Post Office History

Eddy County Post Office History
Transcribed by C. W. Barnum
This Project made possible by James W. White
Arranged by date of establishment

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Artesia	April 6, 1899
Carlsbad	December 1, 1888
Cass	February 15, 1888
Dayton	November 5, 1903
Eddy	December 1, 1888
El Paso Gap	October 16, 1916
Florence	January 14, 1893
Hope	October 10, 1890
Lakewood	November 23, 1894
Loco Hills	December 9, 1938
Lookout	November 13, 1883
Loving	January 14, 1893
Malga	November 13, 1883
McMillan	November 23, 1894
Oriental	July 29, 1910
Otis	October 13, 1893
Queen	November 20, 1905
Reed's Ranch	February 4, 1879
Seven Rivers	June 9, 1877
Smith	November 29, 1938
Stegman	April 6, 1899
Swamp	May 1, 1894
Vaud	January 14, 1893
Westwater	April 1, 1902
White City	September 10, 1942

Mail Transportation
in Eddy County

There were few Anglos in what would become Eddy County prior to the Civil War. A few traders and outlaws from Texas were scattered around the territory. Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving moved their first herds of cattle up the Pecos Valley in 1866. Seeing few Indians, good grass and abundant water, cattlemen began moving their stock into the area to winter closer to their markets. Mail for these settlers was either brought over the trail from Texas by cowboys or picked up at Fort Sumner. A post office was established at Roswell in 1873 and brought the mail a lot closer. The first post office was established at Seven Rivers on June 19, 1877. A Star Route was established out of the Roswell Post Office to carry the first official U.S. mail into what would be Eddy County. This mail was likely first carried on horseback and later in buggies as the volume increased.
A route was then established out of the Seven Rivers Post Office to carry mail to the Lower Penasco Post Office. The Hope Post Office was opened in 1890 and was added to this route. The Pecos Valley Branch of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad reached the New Mexico border on January 1, 1891. By January 13, the tracks had reached Carlsbad and was completed to Roswell on October 6, 1894. Railway Post Office (RPO) service was started on the line with the completion of this segment.
The Stegman (Artesia) Post Office was established in 1899 on the Pecos Valley Railroad. The mail for the post offices west to Tularosa was then routed to Stegman and carried on a new star route. A need for mail transportation to what is now Lea County was created when the Monument Post Office was opened in 1900. The mail was routed to Carlsbad on the train and a star route was established to carry the mail east.
Another route was established out of the Carlsbad Post Office in 1905. This route provided mail twice a week to the western part of the county when the Queen Post Office was opened. Around 1915 a special supply route was established out of the Carlsbad office to provide mail to the Frijole, Texas, Post Office south of Queens. This was soon incorporated into the Queens route. The route went to Queens one day and to Frijole on the next providing mail three days a week to each office.
By the mid 1930s, RPO service had been terminated between Carlsbad and Pecos, Texas. A star route was established to replace the rail service. Another route was established from Roswell to Carlsbad, with stops at each office in between, to supplement the rail service. With additional post offices being established. A need was created for more routes to the eastern part of the county and into Lea County. A route was added from Artesia to provide mail to the new Smith (Loco Hills) Post Office. In the early 1940s, Air Mail Route 29 was established. This route provided Air Mail between El Paso and Denver with New' Mexico stops at Carlsbad, Hobbs, Roswell, Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Las Vegas.
With an increase in mail, and with new post offices being opened, there was a need for additional or extended star routes in the early 1940s. Carlsbad began providing mail to the new Whites City Post Office and added a route to Hobbs. The Artesia to Loco Hills route was extended east to Lovington. The RPO service was discontinued between Clovis and Carlsbad on September 25, 1954. The rail service had been declining for many years. The Post Office Department had anticipated this loss. The star routes that had been established to supplement the RPOs were able to continue mail delivery without any loss in service.
The introduction of ZIP Codes in 1963 and the creation of a Sectional Center Facility (SCF) at the Roswell Post Office went virtually unnoticed in Eddy County. Mail was already being routed through Roswell or was coming direct from other parts of the country. Other than some changes in frequency and arrival times, the routes have not changed much over the years.

