Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 October 1908 — A LITTLE POSTOFFICE HISTORY. [ARTICLE]

A LITTLE POSTOFFICE HISTORY.

The postoffice was moved into the K. of P. building Sunday afternoon, and Monday morning everybody went there to get their mail except William Washburn. He had; not heard of the change and endeavored to get in the old building, but upon the kindly advice of some of his friends he deposited his letters where they will do the most good. Rensselaer now has an up-to-date postoffice, one that we need not be ashamed of, even though the majority of its patrons do have to walk further than usual for their mail. The story of the wanderings of the Rensselaer postoffice from one end of town' to the other is one that covers the last half century, and with which the younger people of this city are not at all familiar. The earliest history of the office that we have been able to unearth is its location in a little building on the corner now occupied by the Nowels hotel. Then after a time it was up near the corner where Dr. J. W. Horton’s business block now stands. It also occupied a place in the old Dunlap building that stood on*, the ground at present occupied by the Chicago Department Store, for many years. Later it was kept in’ the opera house block, then occupied by Willey & Sigler as a general store. From there it went into a building that stood until recent years just east of the First National Bank, now occupied by the I. O. O. F. block.

Here Horace E. James kept it for twelve years, and turned it over to N. S. Bates during the first Cleveland administration, who also kept it in the same place for four years more. After Bates came E. D. Rhoads with four years more in the same place, but in 1892 with the change of administration E. P. Honan changed the postoffice to the building now occupied by Mrs. Purcupile where it remained through his administration and during the time George M. Robinson was postmaster, and on his death Frank B. Meyer was appointed to the position and it was changed to the location from whence it was moved Sunday, and where It is destined to stay for the next ten years if plans do not miscarry that have been already consumated. No little “cussing’’ was heard from the patrons as they wended their way to the new location to get their letters Monday morning, and to add to their inconvenience they could not get in until after 7 o’clock as the new boxes had not been assigned and the employes were not acquainted with the new arrangement, necessitating much delay from that source.