Lea County Post Office History
This Project made possible by James W. White
Transcribed by C. W. Barnum
Return to Lea County Main Page

Lea County Post Offices
Arranged by date of establishment

Swamp May 1, 1894
Monument December 19, 1900
Knowles April 26, 1904
Plainview June 7, 1907
Nadine February 18, 1908
Ranger Lake  July 32, 1908 
Lovington September 12, 1908
Pearl September 19, 1908
Scott February 11, 1909
Eunice June 9, 1909
Midway June 23, 1909
King July 10, 1909
Henry July 16, 1909
Tatum December 9, 1909
Hobbs January 26, 1910
Pioneer February 8, 1910
Jenkins June 21, 1910
Jal July 6, 1910
McDonald May 9, 1912
Warren May 9, 1912
Cooper July 9, 1914
Stanbro July 9, 1914
Caprock January 21, 1916
Beauty August 10, 1916
Ochoa April 13, 1917
Micho September 15, 1920
Crossroads January 28, 1925
Gladiola January 17, 1929
Lea September 27, 1929
Humble City October 13, 1930
Oil Center February 23, 1937
Buckeye April 29, 1939
Bennett April 19, 1940
Maljamar February 26, 1943
Mail Transportation
in Lea County The first mail route was established, in what is now Lea County, with the opening of the Swamp Post office in 1894. The route was probably a two or three day a week special supply route out of the Carlsbad Post Office. This route was abolished when the post office closed in 1897. The same road was likely used when a three day a week route was established to provide mail to the newly opened Monument Post Office in 1900.
Monument became the hub for mail delivery in the area. When the Knowles Post Office was established in 1904, a route from Monument provided the mail. This route continued on to Plainview when that office opened in 1907. There were four post offices established in the area in 1908. To provide mail to Lovington, the route from Carlsbad was extended through Knowles. A new route from Bronco, Texas, carried the mail twice a week to Ranger Lake. The Nadine Post Office received mail from Monument three, days a week and Pearl was added to the route between Carlsbad and Monument.
Six more post offices were established in Lea County in 1909. All of these new offices received their mail twice a week. The Tatum, Scott and King Post Offices were added- to the route out of Lovington. A new route from Plainview provided the mail to Midway and a new route from Monument delivered the mail to Eunice and Henry.
In 1909, the roads had been improved enough to allow the first automobile to be used between Carlsbad and Lovington. The service did not immediately improve since the frequency of the route remained three days a week. Lovington became the transfer point for mail going to the post offices in the northern part of the county. The route provided service to these offices twice a week. Two special supply routes were established out of Texas in 1910 to provide mail to newly opened post offices. One, out of Bronco, delivered mail to the Pioneer Post Office and the other, out of Kermit, provided service to Jal. A special supply route was established out of the Nadine Post Office to go to Hobbs.
The establishment of the Caprock Post Of f ice in 1916 created a need for another mail route. Since this settlement was. located in what would be the northwestern corner of the county, a temporary Special Supply Route was created out of the Roswell Post Office. This route was later changed to a permanent route.
The route from Brownsville Texas, through Bronco, was changed with the closing of the Warren Post Office in 1923 to terminate at the Tatum Post Office. The route continued to provide mail to the Gladiola office that had been added to the route in 1919. Except for adjustments for newly established or discontinued offices, the routes remained the same until the completion of the Texas-New Mexico Railroad in 1930. Although this new railroad did not provide Railway Post Office (RPO) service, it did deliver mail in closed pouches to Jal, Eunice, Hobbs and Lovington.
Major changes were made to the Star Routes serving the county.
A route was established between Clovis and Hobbs to provide mail exchanges with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe and the Texas-New Mexico Railroads. This route carried mail to Crossroads, Tatum, McDonald, Lovington and Hobbs. The route from Roswell was extended to Hobbs and carried mail to the offices between Roswell and Hobbs. The route from Carlsbad became a direct to Hobbs. Hobbs had now become the hub for mail transportation in the southeastern corner of the state. A Star Route from Artesia to Loco Hills was extended to Lovington in 1939 to provide mail to the Buckeye Post Office. The Maljamar Post Office was added to this route when it opened in 1943. In the 1950's, the Post Office Department extended this route into Hobbs and eliminated the short route between Lovington and Hobbs.
The importance of Hobbs as the hub for the transportation became greater around 1940 when it was included as a stop for Air Mail Route 29. This air route served the larger cities between El Paso, Texas and Denver, Colorado. This did not change the Star Routes that were already in place. The Texas-New Mexico Railroad mail service was discontinued in the late 1940s. The Post Office Department extended the Carlsbad to Hobbs Star Route into Texas to replace the rail service.
ZIP Codes were created in 1963 and a nationwide campaign began to have the public include the code in their addresses. Roswell became the Sectional Center Facility (SCF) responsible for the processing and delivery of mail within the 882 ZIP Code area. This included all of the offices in Lea County except Crossroads. Due to the great distances of these offices from Roswell, the existing routes from Carlsbad, Artesia, Clovis and Roswell remained in place. Additional routes were added from Roswell to Lovington and Hobbs. The routes from Texas to Hobbs, Lovington and Tatum remained with the exception of the route from Pecos to Hobbs. The mail provided by this route was then routed through Midland.
These routes provided mail service to all of the offices in Lea County except those south of Hobbs. A Highway Contract Route (a new name for the Star Routes) was established from Hobbs to Jal and delivered the mail to the offices in between. The Buckeye Post Office was dropped from the Artesia route and a short HCR was established out of Lovington to provide mail service. This transportation has remained in place with the exception of small changes due to the discontinuance of offices. The arrival times and frequencies have varied some due to service needs.

