Situated just north of the Fayette County community of Clermont is the Montauk Mansion and Historic Site, which was home to Iowa’s 12th governor, William Larrabee, and dates to 1874. Constructed of brick and limestone, the mansion was home to the Larrabee family for more than 100 years before being given to the State Historical Society of Iowa. The home and surrounding property, which overlooks the Turkey River, is open for tours Memorial Day through Labor Day.
The 88 citizens in the community of Randalia in Fayette County, Iowa, were ecstatic in 1998 when a new modular post office was installed at the edge of the community. Constructed at the cost of $100,000, the trailer-like facility featured handicap-accessible entrances and a 24-hour lobby. The post office had previously been located in an old bank building that presented accessibility challenges for box-holders and an inefficient layout for customers and staff.
The new office was opened for less than 10 years before service was suspended in 2007. During that time, the number of post office boxes rented had dropped from 41 to 26, and according to a U.S. Postal Service spokesperson quoted in the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier, “revenues and deliveries [had] continually declined.” Once a final decision was made to permanently close the Randalia office, the modular post office was removed entirely. Only the gravel parking lot and concrete foundation remain.