Welcome To McPherson County Nebraska

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Post Offices

The following information was taken from McPherson County History Book, published in 1986. Verbal permission to use the book online for this purpose was given by Betty Neal Rodewald Schroeder, Editor.

• Brighton Post Office

  Brighton Post Office was located in the southwestern part of the Tryon Precinct, in Conroy Valley. Residents wishing to find a name different from any other, submitted the name Brighton to the Postal Department. Brighton was accepted. Brighton was the name of an English town, and also a man by the name of Brighton lived in the area.

  Establishment is unknown, but Reuel Conroy was appointed postmaster in 1910. In 1911, Brighton was located three miles from the Musser home, which was eight miles west and two miles south of Tryon. Brighton was discontinued in 1916.

• Calora Post Office

  Calora became a post office in 1913. It was named for Carl C. Crouse and his wife, Aura. The two names, Carl and Aura, suggested a merger and Calora came into existence.

  Calora claimed a small general store and several homes. But it was fated to decline as there were many other little communities in the sandhills of the early 1900's.

  Most of those litttle "almost" villages never grew large enough so that they could later be referred to as ghost towns -- but they were -- and they are no more.

  Calora Post Office was put on the Sutherland to Lena route. At this time Mr. Coker, the mailman and owner of a big business in Sutherland, purchased an auto to take the place of horse power which formerly supplied this route. He made the round trip in a day. He did a passenger and freight business also.

  Carl Crouse was the first postmaster at Calora and Eva Sizer was the last. Calora closed December 31, 1951.

  John Dahlin relates that John Popham at one time had the contract to carry this service, but his son, Fred, actually carried the mail. Jensen lived at Diamond Bar Lake and his mailbox was an old cow carcass, the carrier threw the mail inside the rib cage. John Dahlin was a son-in-law of Fred Popham.

  John Craig and son, Henry Clay, carried the Sutherland, Flats and Calora mail in 1931.

• Chandler Post Office

  The Chandler Post Office was located in the Worden Precinct, northeast of Omega.

  The Chandler Post Office was named for an elderly lady, Mrs. S. Chandler, who was residing in the vicinity at the time the post office was established.

  The Lewis Mann story states the Chandler Post Office was on the homestead of A.J. Tracy and at one time was operated by Lewis Mann.

• Collins Post Office

  A family by the name of Collins had homesteaded in the valley. Collins was once called Collins Valley. The name was changed in the Kinkaid days when a post office was established.

  In 1916 Chris Eberspecher had the route. A daughter, Cloris Aufdengarten, carried the mail with the help of Leona, another daughter. In September 1917, Leona married Jerry Kramer, then she and a sister, Fannie Eberspecher, carried the mail. The route went from Collins to the Elva post office, which was 12 to 15 miles northeast, at the Ralph Swiggert ranch. Mrs. Swiggert was the postmaster of the Elva Post Office.

  Collins was located three miles west of where Arch Kramer lives, on land owned by Bob Kramer.

• Dunwell-Moore Post Offices

  Dunwell was named in honor of the persons who started the post office in Hooker County, William Dunbar and Frank Wells. It was located north of Omega.

  The Moore Post Office was located 15 miles northwest of Tryon and was named after a local ranchman. It was located in the Tom Haney home just across in Hooker County.

  W.E. Neal carried the Dunwell mail in 1931.

  The Dunwell-Moore Post offices werre discontinued September 7, 1933.

• Eclipse Post Office

  The Eclipse Post Office was at the head of the Dismal River. Vira Tucker was postmaster.

  The name was selected by three or four ranchers who met at the A.J. Gragg home. It is thought that the office was named independently, and not after a person or place.

  The Eclipse Post Office was moved to Miller, August of 1923, and the carrier continued making the route three times a week.

• Elva Post Office

  (From the Chris Eberspecher story) The Elva post office was at the Ralph Swiggart ranch. Mrs. Swiggart was the postmaster. Claris Ebersspecher carried the mail for her father, Chris, from 1914 to 1916 when she married Herman Aufdengarten. Her sister Leona helped her. After Claris married, the mail was carried by Leona and her sister Fannie. The mail was carried from the Collin's post office to Elva post office.

