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Post Offices/Country Stores

Information for Post Offices/Country Stores of Rock County came from the Rock County Centennial Book with permission by the Committee and the Rock County Historical Society and submitted by Bev Hopkins.

AKSARBEN

The Aksarben post office was established 10/30/1919 and discontinued 6/30/1921. The name is Nebraska backwards. Mr. A. A. (Austin) Robinson was the only postmaster.

Several people said he had trouble establishing his post office. In order to have enough mail, he ordered everyone on the route the Denver Post. When it closed the mail went to Butka.

The Ak-Sar-Ben store was located on the Bus Johnson place in southern Rock Co., consisting of 80 acres. It was run by "Yankee" Robinson. He later moved to Bassett. His wife ran the post office. He bought cream and sold oil, gas and groceries.

Free Davis remembers how radical Mr. Robinson would get when talking about politics. He is also to be remembered for marking a route to the Black Hills with posts set and painted with black rings. The route ran up through the hills from his place of business, north by the Ewing school and on northwest toward the Black Hills.

BASSETT

The first postmaster for Bassett was Charles A. Warren. An application for the post office was made 1/27/1882. The 2nd postmaster was Louis Canenburg on 3/6/1882.

In an early newspaper account he wrote how arrangements were made for the railroad mail clerk to throw the mail off the train, tied to a heavy object during the night. Sometimes an extensive search was necessary to gather the mail in the morning. The post office was in 1 room of the Canenburg home which also served as the school room.

BUELL

The Buell post office was established 10/9/1906 and was discontinued 1/11/1908. Benjamin F. Buell was the only postmaster.

BUTKA

The Butka post office was named for its 1st postmaster, Frank Butka. There were 2 Butka brothers and in the blizzard of 1888 1 of the brothers froze to death and the other nearly lost his life. The Butka post office was 1st located in Loup Co., then moved to Rock Co. 4/3/1894 to the William B. Good place and William was postmaster. It was discontinued 9/15/1933 and the mail went to Rose.

CAPAY

The 1st postmistress was Minnie Habehost on 12/7/1889. Thomas McAlexander was the postmaster on 2/1/1890. In the official records his name was written Thomas McAlexander but his family and friends knew him as Thomas Alexander. (His son, O.G., always went by Alexander).

An early resident of Rock Co. recalls that a pony express stopped about one mile north and east of Capay. It was where they changed their pony express horses.

CARLIN

The Carlin post office was in existence for less than a year. The first postmaster was William Goldner. He took office 2/12/1907. It was declined 11/13/1907.

CARNS

The Carns Store was located north of Bassett. It started out a thriving place of business with a hotel, general store, post office and dance hall.

CUBA

Cuba post office was established 6/23/1884 and Mrs. Hattie E. Humphrey was postmistress. It was a two room log house. Alfred C. Kendall was the last postmaster, he took office 7/22/1907 and it was discontinued 11/30/1914. The mail then went to Long Pine.

DUFF

The Duff post office was established 4/14/1886 with Stephen B. Nelson as postmaster. It had many homes and many stories about it. Stephen B. Nelson was a Civil War Confederate soldier and was buried on the Chet Dilsaver ranch.

It was discontinued on September 9, 1901 and the mail went to Spragg. Then it was reopened on Jan. 20, 1903 with Dewitt Eager as postmaster. It was discontinued June 30, 1953. Mrs. Mildred Adams was the last postmistress. The mail went to Rose.

Duff Store was located 4 miles west of Rose. It was run by Eagers, Garretson, Ferd Wicht, Ed Hilburn and Glen Smith. It was one of the oldest stores and was begin in about 1886. In 1922, when it was owned by Ed Hilburn, it burned down. At that time, the land was purchased by G.I. Smith. He used the dance hall for the store and built a house to the back of the store for his wife, Bessie and family, Clydie, Catherine and Uncle Clyde. One of the unique things at this place of business was a bank. It was run through the Bank of Long Pine, until sometime in the 1930's when the banks closed, it too closed.

Many a good time was had at this community center where people congregated to shop from the large variety of grocery, dry goods, hardware and drug items. Cream and eggs were purchased and gas and oil sold.

Dances were held every Saturday night in the hall and later an open-air floor was put up during the summer months, ball games on Sunday afternoons and the 4th of July celebrations were held.

In 1951, the store was closed and sold to Forrest Saar. G.I. Smith moved to Grand Island.

ELLIOTT

The Elliott post office was established April 14, 1886. It closed July 15, 1889 and the mail went to Newport. The only postmaster was Gustaf P. Nygren.

EVELYN

The Evelyn post office was established January 16, 1911 and discontinued August 15, 1912 with Mike Popp as the only postmaster. The mail went to Bassett.

GRACE

The Grace post office was established 2/10/1886 and discontinued 9/20/1886, which was the shortest time in existence of all the post offices in Rock Co. The only postmaster was Alexander Schlege.

