Jefferson County's Sixty Eight Indeperrlent Post
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... THE POST OFFICES OF liXJISVILLE AND JEFFERSCN CDJNTY '!he study of a state or county's post offices has long engaged the attention arrl efforts of sane historians. Fran lists of offices furnished by the U.S. Postal Service or the Natic:nal Archives, they have sought locations, histories, and name derivations. Old maps, county histories, local newspapers, larrl records, and personal inter views have provided ioost of the necessary data. But the systematic and canprehensive study of an area's post offices is not easy. Aside fran the abvioos lack of available infonnation on many offices, there is the problem of deciding hCM to locate particular offices. '!he custanary practice is to consider a post office as a single place and thus it a~s on a map or in a gazetteer. But during their existence over eighty per cent of Kentuckyt/1,800+ offices occupied ioore than one site, and most had several locations often over several square miles. Since placing each site of each office on a map would result in impossibly congested maps, only one such site could feasibly be shCMn, and the mapper arbitrarily decided on this, usually by lcx::ating the office's longest held or most recent site. Of course, when a site change was for rore than several miles, and especially when there was an interruption in service or a change-in-name, the office would be considered different places. Like many other features of American historic life, post office site changes can be politically explained. Until · the middle of the twentieth century, postmasters were generally political appointees whose positions were dependent on their partisan adherences. 'Ihus after an election many Kentucky offices would have new postmasters. Since offices were then usually in the postrrast er' s store or hane, each change in postmaster would result in a change in location. - 2-- ~ the derivation of a post office's name is also a difficult task. Since few premier postmasters, who were usually allowed to name their new offices, left written records explaining their choices, it is seldan possible to accurately determine why particular names were given. Fran examinations of post office names throughout the state \role know that over half of Kentucky's post offices bore the names of local or area people. others had the names of the streams on or near their first locations or referred to sane other aspects of the local geography; or they had the names of distant places or fanous non-local persons of the time; or they referred to the on-going econanic or social activities of the area's residents. But why a particular name was given to a place rather than sane other name, equally appropriate, may never be known. Many post office names were not those originally intended for them; nor did sane offices bear the names of the camrunities they served. Postal rules had long proscribed name duplication in a state. By 1900, in Kentucky, as elsewhere, all the gcx:rl names were already taken leading desperate postmasters to accept proposals fran outsiders who seldan revealed the reasons for or meanings of their suggestions. Postal historians must be cautious in explaining a name. 'Ihey've learned that a name's meaning or source is not inherent in it. Nor should they infer the derivation of the name of a particular place fran that name's application to sane other place. Historians have also challenged the popular belief that carmu ni ty, and especially post office, names are fairly permanently fixed. ' In Kentucky we have learned that at least a fourth of all post -3- offices had name-changes during their existence. sane of these were re-established offices whose original names had been assumed by other offices elsewhere in the state. In other cases, perceptions of the inappropriateness of names led to their being replaced by other names. 'Ihose derived fran persons or other places knCMn to or admired by the namers but having little to do with the place itself or of no significance to later residents were often changed. So were names associated with abandoned establishments like stage stops, landings, mills, or railroad stations. Names were also changed in response to changes in the character or appearance of the place, or to ca11nem::>rate sane important event which had occurred there after the original naming and gave the place a new significance, or simply to improve that place's public image. In addition, several hundred Kentucky post office names had minor, inadvertent spelling changes. Others, follc:Ming the standards of name simplification prescribed in the 1890s by the U.S. Board on Geographic names, were divested of superfluous letters or words ( tenninal h's, or "City") , or had two or IOC>re words canbined into one. Nineteen of Jefferson County's sixty eight indeperrlent post offices were within