Postmasters:
BEAUTY
Anna A. Hall August 10, 1916
Rufus A. Hall January 19, 1918

BENNETT
Callie C. Marshall April 19, 1940
Cleo Pauline Galle (act) January 15, 1945
Annette D. Murray August 4, 1945
Doris H. Rose February 8, 1951

BUCKEYE
Alma L. Gordon April 29, 1939 Ollie F. Hoskins February 1, 1947
Leona M. Dollar (acting) January 4, 1943 Iris Tipton (acting) August 19, 1955
Lola Caroline Smith (act) May 22, 1943 Alma L. Gordon March 16, 1956
Buna Lattice Russell (act) October 30, 1944 Ada L. Ponder December 28, 1961
Velma Vina Kimbler November 1, 1945






CAPROCK
Lillian Crossland January 21, 1916
oseph M. Cunningham February 4, 1928
Alfred J. Rushing September 1, 1933 
Harry J. Rushing February 8, 1941
Ada E. Hunter July 9, 1914
Discontinued March 15, 1919
Jessie May Cooper December 15, 1922

COOPER
Ada E. Hunter July 9, 1914
Discontinued - March 15, 1919
Jessie May Cooper December 15, 1922

CROSSROADS
Lora A. Miller January 28, 1925 Ruth Scott November 1, 1940
Flora Sharp March 31, 1928 Ada Lorraine Gunn April 4, 1946
Junie M. Kimbell  November 17, 1930 Mrs. Leavy Frazier November 20, 1947
Elsie Merrell March 10, 1934 Valta Geneva Tucker April 30, 1968
Flora Sharp June 30, 1935






EUNICE
Edgar O. Carson June 9, 1909 Betty L. Fultz September 18, 1974 
L. G. Warlick February 14, 1925 Judith A. Fletcher (OIC) December 1, 1988
Annie A. Eubanks (act) January 29, 1936 Iris M. Matthews  April 22, 1989
Byron F. Hughes October 20, 1936 Vicky L. Dobbs September 29, 1999
Joel E. Stover, Jr. October 31, 1969   






GLADIOIA
Fannye Gae Bonds January 17, 1929
Ruby F. Marley May 9, 1936
Retha 0. Burnes October 9, 1947
Tom R. Wood (acting) March 16, 1948
Marguerite H. Cox August 25, 1949     

