Every trip to the Scipio Post Office brings to mind the old Post Office that was located on the east side of State Route 34 almost where it intersects with Center Road, in the front of the house where the Powers family lived. Mr. Powers was the Postmaster for many years. I recall visits there to mail a package or buy stamps in the 1950's and 1960's.
As time passed, that building eventually was replaced by a home and Scipio built a new Post Office just down Route 34. Venice Center's post office was closed and Venice merged with Scipio when their postmistress retired, and their zip code was dropped in favor of using Scipio's.
The postal system itself has been in use in our country since Revolutionary War Times, headed originally by Benjamin Franklin. Home delivery wasn't added until the 1920's.
I've been doing some research on the postal system, for an article I am writing about a Scipio man named Harry Lawler. Harry was a rural carrier for many years. The first reference I found to his occupation was in 1907 when he would have been about 23 years old. The latest reference is in 1934 when Harry would have been a postal carrier for at least 27 years.
While researching Harry and his career, I stumbled upon a couple of news articles about Scipio Post Office being created. May 1st of 1934 was the day that Scipio Post Office first opened its doors. The Postmaster was George McDonald. As part of this new arrangement, on April 30, 1934, the Post Offices at Ensenore and Merrifield were closed. Moravia rural carrier Millwood Fitch retired with 30 plus years under his belt, leaving room for George Shorkley who had been the Merrifield rural carrier to transfer to the Moravia route, and Harry Lawler to transfer in from Ensenore as Scipio's rural carrier. Timing was everything, I guess!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Sandie, correct me if I am wrong, but I'm thinking the Post Office was on the west side of Rt. 34, not the east. I'm also thinking that Tom Powers might have been the Postmaster there in the 1950s? Finally, I'm thinking that the same building was where Scipio residents voted in national elections and believe I cast my first ballot there. The fog of time makes my recollection of all this quite hazy, however.
Roger is correct - the Post Office was on the west side of the road. The new one is on the east side of the road. And yes, it was Tom Powers who was Postmaster, for sure during the mid-50's and the 60's.
I did not know that was a voting site, thanks for sharing that information. Did you know that \aAt the time when Emily Howland first cast her vote, Scipio had 2 voting districts.
Post a Comment