The community of Humboldt celebrated when a new Post Office building opened its doors to the public in March 1956. The yellow brick building saw several changes over its years of operation, including a large addition in the mid-1960s and the addition of a lift for the inside steps in the late-1990s. The building’s owners leased the basement to a variety of businesses and organizations, including a local law firm from 1990 to 1995; the space has remained vacant since.

Air quality tests revealed mold problems in the building in April 2003, forcing the post office to relocate. The Humboldt Independent notes the tests were conducted following reports of employees getting sick in the building. The Post Office quickly moved to a “temporary” location in a former drugstore a few blocks southeast in downtown Humboldt. A 2004 plan to construct a new, permanent location for the Humboldt Post Office was scrapped due to U.S. Postal Service budget concerns. The once-temporary location remains home to the Post Office today.

Current Humboldt Post Office Location

Bethel Presbyterian Church in the Fayette County seat of West Union was officially organized in June 1867 with 12 charter members. The congregation first met in an old church facility and then the Fayette County Courthouse before a new brick building was constructed and dedicated in 1872. The first church was remodeled in 1893, but plans for an addition were interrupted when the building was destroyed by fire on February 11, 1922.

Prompt action was taken to construct a new church on the site of the old one, with the cornerstone laid on September 17, 1922 and dedication services held the following year. A basement was added in 1951, while an education wing was added (in the lighter brick) in 1961.

The town of Afton was named the seat of Union County in 1855, three years after the county was founded. Shortly after, a two-story frame building was constructed to serve as the county’s first courthouse. As the county grew, more space for the courthouse was needed and a larger brick building was constructed in Afton at a cost of $25,000. In 1890, residents of the growing city of Creston pooled funds to construct a new courthouse for the county. An election made the move official, as Creston officially gained county seat status on November 25, 1890. The present courthouse was constructed of concrete and limestone in 1951, at a cost of $300,000.

Established in 1855, the rural Wapello Community hamlet of Bladensburg was once a bustling community. At its prime, Bladensburg was home to 200 residents, three general stores, two blacksmith shops, a sawmill, flour mill and school. When the railroad lines and highways bypassed the town, residents left and businesses shuttered; the post office was closed in 1916. The pictured Community Hall is one of a handful of remaining buildings in Bladensburg. It was originally constructed as a Methodist Church, which was dedicated in January 1870.

This cemetery sign may be the only marker in the once-thriving Davis County hamlet of Paris. Founded in 1870, the town was named for settler Jackson Paris who offered land to the Chicago and Southwestern Railroad for both tracks and a depot. When population was sufficient to merit a Post Office, the name Paris was already in use for a town in Linn County. The alternate name Bunch was chosen, in honor of a prominent Doctor in nearby Drakesville.

The railroad refused to change its timetables, tickets, and signs to match the Post Office, so from the beginning, the town has been known by two names. Few buildings or signs remain in the rural Davis County town; postal service was discontinued in 1954 and the railroad ceased operations in 1965.

In November 1965, a contract was awarded to resident Harold D. Burkholder to build a new post office in the Iowa County community of Parnell. With an interior space of nearly 1,200 square feet, the new post office had air conditioning along with a separate parking area. The new Parnell Post Office building was officially dedicated in September 1966.

The Williamsburg Journal-Tribune reported the dedication brought 700 people from Parnell and the surrounding area. The dedication included a flag-raising ceremony from the local American Legion group, a benediction from a local Mennonite pastor, and a ribbon-cutting ceremony performed by Parnell’s mayor. The dedication was followed by an open house.

Postal service originated in Parnell in November 1884 under the Callan moniker, in recognition of the large property ownership by the Callan family at the time. The name was changed following the official establishment of Parnell when the Milwaukee Railroad line was connected to the community. The Post Office had a variety of locations, including local grocery and hardware stores.

In 1873, Methodists in rural Poweshiek County organized the Sunset Church near the present-day site of Guernsey. The first church building for the congregation was constructed at a cost of $1,600 and was dedicated October 26, 1879. The town of Guernsey was platted four years later, and a majority of members desired to establish a presence in the new community. In 1894, the Sunset Church was torn down, with the lumber repurposed for use in construction of a new church building in Guernsey.

The new church in Guernsey was completed in 1894 at a cost of $3,350. Though efforts in 1941 to construct a new building did not materialize, a significant expansion project was completed in 1965. The Guernsey United Methodist Church currently shares a pastor with four other area churches.

The first account of library services in the Fayette County of Arlington dates to 1883, when resident O.H. Osborne made his personal collection of books available to readers within the town’s post office. Books were later stored in a downtown jewelry store before the community came together in 1928 to remodel a room for library use in the City Hall. The present building was constructed in 1982 at a cost around $62,000. A grant covered one-third of the cost, with the remaining funds raised from donations by local citizens and organizations. The 1,800-square-foot building was dedicated November 21, 1982.

In 1903, four years after the Kossuth County town of Lone Rock was planted, a group of farmers and merchants met to discuss telephone service for the community and surrounding areas. A company was quickly formed, and shares were issued to fund purchase of a switchboard and installation of telephone lines surrounding Lone Rock in all directions. The present office building was constructed in 1958 in downtown Lone Rock.

The Austinville State Savings Bank was established in the unincorporated Butler County town of Austinville in 1911. In addition to surviving the Great Depression, the bank survived a number of robberies and attempted robberies. In 1922, over $2,000 was stolen from the safe while nitroglycerin was used in a similar robbery attempt in 1930. Another robbery occurred on February 17, 1940, when burglars cut through the bank’s 3,000-pound safe to steal $1,000. The last robbery was October 4, 1985, as a new security system was installed shortly after the incident.

After a series of acquisitions, the bank was converted to a branch of the Lincoln Savings Bank. When the Lincoln Savings Bank decided to close the Austinville office, community members met to discuss ways to preserve the historic building, related memorabilia, and the contract post office which shared space with the bank. The Austinville Historical Society was quickly formed and took control of the building. The post office branch continued to operate for more than a decade before its closure on June 2, 2011.