L.E. Cardell was appointed the first postmaster in the Poweshiek County town of Malcom when postal service was established in March 1858. Currently located in the former Malcom Bank building, the facility underwent a major interior renovation in 1967. An open house was held when remodeling was complete, with many postal officials and Malcom residents present.
Postal service was first established in the Poweshiek County town of Guernsey in 1885, with local businessman Leonard B. Lowrey serving as the first postmaster. A rural route from Guernsey was established in 1901, with the first rural carrier serving about 110 families by horse and buggy. On June 30, 1957, hours and services were reduced as the Guernsey Post Office was converted to a branch location managed by the post office in nearby Montezuma. It moved to its final location, a private residence-turned-town hall, in 1974. The post office was officially shuttered on June 17, 2011; the 25 resident box holders installed mailboxes in front of their home and now receive rural delivery.
In the mid-1990s, the 130-year-old Manatt house was about to be sold by the city council in the Poweshiek County town of Brooklyn. The council was willing to dispense of the building for $1, given the buyer would move the building to make room for the new library. Residents received word of the arrangement made by the council and immediately began raising the $50,000 required to void the sale. The community banded together, raising $52,000 in less than a month. The home was purchased and now is operated as a historical museum by the Brooklyn Historical Society.
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 Carnegie Library building in Montezuma sits on the southwest corner of the square and is occupied by the Poweshiek County Historical and Genealogical Society. The Society took advantage of the opportunity to relocate the the historic building when the community’s Public Library moved to a new, modern facility in 2005. The library was the next-to-last to be granted by Carnegie in the state of Iowa. The library was dedicated in 1919.