Little Charmer Post Offices

I’m a talk show junkie. I’m addicted and I know it. Those close to me know I prefer to listen to the local, and sometimes not local, talking heads. As pertains to television, I’ve been known to watch the weather channel as opposed to watching favorites as Sopranos or Law and Order. In fact, I’ve never seen one episode of either. The weather is a mystery and the news is all too often, entertainment. Errands are done during the 1-4 p.m. segment of the Dave Ramsey show, http://www.daveramsey.com/ for all his wealth (no pun intended) of knowledge. Bob Webster, a local Master Gardner, is one of my favorite local Saturday morning shows and I’ve been known to disguise my voice as a call- in for advice on my gardening questions. He knows everything from dirt, bugs, plants, vegetables and even pets. Weekly morning drive begins at KTSA with Trey Ware and Brent Boller as my early morning, regular companion station, for two reasons. Trey Ware, with his Morning Edge show, has a firm, but gracious manner of disagreeing, or at least agreeing to disagree, without rudeness or obstinance as he filters through quite a variety of other's opinions. I always learn a new word with Brent’s extensive vocabulary though I resort to scribbling a word down quickly to find meaning in my dictionary when I reach my destination. They are on air 5:30 a.m. – 10:00 a.m., http://www.ktsa.com/ and when I’m headed out for my travels early, the last thing I want is elevator music or rock and roll. No, I’ll take the rock and roll a bit later in the day if music is my mood. I’ve been encouraged to listen to music, as opposed to talk shows, so my day begins “not so intense” or at least in a more relaxed mood. I don’t think a soft edge; relaxed mood will serve me well walking into the daily operations of a multi-specialty medical clinic that cares for many sick and injured folks in the community. No, I need my mind alert and my wits sharp. Listening to friendly bantering on the drive gives me the “need to know what’s going on in the world” feeling combined with the ongoing question of where are we in this crazy world of economics and the incessant question of when will this recession be over and people can begin to relax, enjoy life, take vacations and feel secure in their jobs. When I was a pre-teen, my mother’s brother always appeared, at least to me, to be secure in his job as a U. S. Postmaster in my mother’s hometown of Arcadia, TX. Arcadia, is located along Highway 6 in northwest Galveston County, and was established around 1889 near Hall's Bayou on the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway and named for Arcadia, Louisiana. The townsite was laid out by Henry Runge in 1890 and originally named Hall's Station. It included land for a school and a public park. The post office was founded in 1891. Several churches were organized in the 1890s, and in 1892 the White Horse Inn was built to impress prospective land buyers. The site of Arcadia was on Stephen F. Austin's fourth land grant. The area had been occupied by the Coco Indians and explored by Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca. By 1900 Arcadia had a population of 168, and in 1907 its school had eighty-nine pupils and two teachers. The town grew to 300 by 1920. Dairying became the town's largest industry and during the 1920s the Arcadia Creamery was founded, and the Farmer's Cooperative Feed and Grocery Store opened. In 1947 Arcadia had a post office, part of my family, 2 uncles, Lynn and Leon, my aunt, Mary Helen ("my Tis") and my mother, Joyce, the children of my grandparents, Fred and Annie Rush and ten businesses, with a population of 275. By the 1980s Arcadia was within the boundaries of Santa Fe, an incorporated town. My Uncle Leon worked in the town post office that was connected to an old house. It still stands in Arcadia…well, the building is intact but it is now a non-denominational food pantry and resale store. The post office that his daughter, my cousin Chris, remembers was connected to the still standing house. She remembers a husband and wife owned the house and that it was a food and dry goods store. The husband was the postmaster and he added a stucco attachment as the post office. His sister Ms. Maude, as we all called her, ran the store. When he retired his wife became the postmaster for 25 years and my Uncle Leon was the Assistant Postmaster. In 1969, my Uncle Leon became the postmaster having been through the era of mail being delivered by the train hanging the mail bags out for the town post office until 1958 when mail was delivered by trucks. I still remember my Uncle Leon coming across those railroad tracks to his mother's house (our Mama Rush, Annie to some) for lunch, and to chat a bit about what was going on, who he had seen and talked to, gave us all hugs and back to the post office he went. It didn’t seem like it was a stressful job but no doubt he saw many stressful times, especially in 1969, for all Americans. Fast forward to 2009, postal officials have now released a list of nearly 700 post offices in metropolitan areas that are being considered for possible closure or consolidation by the Independent Postal Regulatory Commission. According to the news, some post offices could be closed entirely but others may remain open and provide limited services. At first I did not hear it was in metropolitan areas and began to photograph small town post offices and watch the comings and goings of the folks as they walked in and out of these rather unique buildings. None of the post offices I took photos of are on the closure list but do enjoy the photos and little stories.

