Post Office History

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

Sierra County Post Offices
Arranged by date of establishment

Aleman
Round Mountain
Hillsboro
Lake Valley
Chloride
Grafton
Las Paiomas
Engle
Winston
Monticello
Robinson
Kingston
Percha
Cuchillo
Hermosa
Tierra Blanca
Dripping Springs
Faulkner
Derry
Andrews
Arrey
Jornada
Shandon
Phillipsburg
Cutter
Marion
Elephant Butte
TorC
Caballo
Williamsburg

July 19, 1869
May 29, 1878
March 1, 1879
October 18, 1880
March 28, 1881
April 21, 1881
June 9, 1881
July 7, 1881
August 15, 1881
September 19, 1881
February 3, 1882
August 14, 1882
November 7, 1882
May 25, 1883
July 10, 1884
January 21, 1892
April 25, 1892
March 3, 1893
June 9, 1893
June 15, 1898
July 27, 1901
July 7, 1903
March 4, 1904
March 5, 1904
July 10, 1907
July 31, 1907
October 15, 1910
July 13, 1911
May 6, 1916
April 1, 1951

Mail Transportation
in Sierra County

Socorro served as an important stop for travelers on El Camino Real and the mail for the Spanish settlers was delivered by the Spanish supply trains from Mexico City and later from Chihuahua. This Mission Supply Service was established in 1609. It made a round trip between Mexico City and Santa Fe once every three years. But there were no stops in the area that would become Sierra County.

Fray Cristobal, in southern Socorro County, was used as a rest stop. From here, El Camino Real led south away from the Rio Grande toward Las Cruces. There were no watering stops along the Jornada del Muerto in what is now Sierra County. Because of the Indians, changes were made to send the mail every three or four months with a small escort of soldiers and civilians wishing to travel with them. Merchant's wagons and livestock were not permitted due to the need to travel fast and often at night. It was not a good idea to leave a lot of wagon tracks and dust behind them.

By 1805 mail was leaving Santa Fe the first of April, July, September and November. In 1815 a monthly mail service was established to carry mail from Santa Fe to El Paso. But only the Indians, scorpions, and rattlesnakes saw them pass through this country. Henry Skillman established his stage line with the mail contract in 1851. This route made a round trip between Santa Fe and San Antonio, Texas, once a month. The first post office to open in what is now Sierra County was at Aleman on July 19, 1869. This office was located on the stage line. The Round Mountain Post Office opened on May 29, 1878, and was also located on the stage route.

In 1879 the Hillsboro Post Office opened and created the need of another mail route. A stage route out of Las Cruces received the contract to deliver the mail to Hillsboro and later to Lake Valley. With the arrival of the railroads in 1880, Sierra County blossomed with new towns. In the year 1881, post offices were opened at Chloride, Grafton, Las Palomas, Engle, Fair view and Monticello. Since Engle was located on the railroad, two star routes were established out of that office to provide mail service to the other offices.

In 1882, the railroad was completed between Rincon and Deming. The mail for the southwest part of the county was routed to the Nutt Post Office and delivered to the post offices on a stagecoach. A thirteen mile railroad branch line was extended to Lake Valley in 1884. The mail was received in Lake Valley in closed pouches on the railroad six days a week. A stage route (number 39120) was then established out of Lake Valley through Hillsboro to Kingston.

Sadie Orchard, one of New Mexico's rare women stage drivers, related her experiences as a driver in 1886. The article, submitted by Clay W. Vaden in 1936, is a part of the American Life Histories and is recorded in the Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, WPA Federal Writer's Project Collection. At that time Kingston was a mining town of about 5,000 population with a big silver boom going full sway. Dance halls and saloons did a rushing business almost day and night. Fortunes were made, and in some cases, lost over night.

Mr. Orchard and I drove the stage line for 14 years. We had two Concord coaches and an express wagon, I drove four and six horses every day from Kingston to Lake Valley and sometimes as far as Nutt station. In those days we did not have the roads we can justly boast of in New Mexico today and my trips were surely trying, especially thru picturesque Box Canyon between Kingston and Hillsboro. I'm a product of the Old West and you know in those days we didn't have much chance to practice the refinements and niceties of high society.

