Wednesday, December 14, 2022

Caswell County, North Carolina, Postal History

Caswell County, North Carolina, Postal History




For more on Caswell County post offices go to: Caswell County Post Office History
Even though Caswell County was established in 1777, there were some significant matters that required attention before postal service could be considered. The primary matter was, of course, the Revolutionary War, which did not end until 1783. While there was a colonial postal service, and the US postal service began in 1775 (created by the Continental Congress), it was eastern North Carolina that was primarily served. Why? That is were the people were. Other than some indigenous people, what became Caswell County had few permanent residents during these early years.

It appears the first Caswell County post office began operation 19 Aug 1794 at Leasburg, with Lawrence Lea as postmaster. This was soon followed 8 March 1797 with a post office at Caswell Court House (what Yanceyville was called until the 1830s). Thomas Bouldin was the first Caswell Court House/Yanceyville postmaster. The first Caswell County county seat was at Leasburg, but then moved to Caswell Court House/Yanceyville when Person County was created in 1792, rendering Leasburg far from the center of Caswell County.

Here are other early Caswell County post offices:

1804: Brown's Store (Locust Hill)
1805: Dixonton, Dixon (little is known)
1805: Slade's Store (little is known)
1805: Sterlingville (little is known)
1806: Red House

1809: Leasburg (the original closed; this is the one known today)
1810: West Castle
1814: Anderson's Store
1818: Milton
1820: Williamson's Store

1823: Prospect Hill
1825: Hudson
1833: Yanceyville (originally Caswell Court House)
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McIver Post Office (Rockingham County, North Carolina)

McIver Post Office was in Rockingham County, North Carolina, not Caswell County, North Carolina, but it served Caswell County residents, as the following will explain. It was located on the present NC 150/NC 87 about a mile east of Thompsonville (now Williamsburg) in Rockingham County. McIver was the successor to several other rural post offices along the Caswell/Rockingham border. For example, Lenox Castle (1799) and High Rock (1814) in Rockingham and Ashland (1878), Eastland (1887), and Gannaway (1887) in Caswell, eventually gave way to Thompsonville.

However, because the name Thompsonville was too often confused with that of the larger Thomasville, the postal name for the former Thompsonville was changed to McIver in 1907. McIver, too, was rather short-lived, for soon rural free delivery enabled the area to be served by the larger Reidsville post office. Some Caswell folk on NC 150 may still be served by a Reidsville rural route, just as Kill Quick, Caswell County, is on a Ruffin rural route. At one time Joseph L. Waynick (and later his daughter Maggie Burton) was postmaster.

Remember that "post offices" were peripatetic, often just a corner of a postmaster's living room, or perhaps behind the counter of a country store, and they sometimes were discontinued and replaced by another a few miles up the road, often of a different name. County boundaries made little difference to the post office department in Washington where patronage meant that the politics of the postmaster was what mattered.

Source: Dr. H. G. Jones, Ph. D.
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Most of the following Caswell County post offices no longer operate.

Allison
Anderson
Ashland
Bartlett
Bedford

Blackwell
Blanch
Brown's Store
Caswell Court House (became Yancey, then Yanceyville)
Centre Hill

Cherry Grove
Corbett
Dixonton, Dixon
Dudleyville
Eastland

Edgewood
Estelle
Fitch's Store, Fitch
Gannaway
Gatewood

Graves
Hamer
Hightowers
Hudson
Hycotee

Independence
Jericho
Launch
Leasburg
Locust Hill

Milesville
Milton
Moore's Store (was Red House)
Newtonville
Osmond

Pea Ridge
Pelham
Prospect Hill
Providence
Purley

Quick
Red House
Ridgeville
Semora
Sergeantsville

Slades Store
Sterlingville
Stickridge (changed to Eastland)
Stony Creek
Tony

Topnot
Well Grove
West Castle
Williamson's Store
Yancey, Yanceyville (was Caswell Court House)

Yarbro

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