A celebration was held May 5, 1966, to dedicate the new Post Office building in the Cass County community of Anita. The ceremony started with a 15 minute performance by the Anita Community High School band, followed by an invocation, address from the mayor, and a dedication address from Iowa Congressman John Hansen. Following the dedication, an open house was held with coffee and cookies served. Postal service was established in Anita in December 1868.
The first post office in the Jasper County seat of Newton was established in 1847, one year after the new county was commissioned. City delivery was established in 1899, with rural delivery from the Newton Post Office beginning in 1907. After a number of locations, including a rented building which was condemned in the early part of the twentieth century, the current facility was constructed in 1970.
Featuring a large loading platform and truck bed level, the one-story brick building contained over 21,000 square feet of space. The building may have been too big and too soon, as mail that was previously sorted in Newton was redirected to Des Moines around this time. Postal workers employed at the Newton location declined from 50 to 40 within a few years of opening the new building.
After over 102 years of service, the Gruver Post Office was suspended on November 30, 2002. Residents can now get mail curbside or at these cluster boxes, located outside a brick garage across the street from the Gruver City Hall and Fire Department building. The nearest full service post office is in Estherville, located seven miles west of Gruver.
Around 250 people showed up on October 22, 1966, in the Lake Park Town Hall for dedication ceremonies for the new post office building. The ceremony included a keynote address from U.S. Congressman Stanley Greigg, who explained how the new Lake Park Post Office was built under the U.S. Postal Service’s lease construction program, where facilities remain under private ownership, pay local taxes, and are leased to the government.
Greigg also commended the community of Lake Park, which had rebounded from a main street fire in 19623. The blaze destroyed the local bowling alley, cafe and only department store, but by the time of dedication the bowling alley and cafe were rebuilt and the department store moved across the street. The ceremony was concluded with an open house of the new postal building. Coffee and donuts were furnished by the Lake Park Chamber of Commerce.
Postal service in the Ringgold County community of Benton can be traced to March 1875, when a post office location was setup in Bloomington. Despite a dwindling population, the pictured Benton Post Office is open four hours daily to serve the town’s 40 residents. The post office occupies the first floor of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows hall at the southern edge of downtown Benton. The I.O.O.F. chapter is the last remaining in Ringgold County; as of 2005, the organization had eight members.