Henry
George W. Rogers January 26, 1910
Cornelius Land May 12, 1910
James B. Hobbs March 7, 1912
William T. T. Boswell July 6, 1914
Bismark H. Turner July 10, 1916
Ernest H. Byers June 26, 1919
Deward D. Roberts December 9, 1929
Gertrude W. (Hart) Boyd June 12, 1930
Mrs. John E. Cherry (Act) October 31, 1930
New Hobbs PO:
Gertrude W. (Hart) Boyd December 16, 1930
New Hobbs discontinued - December 31,  1931
Harry H. Smith (Acting) December 29, 1931
  		Arthur L. Langford January 27, 1932
Major M. Hardin July 7, 1939
Charles K. Johnson January 1, 1940
Robert E. Jackson December 30, 1944
Lyle L. Gholson November 18, 1947
Norman M. Booker November 23, 1962
James C. Webb (OIC) December 29, 1981
Lawson C. Perkins Jr. February 6, 1982
Susan E. Wood (OIC) December 18, 1989
Balois B. Richardson (OIC) April 7, 1990
John Locke May 19, 1990
Balois B. Richardson (OIC) November 19, 1992
John Roark (OIC) January 19, 1993
William S. Hunt April 3, 1993















HUMBLE CITY
Hazel G. Evans October 13, 1930
George S. Pruett November 1, 1933
Margaret H. Pruett February 3, 1940
Dorine E. Pruett April 23, 1941
Iva Z. Slaton October 13, 1942 		Mary E. Slaton January 12, 1945
Gladis L. Moler September 23, 1946
Janet E. Sevier October 29, 1969
Jean Strictland (OIC) June 30, 1975
Carolyn S. Shrum (OIC November 26, 1975






JAL
Charles W. Justis July 6, 1910
Mollie M. Justis October 15, 1914
Charles W. Justis (acting) May 15, 1923
Wilber F. Stuart May 19, 1923
Helen Anna Childers July 5, 1935
Donna A. Klepper October 8, 1946
Evelyn R. (Goodner) May 15, 1953 		Frame Edwin L. Shiplet August 31, 1955
John H. Roark (OIC) December 29, 1978
James C. Webb July 14, 1979
Betty Holland (OIC) September 30, 1992
Jimmie Jerry Jordon January 9, 1993
Ruth Ann Brown (OIC)  May 10, 1997
Edward Allen Janssen August 30, 1997








JENKINS
William L. Jenkins January 21, 1910
Mary E. Blanchard December 6, 1913
William R. Blanchard August 12, 1921

KING
Mary S. Clendennen July 10, 1909

KNOWLES
Ben L. Knowles April 26, 1904
Nancy E. Thurmond  June 12, 1908
John L. Emerson March 31, 1910
Lottie W. Hollaway September 15, 1919
Sirena M. Young  July 26, 1920
Pauline Hardin January 14, 1925 		Clarsey N. Willhoit March 31, 1927
Mary S. Webb (acting) April 27, 1933
Fannye M. Holloway October 16, 1933
Sirena Nollner September 30, 1936
Fannye M. Holloway November 3, 1942







LEA
Ellen P. Singleton September 27, 1929

LOVINGTON
James B. Love September 12, 1908
Robert F. Love November 20, 1908
Walter E. Gardner July 22, 1909
Frank G. Shepherd April 1, 1910
Charles McDonald March 16, 1917
Emma A. Coleman January 30, 1927
Mary E. Love March 11, 1935
Reese L. Greaves August 2, 1963
Alonzo Lee Dunn (act) September 13, 1968 		Nat Eugene Clardy (act) October 4, 1968
Alonzo Lee Dunn February 27, 1970
James N. Campbell August 31, 1973
Paul D. McAlister (OIC) August 6, 1983
Kenneth J. Curry October 15, 1983
Grace Sanchez (OIC) October 9, 1987
Balois Richardson April 9, 1988
Lonnie Pickel (OIC) January 4, 1997
Jimmie Jerry  May 10, 1997
Jordan Robert Chavez July 2, 1999











MALJAMAR
Vera Ethel (Cooper) Dozier February 26, 1943
Nina M. (Walker) Goodman April 3, 1946
Lena L. Wilson November 27, 1954
Loula D. McKinstry August 7, 1970 		Mildred D. King April 30, 1975
Mary E. Camp (OIC) May 29, 1981
Iris M. Matthews July 2, 1981
Pamela K. Brown November 6, 1986