Postmasters

STEGMAN / ARTESIA

Sallie L. Stegman April 6, 1899	George U. McCrary August 22, 1914
William L. Whitaker April 8, 1901	Ernest A. Hannah April 20, 1922
Dan Beckett October 2, 1902	Jesse L. Truett May 12, 1934
Thomas Beckett January 24, 1903	Mrs. Marion S. Dunnam June 30, 1954
Daisy H. Ross May 6, 1903	George F. King January 8, 1971
Julia R. Cleveland January 13, 1905	Henry O.'Alaniz May 2, 1981
Harry W. Hamilton June 27, 1906	Albert J. Graham July 24, 1982
Daniel L. Newkirk April 1, 1910	Earlene Rummel March 2, 1992
J. Frank Newkirk January 11, 1912	A. Grace Sanchez October 2, 1992

EDDY / CARLSBAD

Charles W. Greene December 1, 1888	W. Frank Mcllvain October 10, 1932
Charles B. Eddy June 10, 1889	Ray S. Soladay May 16, 1933
William H. Slaughter September 28, 1893	Horace Grayson Hubert June 30, 1953
Louis 0. Fullen September 17, 1897	Norman W. Butts October 30, 1975
Name Changed to Carlsbad June 15, 1899	Victor G. Duran July 6, 1976
John T. Bolton October 4, 1907	Ernest E. Maes November 19, 1976
John B. Harvey January 6, 1916	Bobby Carol Mahan August 13, 1977
Howard Prater (acting) June 25, 1919	John Roark June 1, 1996
John W. Wells February 4, 1920	Shelton Douglas Ramey Dec. 23, 1996
Edward H. Hemenway October 27, 1923	Michael J. Veilleux April 23, 1999

CASS
Charles H. Slaughter February 15, 1888

DAYTON

Joseph M. Chase November 5, 1903	Harvey W. Gibson January 29, 1916
General Pinnell July 18, 1906	Mattie M. Bonarden July 25, 1917
John B. Heck March 20, 1908	Elizabeth D. Wailes January 22, 1919
Frederick W. Jorns October 16, 1909	Clide McDaniel January 9, 1935
Jesse D. McBride March 6, 1914	Nettie I. Burrows (act) March 27, 1944
Ferdinand A. Berry October 15, 1914

EL PASO GAP

Charles E. Thomas October 16, 1916	Tom King May October 11, 1928
James C. Todd July 5, 1922	Vera C. Middleton April 17, 1929
Emma Bonine April 10, 1924	Pearly M. Magby December 19, 1929
Mollie Clark May 1, 1927	Margaret E. Lewis May 11, 1935

HOPE

Mollie F. Jarrell October 10, 1890	Floyd L. Cole November 15, 1933
Augustus F. Harris September 30, 1891	Anita Vivian (Lee) Teal August 29, 1975
William L. Whitaker March 31, 1899	Ruth Ann Brown March 3, 1995
Eugene L. Brewer April 22, 1914	James S. Spencer III August 3, 1999
J. E. elms february 18, 1919	Linda S. Busby October 29, 1999
William S. Metcalf August 5, 1933	Donna K. Loya March 25, 2000

VAUTD / FLORENCE / LOVING

Ambrose B. Cady March 27, 1893	William H. Laidlaw October 17, 1912
Alma B. Phillips May 29, 1893	Effie Hill December 20, 1917
Arrigo Cassigoli September 22, 1893	Zelma Bright March 15, 1919
Discontinued - February 5, 1894	Frederick R. Dickson April 21, 1920
Benjamin Fisher June 26, 1894	Mahan Wyman August 5, 1922
Name Changed to Florence September 6, 1894	James C. Wyman Augugt 22, 1933
Paul E. DeWitz April 26, 1901	Neil Vervalin (OIC) May 30, 1939
Name Changed to Loving June 1, 1908	Mrs. A-Iline B. Jones May 10, 1940
Robert E. Tucker June 1, 1908	William E. Parchman October 2, 1964
Walter A. Woods August 13, 1910	Michael J. Veilleux (OIC) January 3, 1985
Gifford 0. Posey April 4, 1912	Rita C. Kezar May 11, 1985

