8/22/2004:
Tomorrow, it will be exactly 88 years since the cornerstone was laid for the Valley City Post Office, another architectural gem in that city that has escaped alterations.
The first post office for the town was established back in 1876. Peter Connors was the postmaster, and his salary was $16 a year. Over the next 40 years, its location was changed four times, including one move that took place in the middle of the night.
The present post office was built in 1916-1917, using the classical revival style – the only federal building like it in the state and one of the last post offices of its type in existence. It’s also the state’s oldest building built specifically as a post office and still run by the U.S. Postal Service.
It’s on the National Register of Historic Places and was restored, inside and out, in 1997. The only missing pieces are beautiful metal grills that once covered the windows. Those were sacrificed to the WWII scrap iron drives, but remnants are still visible on the basement windows.
Dakota Datebook written by Merry Helm