POST OFFICE MILESTONES

These are just some events, local and national, that have to do with the Post Office. Special thanks to Ben Brown for his recollections.  We welcome any additions, corrections, or stories - please contact us. 

1823
The first mail came to Minnesota by a steamboat from St. Louis to Fort Snelling.

1847
Postage stamps were instituted nationwide.

1851
The first Post Office was established in Minneapolis.

1856
Minnesota's first mail service was carried on horseback and on foot. Stage service ran from 1861 to August 1870.

1873
Minneapolis city postal delivery was established.

1887
Central mail service was established locally at what was called the Elmwood Post Office on October 20. Although O.K. Earle was the first appointed postmaster, Joseph Hamilton was the first to do permanent service. People probably picked up their mail at the Depot.

1889
In response to a resolution of the Village Council on March 12, 1889, the Post Office changed the name the Elmwood Station to the St. Louis Park Station. James T. Davis succeeded Joseph Hamilton as Postmaster.

1892
Charles Hamilton served as Postmaster and the Hamilton Building housed the Post Office until 1916.

1897
The first rural free delivery mail routes were established as an experiment. In Minnesota, Farmington was selected and four routes were mapped out.

1902
Rural free delivery began nationwide. George M. Whipple, who first came to St. Louis Park in 1901, was the first rural mail carrier out of the Park. His route took him 28 miles, filling 40 boxes. Whipple handled the route, which extended into Golden Valley, with a two-wheeled sulky, and sometimes by bicycle. Whipple started the route at age 32 and continued until 1915. In 1951 he lived at 4517 Minnetonka Blvd.

1906
Alma Drake Groskopf worked at the post office from 1906 to 1915. She came to the Park in 1897, and in 1951 she lived at 3800 Brunswick.

1914
Carriers were provided official vehicles instead of having to use their own transportation.

The Commercial Club discussed having the mail route to Brookside start from St. Louis Park instead of Linden Hills, but the residents didn’t want to change. Affected citizens included Merrill, Werner, Higgins, Force, and McCarty.

1915
F. Verne Langdon became the Village's Postmaster on January 1 at the age of 23. He held that title until St. Louis Park became a branch of the Minneapolis postal system on September 30, 1930, at which time he served as station superintendent until he retired in 1956. The local post office served about 700 residents. There was one rural route, but most people called for their mail at the post office. The need for better roads in order to deliver the mail led Congress in 1916 to appropriate the nation's first highway funds, specifically earmarked to states to improve postal roads.

1916
The post office moved from the Hamilton Building to the back of the new bank building at Main and Broadway [Dakota and Walker].

1919
The bank failed in late 1918/early 1919, and the Post Office moved to the front of the building. There were now two rural routes, with fewer people having to call for their mail at the post office. The bank building was owned by Robert E. Scott, superintendent of schools, and John Freeland.

1925
The tornado of June 25 blew in the front of the Post Office.

1929
The post office was burglarized when robbers broke in through a front window and stole stamps and cash.

Pete “Dutch” Goodhard became the first “foot” mail carrier in the Park, working his route in northeast St. Louis Park from 1929 to 1938. He walked about 20 miles each day, accompanied by a borrowed German Shepherd. He finally quit the route when he lost too much weight and was replaced by two men.

1930
A group of businessmen, dissatisfied with the postal service, signed a petition requesting that St. Louis Park become a branch of the Minneapolis Post Office.  The change was made on October 1, 1930.  Verne Langdon became superintendent of the Park branch, with Albert E. Lundberg as clerk. 

1933
The post office was burglarized by two young men who broke in through an adjoining restaurant. They broke into the safe, but were captured shortly afterwards. (See Police and Crime.) 1933 was also the year of a small fire in the building.

1937
The post office was moved to 6512 Walker Street.  Staff increased to two rural carriers, 12 foot carriers and three clerks.  

1943
In June 1943 the post office was moved to a larger space in the one-story portion of the Walker building at 6504 Walker Street, formerly the Acme Venetian Blind Company. The post office awarded a ten year lease to J.K. Seirup, the owner of the building. 

Postal zones were instituted for larger cities: the zone for St. Louis Park was 16, with 26 added later for the area west of Dakota Avenue.

1948
Ed Christy constructed a building behind his station for the post office. By that time the branch served 15,000 families and 800 businesses.

1950
The two residential postal deliveries per day were cut to one.

1953
The new post office at 3425 Dakota held its open house on December 12, attended by 550 potential customers and Orville Freeman. The building was erected by C.Ed Christy at Hamilton Ave., one block from Lake Street. It replaced the former space on Walker Street.  A June 26, 1952 article in the Dispatch indicated that the new space would be leased, and that 10-15 new carriers would be added. 

1956
With the retirement of Verne Langdon, Ebert Swenson became Station Superintendent.

On March 15, 1956, a second Post Office at 3891 Wooddale (now Park Center Blvd.) was opened. The building was built on land leased by Nick Phillips, owner of Lilac Way, at a cost of $27,000. The building was demolished along with the rest of Lilac Way in 1984.

1962
Burglars got away with $1,000 in November 1962.

1963
In March 1963, burglars opened two safes and made off with $500 cash, $1,000 in stamps, and 900 money orders.

On July 1, ZIP codes were instituted. "Zip" the monkey (currently on display at Zip Printing at 4950 Excelsior Blvd.) was used to publicize the change. They apparently didn’t catch on very quickly, as President Johnson declared October 10-15, 1966 “ZIP Code Week,” and “appeal to the 200 million people of this country to help themselves by helping us in this field.” ZIP stands for Zone Improvement Plan.

In February 1967, the City Council put in a request to the Postal Service to provide "foot service" to the residents of the northwest area of the City.

1977
Verne Langdon died on November 24, 1977 at age 86. He had retired in 1956 and moved to Venice, Florida in 1967. He was survived by Wife Florence and daughter Mary.

2003
The U.S. Postal Service was forced to vacate the old Elmwood Branch Post Office on Belt Line Blvd. by September 15, 2003.  The owner had the building demolished for redevelopment.

2005
The Grand Opening of the new Elmwood Branch at 5100 W. 36th Street was held on September 10, 2005. 

For a Post Office memoir written by retired postman Ben Brown, see Something in the Water.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.