Hobson, TX 78117 The sun comes up behind this little post office (more times this summer than we San Antonians would like) on Hwy. 181 and Farm Road 81 near Indian Crossing on the San Antonio River. The post office was established in 1898 and it's population peaked in the early 1950's to 175 but in 1990 the town composed largely of Czech, German and Polish descent reported a population of 135 and it has remained that number to present.

It's the large cities like El Paso, Ft. Worth and Dallas that are targeted for closure with less than 20 in Texas. Travelling my journey every day didn’t stop me from taking a few photos and chatting with folks about their local post office and listening to their stories. As I’m usually asked when taking photos of schools, churches and other buildings, this was no different. “Are you from the newspaper?” I guess there’s something about a woman in a suit carrying a camera that conjures up images of being in the news.

Tuleta, TX 78162

Don't you just love this quaint little post office address, 123 Main, Tuleta, TX. I think it's blue wooden siding and aluminum window coverings should place it in nomination for one of the more "down home" post offices. If there was a coffee shop nearby I can attest that it would stay busy all day long. It took me 15 minutes before the daily flow to pick up the mail slowed enough to get a frontal photo without a car out front. Tuleta is on State Highway 181 twelve miles north of Beeville in north Bee County. It was founded by Peter Unzicker, a Mennonite minister, who brought a colony of Mennonites from Cullom, Illinois, in 1906. Unzicker, a German, purchased 54½ acres of land from the Chittum-Miller ranch for the townsite, which was named for J. M. Chittum's daughter. The San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway was built across the ranch in 1881. The depot opened in Tuleta in 1906; the following year the post office opened. The Mennonite church, built that year, was used for school on weekdays. In 1910 Amanda Stoltzfus organized the Tuleta Agriculture High School, the first of its kind in Texas; its faculty came from such prestigious institutions as Smith College and the University of Wisconsin. Mrs. Stoltzfus, the principal, offered instruction in sewing and cooking for girls and manual training and agriculture for boys. The school had dormitories for boarders. Tuleta once had three churches-Mennonite, Presbyterian, and Baptist-of which only the Baptist remained in 1990. Among the early businesses were Stoltzfus Mercantile Company and Gin, Unzicker Grocery and Grist Mill, Dirks Brothers Lumber Yard and Garage, Speer's Coffee Shop, the Rapp Hotel, and the Hall Hotel. Oil and gas were discovered west of Tuleta in 1929, when the population was 150. Several oil companies were still in operation in 1990, as were a grocery store, a water well service, and a community center. In 1989 its population was 189. In 1990 it was ninety-eight. The population reached 292 in 2000.

Edna, TX 77597 I travel from Beeville, TX to Angleton, TX occasionally and pass this more modern, brick and mortar post office. It hasn't always been quite this styled but has a colorful history. Edna is located on Hwy. 59, otherwise known as The Houston Hwy. Edna is exactly 100 miles (160 km) south-west of Houston, Texas and 120 miles (190 km) north-east of Corpus Christi, Texas. Edna, the county seat of Jackson County, was established in 1882 when the New York, Texas and Mexican Railway line was built from Rosenberg to Victoria and bypassed Texana, Texas then the county seat. Construction of the railroad began in September 1881. Edna was laid out on land owned by Mrs. Lucy Flournoy, who conveyed right-of-way and a half interest in the townsite to the railroad, which was promoted and built by Italian Count Joseph Telfener. The town was named for a daughter of the count. The NYT&M, nicknamed the "Macaroni," was constructed by Italian laborers, most of whom were brought from Lombardy by Telfener. After completion of the road, the majority of the crew remained in the area and established homes. The first train arrived on July 4, 1882; the first merchant was Gideon Egg, who moved his general merchandise store from Texana in 1882, and the first child born in the new community was Edna Louise Traylor. In an election of January 22, 1883, residents voted to make Edna the county seat in place of Texana. The contract for a new courthouse was awarded on February 11, 1884. A post office opened in 1886.