McMILIAN / LAKEWOOD

L. Wallace Holt November 23, 1894	Winnie May Hughes July 10, 1943
Thomas H. Blackman December 19, 1895	Velma A. Floyd January 1, 1948
Thomas M. Waller January 30, 1902	Ola M. Floyd January 1, 1948
James W. Dauron June 25, 1907	Daisy D. Stockton July 28, 1953
James M. Wood April 21, 1914	Mrs. Marion T. Schneider April 6, 1956
Sallie Truitt (acting) January 18, 1923	Earl Schneider August 19, 1958
Stella Mae Webb November 8, 1923	Norma Schneider (OIC) July 23, 1982
Ora Mae Hellyer October 31, 1924	Eunice E. Norwood December 25, 1982
Martin C. Lee (acting) January 13, 1934	Beulah Lewis (OIC) April 13, 1984
Mary E. Lee February 21, 1934	Eleanor I. Thornton November 10, 1984

SMITH / LOCO HILLS

Sadie Smith December 9, 1938	Earl Schneider July 10, 1982
Louise Miller March 24, 1941	Patsy L. Frost August 31, 1990
John L. Briscoe March 12, 1947	Donna De Long April 30, 1993
Charles Wier January 23, 1948	Ismael Vasquez June 11, 1994

LOOKOUT / MALAGA

Charles C. Markham November 13, 1883	Charles H. Dishman September 19, 1895
James W. Coates July 10, 1884	Calvin 0. Carte April 17, 1901
Thomas J. Scott December 8, 1885	Edward Cadwell March 19, 1902
Lebbeus T. Larremore July 9, 1886	Thomas J. Sanford August 14, 1908
Edward C. Robinson November 3, 1887	Anne E. Williams November 5, 1908
Benjamin F. Mallory September 5, 1888	Willie Lee (Goff) Merrell June 7, 1927
Lafayette M. Collier February 5, 1889	Etta C. Reed October 6, 1937
William G. Cass May 17, 1890	Marion E. (Thomas) Steele March 20, 1940
Name Changed to Malaga April 25, 1892	Carolyn S. Willhoit January 22, 1960
John B. Pendleton April 13, 1893	Rita C. Kezar June 1, 1979
William R. Peurifoy March 16, 1894	Linda L. Kirkes may 11, 1985

ORIENTAL
Albert C. Jacobs July 29, 1910
Frederick E. Hubert November 1, 1913

OTIS
Catherine M. Demorest October 13, 1893
Cornelius J. Demorest May 5, 1897

QUEEN
James W. Tulk November 20, 1905
Minnie N. Middleton July 3, 1912
Pearl Middleton April 7, 1917
Fred A. Weir April 21, 1920

RANCH
C. S. Tibbetts February 4, 1879

SEVEN RIVERS

Robert W. Beckwith June 19, 1877	Herman Haerlin May 10, 1882
William H. Johnson August 13, 1878	Allen Y. Smith December 8, 1885
James Beckwith September 23, 1878	Robert H. Pierce August 16, 1888
Marion Turner December 9, 1878	Joseph T. Fanning October 6, 1890
Henry L. Van Wyck July 12, 1880

WESTWATER
James C. Lorton April 1, 1902
Lee Middleton September 16, 1902

WHITES CITY
Charlie Lee September 10, 1942
White Ruth White January 4, 1956
Billie Ree Freiberger (act) December 30, 1965
Bobbie R. Partin (acting) January 14, 1966
Edna A. Taylor June 26, 1967
Jo Ann Tapp October 31, 1978