The post office in the Keokuk County town of Delta moved to its fifth and final location in 1958, when residents Mr. and Mrs. Alderdyce remodeled the lower floor of their building for use as the Post Office, with U.S. Congressman Karl M. LeCompte speaking at the dedication held that August. After over 130 years of continuous service, the Delta Post Office was suspended on April 10, 2009, and officially discontinued in February 2011. Mail for Delta is now served via a rural route based in nearby What Cheer.
The first post office was established in the Crawford County town of Kiron on July 23, 1872, with Andrew Norelius appointed the first postmaster. He held the position for 18 years, operating the small office from within his home. The postmaster job originally required a twice-weekly, 7.7-mile horseback ride to Deloit to pickup and drop off mail, regardless of weather. Within a few years, a route was setup to deliver mail from Denison via stage or wagon on a daily basis.
Postal service was established in the Washington County town of West Chester on January 27, 1873 with George James named the first postmaster. The first rural route was established on November 1903, a result of a petition circulated among area farmers encouraging the service. While the postmaster, Dave Kilgore, was relatively unsuccessful in his effort to obtain signatures, Catholic Priest A.G. Leet was successful in the second attempt. The first rural carrier made $48.50 per month for the 29-mile route.
West Chester was one of over 30 communities to lose its post office in 2011; service was officially discontinued on October 29, 2011. The nearest post office is 9 miles away in Keota.
The first post office was established in the Humboldt County town of Renwick in March 1882. Postmaster F.J. Stoddard was appointed the first postmaster, operating the office from his Stoddard Brothers Store. Rural delivery was introduced in April 1904 with a second route added the following year. The post office moved to its present brick building in December 1959.
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.
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