Normanna, TX. 78142

As the story goes, the history of Normanna can be told in a pecan shell. The area had been a Mexican land grant back in 1831. In 1874 it was named Walton Station after Sheriff D.A.T. Walton. Norwegian immigrants moved into the area in 1893, and formed the nucleus of their colony just 2 miles from Walton. When the postal authorities rejected the application for a post office under the name Walton, Normanna was submitted and accepted.The name loosely translates as "the place of Norsemen" but closer to the true meaning is "far North." Seeing that's where they were from, the name was appropriate. Families descended from the original Norwegian settlers still live in the area. Normanna has a museum in a building that has served as ranch headquarters, a hotel and a residence.

Pettus, TX 78146

Pettus is at the junction of U.S. Highway 181 and Farm Road 623, fourteen miles north of Beeville in northern Bee County. It was called Dry Medio from its first settlement in the 1850s until the Civil War, when it came to be called Pettus City in honor of John F. Pettus, one of the most prominent of the area's early settlers. In 1886 J. S. Hodges sold a right-of-way to the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway and donated local streets. By 1914 the town had a reported population of 250 and five general stores, Baptist and Christian churches, a cotton gin, a blacksmith, a lumberyard, and a physician. Oil was discovered near the town in 1929, and in 1933 Pettus reported 300 residents and eighteen businesses. In 1990 it had an estimated population of 400 and thirteen businesses. The population grew to 608 by 2000. This is a friendly little post office located across from the very local Dairy Queen and everyone that walks in seems to know everyone that walks out. At least thats my observation from waiting a bit to take a photo absent of any cars! A little trivia for Fancy Nancy of Pettus, TX. There are 6 more males than females in the fair town of Pettus, TX.

BERCLAIR, TX 78107

I caught this little blue and white charmer on my way to Angleton last month with a 90 year old out front...and he was not hesitant to let me know his age. As usual, he wanted to know if I was with the newspaper. Nope, didn't even look large enough to me to have a newspaper. But when I told him I was collecting photos of small South Texas post offices, he wanted to be in the photo. Well, I declined telling him that "no one person is going to be in the photos...just the buildings." Nothing doing, he wanted to take a photo of me since I was the brightest thing to come along to Berclair in a "spell", he said. Here I am wondering where the nearest sheriff is "just in case." Actually, if I didn't make it to Angleton by 8:00 a.m. on the scheduled morning, I think the crew of Dawn, Carole, Cheryl and Mary Helen, led by Jammie, would be out on the highway tracking me down! Now, a little about Berclair, TX.

Berclair, is on U.S. Highway 59 sixteen miles from Goliad in southwestern Goliad County, was established as a shipping point on the Gulf, Western Texas and Pacific rail line to serve an already well-populated ranching area. On December 10, 1889, Joseph Blackburn paid the railroad company $100 as a bonus for building through Goliad County and donated right-of-way through the southern corner of his ranch. A post office was established in 1889, along with a depot and stock pens. A hotel built at the site in 1887 to board the railroad workers later accommodated passengers from the daily train between Victoria and Beeville. In 1892 Berclair had a steam cotton gin, a saloon, a weekly newspaper called the Blossom, and eighteen other businesses serving an estimated 200 residents. For a while the Baptist church building was used by other Protestant groups, but by 1914 Methodist and Catholic churches had been built. The population and number of businesses declined in the early twentieth century; the saloon was closed by local law in 1910. Ah, so there is local law enforcement...maybe I should do police stations or sheriff's offices, next. And so the story goes...by the 1920s, however, about 300 people were living in Berclair, which had twenty businesses and was designated a banking town in 1929 and 1931. The number of businesses began to dwindle; the population remained stable for a while at 350, until the 1970 census recorded a decline to sixty-one residents and two businesses. Berclair was named either by the railroad surveyor after his home in Virginia or after the given names of Bert and Clair Lucas, owners of a nearby ranch. In the mid-1980s the settlement still supplied surrounding ranches. In 1986 the post office served sixty-one residents. In 1990 the population was seventy. In 2000 the population grew to 253.