• Flats Post Office

  During the homestead days, a Mrs. Lombard and two of her sons, homesteaded land about three miles from the town in a broad valley, which came ot be known as Lombard Flats. Later the Lombard home was selected for the post office. In choosing the name, Lombard was omitted and the post office was called Flats. The Post Office has been moved several times but kept the same name.

  People who have been in the Flats Post Office are Mr. and Mrs. Nate Hall, Mr. and Mrs. Hal Proffitt, Mr. and Mrs. Emerson Hogue in 1934, and Mr. and Mrs. Taft Haddy, 1935 to 1941, Mr. and Mrs. Court Cash, 1941 to 1957 and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Thompson. Phyllis Kinsman was Mr. and Mrs. Jack Thompson's helper.

  The Flats Post Office was established in 1909 or 1910, and was closed October 13, 1972.

  The Flats Post Office was still in operation when the zip code came out. Flatt's zip code was 69136.

• Forks Post Office

  The new post office in the Johnston home was called Forks in 1910.

  The post office was called Forks because it was located at the fork of the east and west Birdwood Creeks.

  Forks was discontinued in the spring of 1918.

• Largo Post Office

  The Largo Post Office was located near where the Masters family lived, about five miles south of Tryon. The post office was run only a few years.

• Lemley Post Office

  Lemley was located in Lemley Precinct. The pioneer postmaster, george M. Brooks, named the post office after his infant sone, Lemley Brooks.

• Lena Post Office

  The Lena Post Office was established in 1893, named after Lena (Keyes) Sellers, located in Box Lake Valley. In 1895, Harry Roberts homesteaded the land where James Macomber now lives. Harry put in a store and the Lena Post Office was moved from Box Lake to Roberts Store. About 1900, Bill Reuter came along and offered Roberts an interest in some California property for his store. It then became Reuter's Store, until he sold out to Will Dikeman in 1912. The Post Office was moved to the norht side of Mill Camp Valley at Bill Mathews. From there it was moved to the James Gragg homestead at the east end of Swan Lake. Floyd Gragg was postmaster. When he left, Marion Huffman and wife, Maude, kept it while they had the place leased. In March 1930, it was moved to the Fred Stoddard homestead and his daughter, Bertha, then his wife Jessie, cared for the mail. After Fred died, his son, Earl, moved there and Margaret was postmaster until 1952, when Bird C. and Ruby V. Huffman bought the Stoddard estate land. Bill and Visa took care of the mail until they left in 1958. The Post Office was then discontinued and the mail is on a circular route out of Whitman three days a week.

  The first mail into Lena came from Paxton and on north to Abby on horseback. Abby was closed and later the mail came out of Sutherland Post Office, to Lilac and on to Lena. Then it came out of Tryon for many years. Although, some of these years it started at Lena, went to Tryon and back to Lena. This way the letters got out a day earlier.

  (Written by Opal L. Steiff, Flats, N E, year unknown)

  We found some of the mail carriers were C. T. Cline in 1903; Florence Allen, 1930, with Edward and Ross Allen as substitutes; Buster McMullen in 1935 until 1939, when Charles Chessmore got the contract to carry the mail for the next four years. The route was the longest route out of Tryon, going to Lena in eastern Arthur County three days a week.

  Visa Stainaker was the last postmaster when it closed in 1958.

  It appears that the Poney Express had gone back into action Sunday when Jim Bowlin came riding into the Lena Post Office with the mail sack from Whitman.

  The carrier, Mr. Shorty Johnson was unable to complete his route Saturday due to the severe road conditions and again attempted to deliver the mail on Sunday, only to meet with the same fate. While Jim deliverd the mail on horseback, Shorty was again digging out.

  We appreciate the efforts of our carrier, above and beyond the call of duty to get our mail thru under such adverse circumstances.

  Oh, where, Oh where have our little roads gone?
  Oh where, Oh where can they be?
  The snow is deep, and the drifts so high,
  It's so white, we can hardly see!

  Oh where, Oh where, are the paths we scooped?
  And where is the hay for the cattle?
  We are cold, stiff and sore and nearly poohed,
  And there's still much more snow to battle.

• Lilac Post Office

  Lilac was one of the first post offices to be established in the county. The post office was moved from one location to another, including the home of Nate Trego and for a number of years at the Bert Snyder ranch, where it was when it was closed in January 1936. The patrons then got their mail at Flats.

