Kewanna Post Office woes from nearly 140 years ago

It's been a month since the closing of the Kewanna Post Office after a flood in the upstairs portion of the building became a safety issue, leaving town residents in mail limbo. Since April 2, Kewanna residents have had to drive to the Rochester Post Office to collect their mail, leaving many locals frustrated. 

Unbeknownst to many, a look at local history reveals this isn't the first time Kewanna, also known as "The Little Town with a Big Heart," has had post office woes. On Jan. 27, 1886, the Kewanna News, a former paper in the small town, reported about Kewanna's Great Post Office War that was said to complicate mail delivery and cause tension for the townspeople of the past. 

Around 1884, A.D. Toner, among Fulton County's most prominent citizens and nicknamed the builder of Kewanna, erected the brick building in the eastern part of the village. Fitting up one of the rooms for a living quarters for the post master, the post office was soon moved from its former location in the western part of Kewanna. 

Toner had practically been connected to every big enterprise in the small, growing town at that time. In a report by the Rochester Union Spy on March 22, 1878, it was stated Kewanna had around 300 to 400 inhabitants at the time, with three churches, a barber, grocery store, butcher shop, saloon, hardware store, wagon and carriage shop, two saddle and harness shops, two drug stores, two furniture stores and undertakers, three boot and shoe shops, four blacksmiths, three Milner and dress making shops, four physicians, six or seven architects and builders. The also had two regular U.S. mail carriers, one being a first class post officer and the the post master. 

It was documented that Toner purchased elegant postal boxes for the building at his own expense and provided the postmaster Jesse W. Carter the use of the new post office, plus a room to live in free of charge. When town business began to shift and center around the new location of the office, the disadvantage for those doing business near the post office's former location sparked hostility. As time went on, outraged citizens took the matter into their own hands with what was reported as a violent protest, leading to J.O. Howell being appointed as Kewanna's post master. 

Upon taking office, the new post master refused to accept the free use of Toner's room and office, and quickly moved the post office back to its former location. 

In a turn of events, former post master Carter was offered a position of town deputy, fanning the flames of tension within the community. Inhabitants from the eastern part of Kewanna took up their own protest of the post office, with many reportedly refusing to step in the building. Eastern residents would eventually authorize a local minister to visit the west-end office. The minister's job was to secure letters after the mail's arrival, which were then taken to the Toner block for distribution. 

The tension caused the town to temporarily be virtually equipped with two post offices. Prospects for a compromise were meager, but eventually the post office was moved back to its eastern location, where the building – closed once again – can still be seen today.