Sierra County was formed in 1884 out of portions of Socorro, Grant and Dona Ana Counties. Due to the location and population, Hillsboro became the first county seat. The Hillsboro Post Office was the hub for mail transportation to the surrounding offices in the southern part of the county. By 1900 Cuchillo had become the hub for mail transportation for the offices in the northwest part of the county. Except for offices being added and deleted, the transportation bringing mail into the county remained the same until the 1930s.

In the 1930s Hot Springs emerged as the trade center and mail transportation hub for the county. A Star Route was established between Las Cruces and Socorro with a stop in Hot Springs. The branch line of the railroad from Nutt to Lake Valley was abandoned in 1934. A Star Route was again established to replace the rail service.

The decline in the mining industry caused a population shift from the Hillsboro area to Hot Springs. The county seat was moved to Hot Springs in 1937. The next change of mail transportation from outside the county did not occur until 1950. Air Mail Route 29 was extended to several communities in the state. The first Air Mail flight landed in Hot Springs on March 31, 1950. This service was short lived. By 1957 the route had been changed to bypass Hot Springs (now Truth or Consequences) and land in Alamogordo.

With the creation of ZIP Codes in 1963, TorC became a Sectional Center Facility. Since the office was already the hub for mail routes, changes in the transportation of mail were not needed. The last major change in transportation of the mail occurred in 1967 with the termination of Railway Post Office service. Almost all of the mail was then received by Highway Contract Routes. Only changes created by the discontinuance of post offices, the departure times and the frequency of the routes have occurred since that time.

Postmasters

ALEMAN

John Martin
Nicholas Galles
Mrs. E. C. Martin
Discontinued
Joseph Wasson
George N. Terry
Henry Cooper
George M. Williams

July 19, 1869
April 10, 1876
June 5, 1877
July 15, 1878
September 22, 1884
December 8, 1885
August 6, 1887
August 1, 1888

ANDREWS

George W. Delamater
John I. Thomson
William A. Bayer
William H. Carothers
William A. Bayer

June 15, 1898
January 4, 1899
February 8, 1901
December 28, 1901
December 15, 1902

ARREY

Urbano P. Arrey
Carolyn M. Langdell
Raquel Candelaria
Margaret Candelaria Lara
Henry J. Lara
Robert Preston Nations
Barbara J. Franzoy
Denise K. Bagwell
Sarah Sue Able
Johnny P. Hinojos
Jacquelyn McGuire
Debra Pestak
Suzie Hinojos
Judith Berridge

July 27, 1901
November 29, 1924
January 25, 1929
December 22, 1942
September 11, 1946
June 30, 1972
September 23, 1988
March 11, 1989
August 10, 1990
August 27, 1990
November 17, 1990
August 15, 1995
December 1, 1995
January 6, 1996

ANGLE / ENGLE

W. W. Strohm
C. F. Karns
Alexander Rogers
Josephine W. Armstrong
James P. Armstrong
Millie S. Carpenter
Ebin Stanley
Lina A. Mothersill
Edwin J. Westervelt
Olive M. Ritch
Watson L. Ritch
Anna H. Baldwin
Pearl Caldwell
Nan Fuller
Deana D. Bruton
George W. Alexander
Deana D. Durham
Bessie L. (Burton) Arnold
Jennie C. Gilmore
Enid K. Hollis
Polly M. Larson
Joe Turner
Grace Turner
Helen M. Rincon

July 7, 1881
September 5, 1881
November 22, 1881
November 12, 1863
May 21, 1887
February 25, 1889
November 12, 1892
March 5, 1894
April 16, 1898
July 15, 1902
October 7, 1905
March 8, 1907
October 21, 1910
February 27, 1917
November 9, 1918
July 25, 1919
May 28, 1920
October 11, 1924
March 1, 1940
February 9, 1945
February 1, 1947
May 1, 1947
October 18, 1949
September 2, 1954

FAULKNER

Richard Edgecombe
A. S. Warren

March 3, 1893
March 28, 1898

GRAFTON

David P. Quinn
Addis P. Dyer
Frank H. Winston
Henry C. McKay
Charles Clauser
Mary Yaple
John W. Yaple
John H. Walker

April 21, 1881
April 9, 1883
February 21, 1884
December 14, 1885
September 21, 1887
January 18, 1895
March 31, 1899
May 14, 1902

