Julie Van Holland was the first customer to the new Post Office facility in the Sioux County community of Rock Valley, which opened its doors to the public at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, June 1, 1970. Construction on the $61,000 facility was finished a few days prior, nearly a year and a half after the construction contract was signed and over four years after the U.S. Postal Service formally announced Rock Valley would receive a new post office facility. The building was formally dedicated July 16, 1970.
Postal service was established in the Winnebago County community of Leland on November 18, 1881, though for the first four, the town was known as Lelandsburgh. The name was chosen in honor of the community’s first Postmaster, J. D. Leland, whose home served as the initial Post Office location. The Post Office was moved six times before settling in its present location in 1965.
Postal service was established in the Ringgold County seat of Mount Ayr in August 1855. Like many towns in Iowa, the first Post Office was located within the postmaster’s home, and shifted to many residential and commercial locations over its first eighty years. In August 1939, plans arrived to construct a new post office of brick and yellow monsota stone on the northwest corner of the town square. Featuring two stories, marble interior accents, and a colored terrazzo floor, construction cost for the new facility totaled $75,000.
The new Mount Ayr Post Office was formally dedicated August 22, 1940, with the superintendent of schools serving as master of ceremonies. A highlight of the historic post office is a 6-foot 8-inch by 11-foot mural in the lobby titled “Corn Parade.” Painted by local artist Orr C. Fisher, it’s one of 36 murals painted in the state from funds via the Works Progress Administration.
Postal service was established in the Kossuth County town of Lakota in December 1892, though at that time the community was known as Germania due to the large German population. During World War I, the name was changed due to anti-German sentiments. The town was renamed Lakota, which means “allies” in the Teton dialect spoken by Sioux indians who once occupied the area.
The Pottawattamie County town of Crescent got its name because of the shape of the bluffs near the town site. First settled by Mormons in 1856, a prosperous future was anticipated due to its proximity to the Missouri River. The WPA Guide to Iowa, written in 1938, suggested the “town had ceased to grow” as businessmen decided to build in Council Bluffs instead of Crescent. While Crescent remains a small community in comparison to the county seat of Council Bluffs, it’s population (537) has more than doubled since the book was written.
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