McDONALD
Mirtle Lee Autry May 9, 1912
Willie Pointer February 25, 1915
Pearl A. McClish April 19, 1921
Celia Richardson April 8, 1922
Lillie Fairweather June 12, 1937
Myrtle Bell Newman (acting) April 16, 1941 		Discontinued July 15, 1941
Alvin P. Breckon March 16, 1948
Mary Jane Roark May 16, 1969
Stevie Ann Stroud July 12, 1983
Sandi Hemann April 5, 1993
Jessica Pruit November 6, 1999







MICHO
George G. McWhirter September 15, 1920

MIDWAY
Roy W. Syfrett June 23, 1909
John B. Lewis July 27, 1912
William L. Covey May 13, 1914
Jasper M. Moreman March 29, 1915
William M. Anderson June 1, 1916

MONUMENT
James M. Cook December 19, 1900
William G. MacArthur April 7, 1909
Harry Gaither July 31, 1911
Mae Williams April 19, 1921
Alta V. Short August 1, 1939
Maxine I. Cresswell January 12, 1943
Betty P. Cooper (OIC) March 31, 1972
Dorothy Gail Haynes May 26, 1972 		Betty P. Cooper (OIC) December 30, 1977
Paul A. Robertson (OIC) April 22, 1978
Clint T. Atwood June 27, 1978
Wilberta R. Tivis (OIC) December 10, 1981
Helen K. Perkins April 3, 1982
Francis M. Johnson December 29, 1989
Doris A. Ruth (OIC) 31, 1999
Sandi Hemann July November 6, 1999

 

ROBERTS / NADINE
James D. Roberts February 18, 1908
James H. Hughes July 12, 1909
Jesse T. Auburg July 25, 1914
Eugene B. Roberts August 4, 1919
Minnie M. Wise April 21, 1920
John A. Wise September 16, 1933

OCHOA
Joseph L. Willmoth April 13, 1917
William A. Page May 14, 1918
Cora C. Jones December 10, 1936

OIL center
Katie Pate March 10, 1937
Ruby G. Holt April 20, 1938
Annie L. Nicholas September 8, 1944
Mary L. Mitchell April 3, 1946
Sybil S. Schlittler September 30, 1951
Vivian Eileen Nutter September 20, 1968
Laura A. Worley OIC August 31, 1990

PEARL
Pearl Roberts September 19, 1908

PIONEER
John B. Harris February 8, 1910
Eddie Clampitt August 18, 1910

PLAINVIEW
Florence Hodge June 7, 1907
Meda Clayton  March 23, 1908
James S. Hibbets December 13, 1913
Bessie Lipscomb October 2, 1922
Noble L. Hibbets June 11, 1924
Agnes E. Hibbets  June 6, 1926

RANGER LAKE
Octavus Hodge July 23, 1908
Mary McKnight March 21, 1912
Octavus Hodge March 10, 1914 SCOTT
James D. Cooley February 11, 1909
Robert D. Penn November 6, 1913
Thomas H. Burrows November 10, 1915

STANBRO
Orville C. Stanbro  July 9, 1914

SWAMP
Thomas Coke Estes May 1, 1894

TATUM
Mattie G. Tatum December 9, 1909
Oscar M. Daniel November 8, 1913
James H. Kelly August 7, 1918
Charles P. Biles June 14, 1919
James R. Martin April 22, 1921
John Augustus January 31, 1940
Foreman Joseph March 31, 1951
William Burns May 31, 1974
Anna Laura Denton November 23, 1981
Susan Wood (OIC) February 20, 1982
Betty C. Rickman September 30, 1992
Shirley Fairfield (OIC) September 30, 1992
Stevie Ann Stroud April 3, 1993

WARREN
Roanna W. Robertson May 9, 1912
Thomas G. Robertson July 6, 1914
Eula E. Hutchins September 16, 1916
Discontinued October 15, 1918
Blanche A. Harris September 4, 1919
Naomy Harris January 14, 1921

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