GRACIE

The Gracie post office was originally located in Loup County. It was moved into Rock County 1/20/1915 when John W. Hughes was postmaster. Mail was carried from Gracie post office in several directions at 1 time. The Burwell, Valleyview, Gracie route and in 1915 a Ballagh route. Then in 1921 a tri-weekly mail route originating at Gracie was established which went to Butka and Aksarben. Anna Hughes and Elmer Johnson were the mail carriers of the Gracie route. Gracie was discontinued 9/20/1934 and mail went to Burwell.

GURNEY

The Gurney post office was established April 10, 1912. It lasted just one year and was discontinued April 30, 1913. Cassius A. Gurney was the last postmaster. The mail was sent to Butka.

HAMMOND

The Hammond post office was established 8/19/1887 with Evans Scott as its first postmaster. He held office until Barnhardt "Barney" Miller, a blacksmith, took office. He was in office longer than any other postmaster in Rock Co., taking office on 10/30/1890. One source said it was named in honor of J.R. Ammon. He didn't want it to have his given name so they came as close as they could, yet not to offend their friend.

Mr. Jess Wick stated that he carried the mail from Bassett to Hammond and it was called the Hammond Route. It was in 1914 that he went from Bassett to Thurmond, Perch, Pony Lake, Sybrant and then to Hammond where he stayed all night. Here he had trouble with the bed bugs as they about ate him alive. The next day he followed the same route back to town.

Barney Miller died 12/15/1936. The Hammond post office closed a month later.

HORSEFOOT

When this post office was established on 12/26/1905, Wm. A. Best wanted to have the "Best Post Office" but there was already a post office by that name in the state. He sent the post office department his cattle brand, which was in the shape of a horse's foot, it was approved and the office was called Horsefoot. It was discontinued 3/3/1930 and mail was served from Bassett. Mrs. Etta C. Kyler was the last postmistress.

INGALLSTON

The Ingallston post office was established 2/10/1886, probably named in honor of James W. Ingalls, first postmaster. The last postmaster was Jas. McCabe. It was discontinued 7/1/1895, the mail then went to Butka.

KINGS

Kings Store was located a short distance west of the Cecil McCullough place, north of Pineview Drive-In Theater. It was run by Marie Anderson's parents.

KIRKWOOD

The Kirkwood post office was established 6/2/1882. The earliest postmaster listed in the archives was Albert G. Felton, however in the book Western Nebraska, it lists J.N. Hovey as the earliest postmaster. Roscoe F. Spillman became postmaster on 2/8/1918 and continued as such until the post office closed on 6/15/1922. The mail went to Simpson in Keya Paha County.

MALVERN

The Malvern post office was one of the earliest post offices in its area. Clarence M. Anderson was the 1st postmaster, taking office 12/13/1882. He gave the post office his middle name Malvern. He had the office until 1/13/1912 when Alfred Henry became postmaster. It was discontinued 1/21/1913. The mail went to Rose.

MARIAVILLE

The Mariaville post office was established 5/9/1882 with Thomas Peacock as the 1st postmaster. It was named in honor of Harriet Marie Peacock, daughter of the Peacocks.

On 7/11/1894 it was discontinued for a short while than reestablished with Albert G. Felton on 8/3/1894. It was discontinued 12/15/1942 and the mail went to Newport. Harold E. Myers was the last postmaster on record as he re-established it on 11/18/1943 and it closed 4/19/1957.

Mariaville Store was located with the post office 9 miles north, 3 miles west of Newport.

May Jones, a neighbor of the Peacocks, remembers a story told to her by Mrs. Peacock about the hard times back then. Mrs. Peacock said they never would have been able to exist if it weren't for Doc Middleton. Whenever he passed through the area, either alone or with his men, he would stop for a meal. When he got ready to leave, he would leave a 10 or 20 dollar bill under his plate, which bought a lot in those days. (Doc Middleton was a well known horse thief)

In the early 1900's Frank Hutton ran the store, then B.F. Leonard later establishing a general store in Bassett. In 1921 Olson had it, then Charles Hicks. A man by the name of Wiltse and then Fedderson was the last to run it. This was in about 1938.

MENLO

The Menlo post office was the 1st post office in what is now Rock County, established in the fall of 9/23/1879. Simeon Huffman was the 1st postmaster. It was situated on the banks of the Niobrara river in the general vicinity of the mouth of Ash Creek. A mail route was established from Keya Paha and Barrett Scott was mail carrier for 1 year. Keya Paha is at the point where the Keya Paha river and Niobrara river meet, the distance was 30 miles to Menlo.

The 1st settlement was made by R.N. Turpin and Henry Huffman in 4/1878. The 1st child was Susan Turpin on 2/25/1879. The 1st school taught here was in the winter of 1880 by S.G. Sparks in a private house. The first post office was located in a house later owned by Thomas Morrison.