Falls City, TX 78113 ...Need to check out the natural falls...thought that was made up!

Falls City is a mile southeast of the Wilson county line and seven miles northwest of Karnes City in northern Karnes County and owes its development to the railroad. Two earlier communities, Marcelina and Home Valley, had been located in the vicinity in the 1850s and 1860s, but people were not induced to settle the area until 1886, when the San Antonio and Aransas Pass Railway built a switch and depot called Brackenridge, named after railroad benefactor George W. Brackenridge.qv To provide postal service for the settlement that developed, the post office of Skiles was established a mile west of the depot in 1887. On November 28, 1893, it was moved closer to the tracks on the east side of the river, where it was consolidated with Brackenridge and renamed Falls City, after several nearby natural waterfalls. On June 25, 1893, a train robbery at Brackenridge resulted in the only hanging at Karnes City, the new county seat. In 1895 Falls City had one general store, a post office, two saloons, a lumberyard, a hotel, a depot, two livery stables, and a steam mill and gin. The principal place of business was the Schulz Mercantile Company, which operated in a large brick building until it burned down in 1935. The site was later occupied by the Falls City National Bank. A number of people from Panna Maria and Cestohowa moved to Falls City, where they could receive the benefits of a railroad. As a result Falls City became a predominantly Polish-American settlement. In 1902 Holy Trinity Catholic Church was erected; a parish school opened in 1911. In 1924 the Columbian Hall was built for the Knights of Columbus; it was replaced by the Falls City Community Hall in 1983. In 1931 a new Catholic school, built for $4,000, enrolled 100 students. In 1938 a public school was built, and a high school was added in 1950. Polish-American farmers east and west of the town did most of their trading at Falls City, which incorporated on September 28, 1946. The discovery of oil helped the town to grow. After the discovery of uranium in 1958 near Tordilla Hill, ten miles west of Falls City, uranium mining and milling developed. In the mid-1970s the town was seriously divided over the uranium mines, which were said to contaminate the land and water. Businessmen wanted the mines to continue operation, but farmers did not. The conflict continued in the 1990s. By 1993 the uranium activity, except for a multimillion-dollar reclamation project by federal authorities, was all but over. In 1993 Falls City had a mayor-council form of government and a population of 478. In 2000 the population was 591.

As to the recession and its impact on my postal box and contents, the only change I see at my local station is that every few years the delivery to boxes goes up by 30 minutes. When I first switched to a P. O. Box, the sign said "all mail will be up by 8:30 a.m." I believe the scheduled deadline is now 10:30. So it's longer for the mail to go up, maybe not quite as much junk mail but still my fair share of brightly colored fliers and a few coupon packets stuffed in the box for me to sort through before leaving the post office. Many times I’ve wondered why they don’t put shredders in the lobby instead of overflowing trash cans. Probably afraid someone will get hurt or the shredder will take legs and walk. While I still receive the junk stuff, there has definitely been a decline, in my opinion. I suppose the the rise in shipping costs (higher gas prices) that junk mail is at least, partially, on the downhill slide. I still get the Victoria’s Secret catalog and L.L. Bean but I honestly don’t know why because I’ve never ordered from them. Other businesses that are still doing junk mail are no doubt reducing the size of their catalogs and we’ve certainly seen the reduction in the size of newspapers. I think those are definitely signs of struggles but the positive is we have less paper wasted, less trips to the recycle bucket to be lugged to the street and back in again every week. Unfortunately, these reductions and cutbacks results in a struggling United States Postal Service. It has raised its rates again but it still made $200 million less from junk mail than it did in 2007 and there’s no doubt it will be harder hit in 2009. The reprieve from overstuffed mailboxes will probably end as the economy revives. Marketers say catalogs, pamphlets, and flyers remain among the cheapest, most effective ways to pitch products and draw new shoppers to stores. Personally, I like to order off the internet and have it delivered to my door and receive a real card or letter in my mailbox. There’s nothing more personal than a handwritten note from family or friends and if I’m lucky a little something inside, like a photo, to treasure and make my day. Hoping you receive Good News in your mailbox and that you've had a Safe and Happy Labor Day, September, 2009.