Joomla Sport Template

As you may have heard the U.S. Postal Service is considering reducing mail delivery to 5 days per week, along with other possible cuts in service, due to budget constraints. Many complaints have been voiced. However, when we look back through the history of mail service, or the lack of, we can see how really spoiled we have become!

Mail delivery within the Arizona Territory presented a great many problems. The new settlers' common complaint was the lack of mail from ‘home’ with news of the loved ones they had left behind.

The July 20, 1864 issue of the Miner stated that the only mail service to the area was by courtesy of the military express on a sometimes irregular, semi-monthly basis. In August, it was announced that a contract had been awarded for an express service that was to run from Ft. Whipple (AZ) to Ft. Wingate (NY). It was thought a letter would be able to reach New York in 26-30 days! “A great improvement.” However, by September the venture was given up due to distances, weather, danger of Indians, and, lack of business. In that same year there had been an attempt to establish a weekly pony express route between Prescott and Albuquerque. This too was a short-lived operation due to the many riders that were killed by Indians.

Two early newspaper items attest to the problems:

Arizona Miner, April 25, 1866: “We hear there is a ton of mail for the Prescott area lying at Fort Wingate (New York). Is there no way of getting it here??”

Santa Fe Gazette, May 5, 1866: “We just this week received mail from Arizona, the first since last November.”

It is interesting to note that the early newspapers would carry a list of the names of those who had mail waiting unclaimed at the local post office.

The first post office in Chino Valley was established on October 6, 1879 (130 years ago) near Del Rio at the site of Camp Clark, formerly called Fort Whipple. On April 13, 1883 the post office was discontinued. Prescott served this area until Nov. 13, 1883 (about 8 months). Then the post office was re-established in this area until July 25, 1891 (about 7 years), when once more it was closed and the area was served by Prescott.

Then, on June 7, 1895, (4 years later) a post office was opened at Jerome Junction and the western terminus of the narrow gauge railroad connecting Jerome with the Santa Fe Peavine RR, which extended from Phoenix to Ash Fork. This post office was simply known as, ‘the Junction’.

In 1925 (30 years later) the post office was moved from the Jerome Junction location, to where the Buckaroo Market is now. Naming the post office “Chino Valley” was a problem as the Post Office Dept. didn’t want to have 2 names, but they eventually approved it.

In the intervening years, the Post Office had more moves – from Buckaroo Market to where Country Girl Beauty Shop is, to where CV Medical Center is, to its first permanent facility behind the CV Medical Center in 1964. Up until this time there was no home / business delivery, everyone had to pick up their mail at the post office.

The town eventually outgrew that facility and a new one was built and dedicated in 1997 at the present location on Rd. 2 North.

Thank you!

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed