the country and into distant territories, and a postal stop was highly desirable because it drew people from surrounding communities. Davidsonville became the first postal stop in Arkansas on Postal Route 407, where mail traveled regularly from the territorial capital of St. Louis to Davidsonville and then on to Arkansas Post. Davidsonville's first postmaster was Adam Ritchey, appointed in 1817, and instead of using a separate post office, mail was delivered to his home or business, where people came to collect it and pay postage at that time. The mail ran about once a month, carried by riders in portmanteaus or saddlebags, and contracted riders sometimes struggled with floods and bad roads while making deliveries.