Postal service was established in the Monona County town of Mapleton in June 1858 with H.D. Warren named the first postmaster. The first rural route was established in 1903, while city delivery began on September 1, 1916. The present, 3,000-square-feet brick facility opened in October 1960.
Postal service was established in the Linn County town of Walker on August 12, 1873, first operating out of Postmaster James K. Hotchkins’ home. Before the current facility was constructed in 1975, the post office was located in a number of buildings including a former church in 1972.
Residents in the Fayette County town of Arlington received a notice on Friday, April 22, 2011, noting the closure of their post office was imminent. A meeting was held the following Monday at the local Lutheran Church, and the office was shuttered the following Wednesday. The Des Moines Register writer Kyle Munson chronicled the closure which was classified by the postal service as an emergency suspension. The office was one of over 30 closed in Iowa in 2011.
On August 8, 2007, postal services were suspended in the Fayette County town of Westgate after lightning struck the adjacent building. The structure was deemed unsafe and prone to collapse, causing the post office to be endangered and closed. After the post office was closed, cluster boxes were installed in a nearby lot, and a formal meeting was held with community members the following spring.
In April 2010, when this photo was taken, a piece of paper with the message “Temporarily Closed” was posted inside the front door. However, attempts to regain an office for the community were unsuccessful; it was officially discontinued on October 25, 2009.
On January 8, 1875, August Nienstedt was appointed the first postmaster for the Floyd County town of Rudd. Mail was originally delivered to Rudd by stagecoach, but by the late 1800s, mail arrived by railroad. That process lasted until 1960, when the train which carried mail to and from Rudd was discontinued. The current post office was constructed and dedicated in 1990.