METZINGER

The Metzinger post office was established on 2/13/1925. Its only postmaster was Marian M. Metzinger. The post office closed 10/15/1934. The mail went to Newport.

MIDWAY

Midway Store was located about 30 miles south of Bassett and 30 miles north of Taylor, on the old graveled highway 183. To begin with, the tract of land owned by Rice had a 2 room house by the road. Ed Hilburn bought the land and built a store on the front of the house. After Ed's death, it was sold to Floyd and Minerva Snyder in about 1933. It was later sold to Glen Gorball, then to Glen Wiley. "Shorty" Schubert bought it in 1942. In 1952 it was struck by lightening and burned down, thus ending the Midway Store.

MIKE'S TRADING POST

Mike's Trading Post was located on new highway 183, 28 miles south of Bassett. This was the last country store and rural post office to be maintained in Rock County.

A Butler building was put up in 1953 by Mike Riley, which included a home, basement, store room and store. Later a post office room was provided for. This store did business in buying cream and eggs; sold gasoline and motor products, cattle feed, vet supplies, hardware, dry goods, groceries and drug supplies.

In 1963 Charles "Tuie" Johnson bought the store at a public auction and ran it for 2 years. He sold the store to Ed and Bernice Kuchera in 1965. The Kucheras operated the store as it was and added the sale and delivery of liquid fertilizer to many of the farms.

Ed retired in 1980 and his daughter-in-law, Janet, ran the store and post office for 2 more years. It was then sold to Clarence and Dorothy Prickett. The Trading Post is now closed.

MILBURN

The Milburn Store was located east of Rose, NE by Sitzes.

MINER

Miner Store was located on the Archie Blake place, and was owned and operated by Ben Miner. It was in existence for a short time sometime in the 1930's. Ben bought cream and eggs. He sold groceries and gasoline. The store was in one room of their home. Ben's wife, Jane, taught school at the Sybrant school. Because of ill health, the store was closed and the Miners moved away.

NEWPORT

The Newport post office was established 1/22/1884 with Walter W. Grooms, postmaster. In the early days the post office was located on the east side of the street of the business district. It was located in the north part of the building in which Myrna's Market is now located. The Rebekahs bought the building across the street west in 1963 and the post office was moved to the north side of the building on 12/2/1963.

PERCH

On an old 1885 map it shows Perch just east of Cameron lake. The first postmaster was Robert N. Cameron on 1/11/1886. The next postmaster was Charles Linke on 12/4/1894. It closed 12/5/1907 and the mail went to Sybrant. It was reopened by Gottlieb Mauch 7/7/1908 and discontinued 4/15/1915. The mail went to Thurman.

PONY LAKE

Pony Lake post office was established 6/8/1910 and discontinued 8/15/1929. It was named after the lake 1/2 mile from the office. Hattie O. Adami was the first postmistress. She took office on 6/8/1910 and Edward Pullman became postmaster 5/4/1916. When it closed the mail went to Bassett.

In about 1911, a town was started called Lake City. A grocery and dry good store was started here by Henry and Henrietta Adami. Later, Pete and Pearl Christensen, had the store. Around 1915 the store and post office (now called Pony Lake) was moved to the Ed Pullman place. The store closed about 1934.

RIVERSIDE

Riverside Country Store was located 13 miles almost straight north from Newport, NE and just a short way from the beautiful Niobrara river. The store was opened by Charles Hicks in 1903 and was in a very small house. In 1934, Lloyd Libolt put up a large frame building and ran a good store. However, he sold the business to Howard Felton in 1937, who only kept it for a short while. In the summer of 1938, Harold E. Myers purchased the run down business, lock stock and barrel and this was the beginning of a new life for his family.

It was a rainy day 9/5/1938 when Pat, as Harold was called, his wife, Janice, Jan for short, and Patricia, called Patti, their almost 3 year old daughter, left Newport in their Tarraplane car to begin running this country store. This was going to be a full time job since the store was kept open 7 days a week and there were no modern conveniences except for a brand new Frigidaire refrigerator that Felton had purchased. Groceries had to be hauled from Newport, water was hauled in 10 gallon cream cans, so was a precious item. Pat put in a 32 volt light plant which was powered by a wind charger or engine when the wind didn't blow.

A Community Hall was built near the store from native cottonwood donated by many and most everyone in the community worked on the project. Pat Myers furnished the hardware and the lights when the hall was completed.

In the spring of 1954, Ralph and Patti Myer Opfer, Jr., moved to the store and lived there until the spring of 1957 when the store was closed.