  We think it was probably started in 1890. The name Lilac was selected by the Government from a list of names suggested. A small bush was growing in the yard of the family who wished to establish a post office, so the name Lilac was included and was chosen.

  Fred Popham was one of the first carriers of the mail to the Lilac Post Office and was carried by horseback.

  Lilac was located about halfway between Sutherland and Lena.

• Mayflower Post Office

  Mayflower was a Post Office located near the line of Tryon and Cottonwood Precincts. The origin of the name is unknown; perhaps the Government selected it, maybe for the Mayflower ship. It was closed before 1935.

• McPherson Post Office

  McPherson Post Office was located about four miles north of Tryon near the Edward Waits home. Later after Tryon was established, it was moved to Tryon.

  When the McPherson Post Office was established, the mail came from Gandy to McPherson, then on to Omega. In about 1908, Alva Waits carried the mail free for 90 days to establish a route from North Platte. He used four saddle horses to make the trip. A lot of the time, he would make the trip in three hours.

  McPherson was the location of the first newspaper, "McPherson County News", established in 1887.

• Nesbit Post Office

  The Nesbit Post Office was in operation in Logan County from 1880 to 1902, with Jacob Hassinger being the first postmaster. In 1902 Robert Cassens was appointed postmaster and it was moved across the line into McPherson County where Cassens had a store.

  Nesbit was closed in 1922, and the mail was sent to North Platte.

• Ney-Summit Post Offices

  Ney Post Office was located near the northeastern corner of McPherson County, in Hall Precinct, and established in 1907 in the S.B. Cloud home.

  Ney was probably named for a local resident. Ernest Ensign was the firs mail carrier there, and Edd Wentz was another early settler.

  Later Ney was discontinued and another post office was established a few miles away in Thomas County at the Alvin Clark home. It was called Summit.

  Summit was so named for its elevated position. At first it was located in the southwestern part of Thomas County in the Dismal Precinct. The Post Office was moved back and forth across the county line. At one time it was in the home of Alvin Clark and his sister Jane. This is the place where Don Rodewald now lives.

  W. C. Huntzinger carried the mail from Summit to Stapleton in October of 1914.

• Omega Post Office

  Omega was the first Post Office in McPherson county, with Jay Smith as postmaster. It was located about six miles north of Tryon, and was at the end of the route out from Gandy.

  Omega was named after a Biblical reference "Alpha and Omega", Alpha meaning beginning and Omega meaning last or the end of things.

  In 1895, W.E. Wisner was postmaster. It was discontinued in 1918.

• Ringgold Post Office

  Ringgold's history goes way back to 1900, and it's an interesting one. W.J. James started with a store along the trail, selling only candy, peanuts and chewing gum.

  In 1904, Louis Stienbeck bought the business. He added a room and began selling a few groceries. People petitioned for a post office at this time.

  The name Ringgold was given to the new post office.

  Ringgold was suggested by the Bender and Heldenbrand families who came from Ringgold township in Dawson County.

  At the time, mail was being carried by horseback from Gandy to Nesbit Post Office, so Ringgold was added.

  Lois Stienbeck became the first Postmaster. We don't have a complet list of Postmasters, but we have reason to believe that Tom and Alice Jones took over in 1915, continuing for five years until 1920 when they moved.

  Mr. and Mrs. Bud Danker bought the building the post office was in, in 1929. Mrs. Danker acted as postmaster and Mr. Danker ran the highway patrol. Mrs. Danker remodeled and added new boxes.

  Mrs. Danker held this office until March 1937, when Glen Keesler was installed. He acted until he moved. At this time Doris Schmidt was acting postmaster.

  Emma Kimball acted as postmaster from 1950 to October 25, 1951.

  Wilma Mayfield was appointed at this time and held this post until she retired December 30, 1966.

  Wilma Neal was appointed acting postmaster to fill the vacancy. She received her Certificate of Appointment from the Postmaster General Lawrenc F. O'Brian, February 2, 1967. Mrs Alvin Dally of Anselmo Post Office spent two days instructing her and two more days of instruction and help from other postal workers before the orientation program was over.

