Postal service was established in the Keokuk County community of Hedrick in January 1883. After being housed in an active bank building, former bank building and former general store, the current post office facility debuted on March 1, 1966. The building was constructed at a cost of $27,559 and featured nearly double the space of the prior location. Much more historical information about the Hedrick Post Office can be found in the community’s 1982 Centennial book, including this sad but interesting tidbit:
Kenneth A. Longaker, temporary rural carrier on Hedrick Route 1, was presented a certificate and lapel emblem from the postal department in September 1962. The award was given as a symbol of postal tradition of seeing that the mail goes through despite adverse conditions.
On September 3, 1962, Longaker started on his route, which served the [rural station in nearby Farson.] He found the office closed although it was 10 a.m., unable to deposit the mail pouch and pickup outgoing mail. Longaker went to the home of Don Meeker, clerk in charge, and found him lying unconscious on the floor. He summoned a doctor and the county sherriff.
Though Meeker sadly died later that day of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Longaker finished his rural route then returned to Farson. Despite the long day and tragic death, Kenneth Longaker distributed the mail to the Farson patrons on his own time.
Postal service was established in the Tama County town of Vining in the spring of 1882, with resident Joseph Simon appointed as the first postmaster. He setup the post office inside his mercantile business store in time for the first piece of mail to arrive on May 1, 1882. Since January 1995, the post office has operated out of a back room of a private residence.
Susie O’Bryan began her tenure as postmaster in the Monroe County town of Lovilia in 1926. When the post office moved to a a new office building a few years later, O’Bryan made her living quarters in the two back rooms. In Lovilia’s 1978 history book, the authors cite memories of picking up their mail during meal time and enjoying the delicious aromas from the postmaster’s cooking. O’Bryan served as the Lovilia postmaster through 1935.
The present brick post office building was constructed and dedicated in 1961.
A post office was established in the Marshall County town of Haverhill on April 11, 1882, with Killian Kunkel appointed the first postmaster. Kunkel operated the post office from his general store, which sold hardware, crockery, and other merchandise. In 1888, a local pharmacist was appointed postmaster, and unsurprisingly, the post office was relocated to his drug store. After several subsequent locations, including the homes of two different postmasters, a standalone facility for the Haverhill Post Office was constructed; it opened in 1992.
On October 29, 1879, the post office at Cross was discontinued and Postmaster Fred A. Brown was moved to work at the newly-established Kellerton Post Office. Service started in the postmaster’s home and changed locations several times before 1931, when then-Postmaster Smiley B. Hedges purchased the former Ringgold County Savings Bank building for use as the post office. The present brick Kellerton Post Office facility was built in and dedicated in the fall of 1961.
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