RIVERVIEW

Riverview Store and Post Office was located north of Bassett on Highway 7 on the Bob McCulley place. George Burpee came to the area in a covered wagon and started the store and post office. Ernest Dodds ran it at one time. In the year of about 1923, Mrs. Kadie ran the store. After that Roy Henderson and Joe Koenig had it. Joe kept the store and post office for many years. His daughter Ruby worked in the post office and carried mail up the river to Carns.

ROSE

The Rose post office name was chosen by C.A. Davison, the first postmaster, on account of the abundance of wild roses in the vicinity. Mr. Davison had to carry the mail for 6 months free, by horseback from Malvern to establish his post office. The first site was about ¬ mile east of the Rose Church. Cary A. Davison established his post office 9/25/1905 and the mail route went from Rose to Butka. Mr. Davison ran for county office and discontinued the post office on 7/31/1908. He re-established it on 3/5/1909 and kept it until 7/14/1910 when Terresa Noe became postmistress. It closed 12/20/1985, then reopened late 4/1986 as a branch of the Bassett post office, considered a community post office C.P.O.

SELDEN

Selden was established 5/27/1889. It was named for William A. Selden, a pioneer settler and the first postmaster. It closed 5/5/1903, the mail then went to Spragg post office.

It was re-established 3/18/1904 with Swaney H. Halldorson as postmaster. The last 2 postmistresses were Mrs. Sylvia Clark who took office 11/23/1923 and Mrs. Adalyne C. Clark Rockford who took office 2/23/1928. The post office was discontinued 1/31/1930. The mail went to Bassett.

SHEBESTA

The Shebesta post office was established 9/9/1908. It was named in honor of an early homesteader, Charles Shebesta. It was located in the Dave Stubbert home. Fannie Stubbert was postmistress from 5/15/1909 until 1/6/1920 when its name was changed to Malvern. Clarence M. Anderson reopened an office at his place.

SHELDON

The Sheldon Store was located by Lake George. It was one of the earliest stores, which was in existence around 1915. Children liked to go to this store because it had knick-knocks for kids. There weren't many cars at that time so the gasoline was in a 300-400 gallon barrel. When it was needed, the owner would bucket it out with a 5 gallon can and then pour it into the car. Kerosene was sold for the many lamps used for lighting.

SCHUBERT

The Schubert Store was located on "Shorty" Schubert's place 1 miles north and 3 miles east of Rose. George and Carrie Schubert had this store in a granary on their place. They sold groceries and bought cream. Charlie Rumbaugh came once a week to test cream. They sold gasoline from one of those fancy old pumps with a glass top, which you could see the gas flow as it was pumped. The Schubert Store was in existence about 3 years.

SPRAGG

The Spragg post office's first postmaster was Christopher Spragg. He opened his post office on 9/15/1888. The last postmaster was Geo. R. Sage on 5/18/1909. It was discontinued 11/15/1912.

STONER

Eva B. Stoner established this post office on 2/29/1912. It was discontinued 4/20/1914. The mail went to Horesefoot.

SWINNEY'S

Swinney's Store was located with the Rose Post Office and located about 32 miles south of Bassett on old highway 183 at the Howard Swinney place. This store was in one room of the house owned and operated by Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Swinney. It also had a gas pump. After being robbed a couple of times, the Swinneys decided to close the store, but the post office remained until 1966.

SYBRANT

The Sybrant post office was named in honor of David O. Sybrant. Before the government would grant him a post office he had to carry the mail from Perch to his place by horseback for 6 months receiving no pay. The post office opened 4/25/1895 with Mr. David Sybrant as first postmaster serving for 5 years until his death. It closed 2/29/1932 with Ora V. Harlan as last postmaster.

Sybrant Store was with the post office and was moved from place to place over the years. Originally, the store was owned and operated by Don Sybrant. His brother, Herb helped run it. It was located on Rocky Stone's place. Later it was bought by Jim McFadden and moved west about 1 miles on the George Smith place. From there it was moved south of Check Shaw's buildings and ran by Charles Lane; then west about 1 1/2 miles and ran by Ora Harlan.

When the post office was closed and business slackened because of better transportation, the store was closed.

THURMAN

The Thurman post office was established 1/20/1886. Its first and only postmaster was Alber Jacox. It was discontinued, March 31, 1919. Mr. Jacox was also county assessor.

TWIN LAKES

Twin Lake Store and dance hall was located about 20 miles south of Bassett on a corner on old highway 183. In 1933, the store was built by Lew Iverson's brother, Charlie, and was located about 5 miles east of the corner. In 1935, it was moved to the corner and sold to Johnnie Allen, who started having dances and also sold a few groceries and pumped gas. In 1937, it was sold to Fred Farrer. During this time, many a good time was had dancing on Saturday night and playing baseball near the hall on Sunday afternoons. The store was torn down in 1941.

WHITEWING

Whitewing Store was located by the Harry Buoy place. Harry's grandfather ran it. He is remembered as driving an English-made car with the steering wheel on the right side.