On May 31, 1872, Thomas King sent a request for mail to be delivered to a stop between the Taylor County hamlet of Platteville and Ringgold County town of Redding.The proposed office was to be called Mormontown, with mail delivered three times weekly to serve the village of sixty and surrounding rural area totaling 300 residents. The request was quickly approved, and King served as the town’s first postmaster starting on June 12, 1872.
The post office remained Mormontown for the next 15 years before the present name of Bloctkon was adopted on September 8, 1887. The longest-tenured postmaster was Jack Campbell, who had the post from August 5, 1949 until June 30, 1972. Details from the book Blockton, Iowa 1889-1989:
Campbell fondly recalls the days of large volumes of parcel post mail. He once searched through the parcel post bags, which came in the evening for next-day delivery, for a family’s new clothes. They had plans to leave for vacation at midnight and needed the items. Campbell spent the evening sorting the parcels so they might pick up the apparel in time for their planned departure.
The post office has been located in its current building since 1964.
The post office in the Taylor county seat of Bedford was originally established as Grove on June 30, 1855, with Adam Vinnedge named postmaster. The name Bedford was officially adoopted on June 24, 1856. Rural delivery service was established in 1901, while city delivery began in 1927. Service began in the current post office building on Labor Day 1964. In March 1965, the six-month-old facility was broken into and robbed of over $11,000 in stamps and cash. The thieves were later caught in Kansas City.
The Traer County town of Buckingham was one of 34 communities in the state of Iowa to lose its post office in 2011. Doors were closed for the last time on Friday, November 18, as the office was shuttered after 111 years of continuous operation. The 253-square-foot building was constructed specifically for post office use in 1959 by then-postmaster Roger Messerly.
On February 27, 1868, Mr. Isaac M. Christy received a letter informing him that a proposed post office named Lucas had been approved. The office officially opened a week later with Christy appointed the first postmaster. The current facility was constructed in 1974 with the design and construction representing the first area office built to the latest postal service guidelines. The steel building featured a concrete driver for loading and unloading mail. The post office is open six days each week.
The first post office in the Buchanan County town of Winthrop in 1861 with Abbott E. Dulton as the first postmaster. Postal service was originally established in the town in 1853 under the name of Pine. In addition to mailing services, early post offices stocked a number of goods, with 1881 newspaper ads highlighting a number of available items:
“A fine line of Bibles and Albums for sale at the post office.”
“Christmas cards for sale at the post office.”
The largest assortment of fine candies in town, at the post office.”
After being housed in a number of homes and storefronts, the modern post office facility was constructed on the northeast corner of Madison and 3rd Streets in 1999.
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