Postmaster General Arthur E. Summerfield notified residents of the Pocahontas County community of Rolfe on August 25, 1960, that a contract had been signed for the construction of a new post office building. A ground-breaking ceremony was held in May 1961, while the facility was first opened to the public on February 26 the following year. The 2,800-square-foot building matched latest postal specifications, including modern lighting and equipment, plus a low, open patron service counter. The Greater Rolfe Club and post office staff jointly sponsored an open house held Saturday, March 3, 1962.
The first post office was established in Pocahontas on May 16, 1871, under the moniker Pocahontas Centre, with Andrew H. Lorimer appointed the first postmaster. Centre was dropped from the town’s name eleven years later. The present post office location opened for business on May 15, 1967. The 3,000-square-feet facility featured modern equipment plus a dedicated parking lot and loading ramp.
Samuel H. Gill was appointed postmaster of the Pocahontas County town of Havelock on March 1, 1882. First mail service was provided by the postmaster’s twice-weekly horseback ride to and from Pocahontas, then via messenger from the nearby Chicago & Northwestern Railway stop. Eventually, train service was discontinued in favor of highway-based Star Route Service which originated from the Fort Dodge office. The Havelock Post Office has been in its current location since the late 1940s; the building previously served as the Farmers Savings Bank.
When the mail route from the northwestern Iowa cities of Pocahontas to Humboldt was established in May 1878, Ellen Van Alstine was appointed postmistress of a the Blooming Prairie Post Office a mile north of present-day Gilmore City. When the railroad was constructed a mile south of Blooming Prairie, the post office was transferred a mile south and known as the Gilmore City Post Office as of August 3, 1882. The present facility opened on July 1, 1957, constructed as a stand-alone post office at a cost of $8,000.
Affiliated with the United Church of Christ since 1933, brick church at Main and Third Streets in Fonda is the oldest in Pocahontas County. Constructed as a Methodist Church in 1879, the building originally cost $1,800 and consisted of a sanctuary and pastor’s study. Extensive remodeling in 1906 reshaped the entire building, with a new brick structure constructed around the original building. The church currently shares a pastor with two United Church of Christ congregations in the nearby town of Newell.
Featuring a new Iowa photo each weekday; dedicated to discovering and documenting the best of small-town Iowa.
