Pauline, You've Got Mail  . . . 68968!*

The Pauline Post Office was originally established in 1872 at Kingston, a small community located one mile north of Pauline, according to United States Postal Service records. However, a flood in the Kingston area caused the facility to be moved to Pauline on July 10, 1888. Wilson E. Duncan was postmaster at Kingston during the transition to Pauline. The move roughly coincided with the coming of the railroad and its establishment of Pauline in the previous year.

Rural Free Delivery was established in 1904, and Charles Brower was appointed the first rural carrier in Pauline. He served for approximately one year, with area resident Luther Goding becoming carrier on July 1, 1905. The route was 22 miles long and had 65 patrons. The salary was $57 per month, with the carrier furnishing his own equipment.

 At first Mr. Goding delivered the mail by horse. He owned both a team as well as a saddle horse that he used for bad roads resulting from inclement weather. For a time Mr. Goding used a buggy; he then bought a mail wagon and had a small stove put in it so he could burn little pieces of coal to keep warm in the winter.

In 1911 Goding rode a motorcycle, but had to discontinue using it the following year due to the large volume of mail generated by the newly established Parcel Post. Mr. Goding purchased a car to use in 1918, but depended on his horses when roads were bad. He served Pauline through 1920, then transferred to Railway Mail Service out of Lincoln.

Pauline resident Bill Stanley checks his mailbox. Photo is from the Eleanor Thaden Poen collection, courtesy of Donna Knight.The Pauline Post Office was housed in the Carl McCleery General Store on the west side of Kingston Avenue (Main Street) in 1923 when a fire swept through, destroying a number of businesses, including the post office. It was then relocated across the street to the O.G. Evans General Merchandise Store. While farm folks were served by a rural carrier, townspeople rented small mailboxes, and the postmaster worked from inside a type of "cage", located in the northeast corner of the store, distributing mail or dispensing supplies.

Local resident Cora Lofquist was appointed postmistress Dec. 24, 1923 and held that job for over 30 years. In the mid-1920s she hired as her assistant the youngest sister of Mrs. O.G. Evans. Sarah Anderson Brown later recalled the demands of helping at the store and putting out mail brought in from the two rail lines, the Missouri Pacific and the Burlington. "There was lots of mail during Christmas and holidays; the store had an awful lot of business. We were open from eight in the morning until usually eleven at nite and no days off in-between," she wrote in her autobiography.**

Pauline resident John H. Post checks his mailbox. This photo was taken approximately a year before the post office closed. Photo is from the Eleanor Thaden Poen collection, courtesy of Donna Knight.

Doris Evans Alexander, daughter of store owners O.G. and Lizzie Evans, believes that it was rent from the post office located within the store that enabled her parents to stay in business during the Depression.

After rail service was discontinued, mail was brought to the store at 9 a.m. each day from nearby Fairfield via a Star Route carrier. The Star Route was a government-operated mail service in which the United States Postal Service hired contractors to carry mail in any form of transportation they chose. Pauline's Star Route carrier drove a Model A or Jeep and also went through Spring Ranch, recalled area resident J. Rolland Post and his elder brother, the late Bernard Post. Precise years of railroad and Star Route mail service to Pauline are not known.

The carrier would remain in Pauline until 3 p.m. when the day's mail went out, said J. Rolland Post. The Star Route carrier was one of a crowd that would sit and whittle under the old cottonwood trees at the blacksmith shop across the street from the store. "There'd be a big pile of shavings," Post said. After the Star Route was discontinued, the Glenvil postal carrier brought in the mail.

The interior of the Pauline Post Office is shown. Photo is from the Eleanor Thaden Poen collection, courtesy of Donna Knight.

Mrs. Evans went to the store daily from 9 to 10 a.m. to take care of customers while her husband helped get out the mail, recalled daughter Doris Evans Alexander.  Townspeople flocked to the store, visiting with one another and catching up on local news while waiting for the mail to be sorted.

Housed in the store for over 40 years, the Pauline Post Office fostered Mrs. Evans' interest in stamp collecting, said her daughter, who noted that her mother particularly delighted in stamps on letters from relatives still living in Wales. 

Following Mr. Evans' death in July of 1963, J. Rolland Post's cousin, Eleanor Thaden Poen of rural Pauline, served as acting postmistress. An outgoing "people person," Mrs. Poen lavished young postal patrons with hugs and kisses.

Dorothy Kosmacek works in the post office in the 1960s. Photo is from the Eleanor Thaden Poen collection, courtesy of Donna Knight.Another area resident, Dorothy Kosmacek, worked on an as-needed basis in both the store and the post office during the early 1960s. One of her duties was to help get mail ready to go out. But increasing mobility, technology and the changing face of Nebraska's agricultural landscape had taken their toll on both the post office and the once-bustling little general store. The place was not usually busy during the daytime, Kosmacek said.

Kosmacek was one of several local residents who submitted bids to the U.S. Postal Department to operate the Pauline Post Office prior to its closing. None were accepted, however, she said.

On Feb. 24, 1967, the federal government discontinued the Pauline Post Office, despite a local petition drive to U.S. Congressional representatives that Post spearheaded. The Hastings Tribune was on hand to document the final day of operation.Postmistress Eleanor Thaden Poen folds the U.S. flag on the final day of operation for the Pauline Post Office. Thanks to her photographic efforts, the Pauline Post Office is more than just a memory. Photo is courtesy of Mrs. Poen's niece Donna Knight.

Local history also owes a debt of gratitude to Eleanor Poen, the last postmistress. A picture-taking enthusiast and early owner of a Polaroid camera, she extensively photographed the post office, store and patrons during her tenure. Thanks to her endeavors, the Pauline Post Office, 68968, is more than just a memory; it is documented history.

*A portion of this information is taken from "Pauline and Community, 1887-1987, 'A Trail in Time' ".

** From "Memories of My Childhood and Growing Up" by Sarah Anderson Brown; courtesy of Marlyce Brown.

Pauline Post Office In The News

"Miss Della Lofquist was postmistress during the illness of Mrs. Alfred Lofquist last week." -"Pauline," The Hastings Democrat, Thursday, July 22, 1926

Postal Past: A Few More Glimpses

PETITION to U.S. Post Office Department, Washington, D.C.

Pauline residents petitioned the federal post office department in an unsuccessful bid to save their post office. "The undersigned patrons of the post office of Pauline, Nebraska, hereby respectfully petition that the said post

 office be continued as a fourth class post office for the following reasons among others.

 "The post office and local store have been operated by the former postmaster and it is contemplated that the store and post office may continue operation if the post office is continued. If the post office is not continued it seems likely that the store also will have to discontinue operation.

"Pauline is one of the oldest communities in central Nebraska and traditionally deserves all possible consideration to maintain a historic community of honest and reputable citizens."

Postmistress Eleanor Poen is shown on the final day of operation, February 1967. Courtesy of the Hastings Tribune and Donna Knight.