  The Ringgold Post Office was closed August 11, 1967, and the records and the Rural Route were transferred to Tryon at this time. Ringgold's zip code was 69158.

  Ringgold was the only post office in McPherson county with a rural route. The first route out of Ringgold was in 1920 and was established by Fred Bertran. Clyde Wilson took his Civil Service Exam, July 28, 1928, and received his appointment on November 28, 1928. He carried this mail route 35 years and retired at age 70 in April of 1964.

  Larry Trumbull, Clydes son-in-law, carried the mail and in August 1967, this route was transferred to Tryon. Larry continued to carry this route until 1977, when he was transferred to a route from North Platte. The rural route was re-routed out of Stapleton and is now carried by Roy Leman.

• Thune Post Office

  The Thune Post Office was located in the south western part of Cottonwood Precinct in McPherson County.

  In 1905, Henry, Mary and Dora Thun, brother and sisters, had homesteaded sections adjoining each other. They built a general store with a gas station and a cream testing station and applied for a post office. Hal Proffitt subitted the name Thun, but the Postal Department changed it to Thune, with an "e". Sometimes this settlement was referred to as Thunerville.

  In the early 20's Hal Proffitt, who owned the store at Flats, bought the Dora Thun section, containing the Thune store and post office. He hired Buryl Brown to run it; later still, Claude and Effie Lawyer.

  In September of 1937, the Thune Stone burned with a total loss of the building, and all contents, including the post office records. It was owned by Hal Proffitt and operated by Marvin Platt. The fire started while Platt was at his home one quarter mile away.

  Carl Rundback now owns this section. One of the other buildings was being used as a garage by Rundbacks when it also burned.

  In June of 1937, the Thune post office was robbed. Elmer Brothwell and Alfred Clapp pleaded guilty in Federal Court.

• Tryon Post Office

  Authorities and old residents differ on the subject of naming the county seat of McPherson County. some say it was named for William Tryon, a colonial governor of America (1725-1788). Others say it was named by Judge Neville of North Platte and still others say it was named by Mrs. Jay Smith, who said, "Let's keep trying-on to have a town." Others say the people were disappointed they didn't get a railroad and a large city built. They inserted the word "try-on" which became Tryon. As the old saying goes, "If at first you don't succeed, Try, Try-again."

  In the fall of 1892 the name of the county seat was changed from McPherson to Tryon and a post office was established in the limits of the town.

  Harry Crowder was a postmaster but in 1913 he resigned the position and started carrying the mail. In 1916 the North Platte to Tryon carrier was Dell Drum.

  The Tryon Post Office was robbed on October 15, 1916. The safe was blown open and stamps and cash were taken. The strong box kept in the safe, which contained the cash, was found near a corn crib on the east side of the Mike David Store block. There was $20 taken.

  I.C. Zenor was postmaster in 1917. He was postmaster for 12 years. Mrs. A.C. Hill, Sr., was appointed as acting postmaster until an appointment was made March 19, 1925. Mr. Zenor was appointed to a rural route out of North Platte.

  The Post Office was moved to its present location in 1931. Mrs. Hill ran the post office until July 14, 1935, when Mrs. Mildred Neal, wife of Beve Neal, received the temporary appointment of the Tryon office and took over the position until a Civil Service Examination was held and an appointment could be made. Several took the examination and Mildred received the permanent appointment, May 28, 1936, and served until June 17, 1943, at which time she resigned.

  Maxine Neal succeeded Mildred Neal as postmaster and assumed her duties July 23, 1943. She started serving under the President Truman administration. Her appoointment was signed by President Truman. It was then a fourth class office and September 3, 1945, it was changed to a third class office due to increased mail volume.

  When Maxine started her duties her pay was based on mail cancellation, so she had to count each piece of mail handled and cancelled.

  Harold Neal, Maxine's husband, was appointed as a regular clerk in 1945. Mrs. Frank Cotton served as a replacement clerk when Maxine became postmaster. Mrs Cotton served many years until she retired at the age of 70. Other clerks during Maxine's tenure were Lucille Kemp, Mabel Hatch and Geneva Neal.

  During her 33 year tenure there have been a number of changes in the routing and time schedules, which were for the better, we hope.
  
  
  

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