Louisville's present city limits. Yet, except for Masonic Hane, the county's IOC>st recently established office ( 1934) , each was set up to serve an area not. yet included in Louisville. At least two-thirds of the eotmty' s offices served definable camn.mities with concentrated populations and, with a few exceptions, took their names fran them. Most of the other offices , were established in rural areas around which carmunit ies later grew up, adopting the office names. Nearly all of the rural offices were-Y connected with at least a store, stage stop, river landing, or, in later years, a rail.road station. Rural Free ~live.cy, begun in 1896, and the advent of improved roads making larger tcMns and their services nore accessible to rural families led to the closing of many of Jefferson County's smaller post offices within the first t\tt10 decades of the twentieth century. Nineteen offices were closed in the first decade alone, eleven of them in only two years, 1902 and 1903. Qtly seven Jefferson County post offices (Louisville, Prospect, Glenview, Fairdale, Harrcrls Creek, Fisherville, arrl Eastwocd) are still in operation. A number of county offices--those serving incor porated or relatively large unincorporated carmunites--were replaced only within the last few decades by branches of the !Duisville office, and they usually retained the old post office names. Twenty offices were named for local or county residents (Bishcp, Bossdale, Buechell, Cl.ark, Easblocd, Etlwa.rds, Fisherville, Gagel, Hikes Point, Hoertz, B:Jwesbn:gh, Kellers Tavern, Mtlott, Neville, O 'Bannal., Raitt, Shively, 'lhixtcn, Tucker, arrl Worthingta>.). Iarisville honored a f anous foreigner, King Louis XVI, for aiding the American Revolutionary cause. Nine names had geographical or locational references (Beechocnt, Crescent Hills, Cross Roads, Fairdale,Iakelarrl, Mid:lletown, Ckolaia, Parlcl..arn, arrl Valley stati<Xl.) Distant places ( Saxaiy and . Palatka) gave rise to two post office names, while to fifteen were transferred the names of area features (eight streams--Cedar Creek, Falls of Harrcrl, Fern Creek, Fish Pools, , Fords Fork, Goose Creek, Harrcrls Creek and Ia1g Run; a city-- South -s- Iali.sville; a pioneer station--lyrxbl; a farm--Gl.enview; a street- -Prestatia; a church--st. Matthews; an institution--Masarlc Bane; and a military base--Calp Taylor. &:onanic and social activities contriruted to three rrore office names (Pleasure Ridge Parle, SaJina, arx:l Su.wingpart >• Jefferscntown, of ca.irse, was named for the county. Two offices (High.laIXl Parle and Kosmcs'Ja)e) were named for the business finns that had established them. CXle (Newoorgh) served a newly founded camrunity. Anchorage's name was symbolic. 'lbree offices had several possible name derivations: Cliftcn had either a geograFilic reference or was named for a Jefferson County family; Avoca may have had a literary reference or been named for a place in New York with a literary source; and Prospect was either descriptive or symbolic. 'Ihe origins of nine post office names have never been determined (Albemarle, Fai1J1Pmt, Iochlairl, Meadow lawn, ~nicsville, Mincne, Orell, Snyrna, and warwick Villa.) 'lhree Jefferson County post offices (Aloonarle, Keller's Tavern, and Neville) have never been precisely located. Another unlocated office, to be named Mitchell, was author ized in 1899, rut its order was rescinded the following year and it never opened. The names of ten post offices were not those originally proposed for them. In several cafs the preferred names (e.g. Parksville, I replaced by Etlwards; Minnema (sic) , replaced by Prestcnia; and ~e, replaced by Stmni.t) . were already in use by other Kentucky post offices. REFERENCEs - b- 1. Robert M. Rennick, Kentucky Place Names (Lexington, 1984) 2. Robert M. Rennick, Kentucky's ·Salt River Valley: A Survey of the Post Offices of the Greater wuisville Area (Lake Grove, Oregon, 1997) 3. united States Post Office Department: Site Location Reports -Jefferson County, Kentucky, fran 1866 to 1950 (Washington, D.C: National Arhives) L(XJISVILLE AND ~ roJNTY POST OFFICES (with dates of estab lishment and closing, name-changes (if any), am dates sane offices became Louisville branches) IOOISVILLE rosr OFFICES 1 • I.OTISVILLE ( 1795 to the present) 2. SHIPPINGPORT ( 1819-transferred to PORTLAND in 1839, and closed in 1870) 3. ECMAR.C6' (1865-1872) 4. FAIR GROUNDS ( 1877-name changed to cm:scmr HILL in 1881, and became a Louisville branch in 1903) 5. r:x:uP' S POINI' ( 1879-name changed to SAXCNY in 1891, and closed in 1896) 6. HIKES POINI' ( 1879-name changed to HIKES in 1895, and closed in 1902) 7. SAX ( 1883-and closed in 1887. Re-establisl:ed as SOUTH LOUISVILLE in 1888, and closed in 1894) - 7- 8. MINa-1A (1886-1892) 9. PARKLAND (1886-1894) 10. CLIFIOO (1887-1897) 11 • PAIATKA (1888-1891) 12. :OOSSDALE (1891-1896) 13. HIGHLAND PARK (1891-1913) 14.