In the late 1860s mail came from Nanaimo by boat or canoe brought as a neighborly gesture. Alexander Shaw signed a contract with the government for mail service on Gabriola in 1884. James Gray was the first postmaster in 1890. In 1935 Thomas Taylor ran the post office out of his home with living quarters around back. This was the post office until 1950. It was then run out of the postmaster home until the present post office was built in 1970. For more about the history of the Gabriola read June Lewis-Harrison ‘The People of Gabriola’.