HERMOSA

John C. Plemons
Leo R. Baucus
Phillip Zoeller
Sidney A. Smith
Nellie A. Chiles
May Wells
Bob Richardson
Richard C. Kendrick
Dudley Lyons

July 10, 1884
March 30, 1899
March 16, 1904
February 24, 1909
December 6, 1909
July 25, 1917
June 17, 1918
February 10, 1919
January 30, 1924

CABALLO

John A. Sears
Fillmore (Bill) Green
Mannie H. Benson
Velma Cox
Hopkins Shairlee
Hopkins Jacquelyn McGuire

May 6, 1916
April 11, 1917
June 15, 1926
October 22, 1935
September 17, 1982
November 27, 1999

CHLORIDE

John Jaines Dalglish
George Turner
John James Dalglish
John H. Beeson
William U. Grozier
Marcus 0. Thompson
Cassius M. C. Woodhouse
Thomas W. Williamson
Mary E. Williams
Edwin F. Holmes
Philip H. Winston
Helen M. Winston
Maggie M. Wristen
Venceslao J. Romero
Cristobal Trujillo
Mrs. Alez L. Ramsey

March 28, 1881
February 12, 1883
March 20, 1884
May 25, 1887
December 13, 1889
April 24, 1895
October 15, 1909
July 28, 1910
March 22, 1911
July 19, 1912
May 28, 1917
January 6, 1923
February 24, 1923
July 13, 1927
September 18, 1941
August 19, 1949

CUCHILLO

Pedro Vallejos
Edward Fest
Annie E. Sanders
Emil Grand Jean
Discontinued
Frank Peet
Esperidion Tafoya
Amado Gonzales
Charles W. Adams
Albaro Garcia
Mohler Temple
Jerry D. Apodaca
Elizabeth Sullivan
Leroy B. Sullivan
Jaquita T. Sullivan
Wilson C. Bierner
Elizabeth Sullivan
Estanislado S. Tafoya
Nellie Mozelle Bechtel

May 25, 1883
September 17, 1884
August 3, 1887
October 3, 1893
July 31, 1902
October 8, 1906
February 1, 1909
December 24, 1909
July 24, 1915
November 25, 1916
April 26, 1919
April 16, 1921
March 26, 1946
August 3, 1951
April 6, 1954
August 12, 1955
June 3, 1957
October 6, 1958
November 1, 1972

CUTTER

William T. Harris
Joseph A. Reed
Lafayette Clapp
Henry Churchill
George N. Fleming
James M. Ross
Henry A. Long
George Curry
Wallace H. Weston
Nathan C. Smith
Mary Lyons
Eugene R. Walsh

July 10, 1907
February 6, 1908
November 21, 1908
August 13, 1909
February 28, 1911
September 2, 1911
September 15, 1913
December 28, 1915
December 30,1916
August 12, 1921
January 10, 1925
July 10, 1943

DERRY

Carl D. Lundstrom
Discontinued
Mary B. Luchini
Marcy Otero
Lileen M. Creager
Charlotte L. Rubio
Patsy I. Trujillo
Jenny Creager
Susie E. Hinojos
Stephanie Alvarez
Brenda Christy Bustamante

June 9, 1893
October 10, 1894
August 11, 1911
October 31, 1944
November 28, 1975
March 26, 1977
April 13, 1985
May 15, 1991
January 3, 1998
August 29, 1998
October 23, 2000

DRIPPING SPRINGS
James B. Adams April 25, 1892

ELEPHANT BUTTE

Grace E. Wells
William H. Wiggins
Elizabeth C. McBride
William H. Wiggins
Wilma L. Mat son
Elizabeth S. Snow
Arrie E. Levis

October 15, 1910
September 13, 1911
June 20, 1912
June 14, 1913
April 6, 1914
May 4, 1917
July 15, 1918

Discontinued August 31, 1920. The name was changed
to the correct spelling on December 7, 1881.

DALY LAKE VALLEY

William B. Jones
La Fayette Clapp, Jr.
Charles W. Greene
La Fayette Clapp, Jr.
L. W. Lenoir
Henry M. Herrin
Mattie A. Thurston
Mimina Titsworth
Margaret E. Williams
Almeda E. Price
Mary L. Brown
Ida Dysard
Eunice I. Holiday

November 1, 1881
May 25, 1882
March 20, 1883
April 5, 1883
May 21, 1884
August 10, 1885
June 13, 1888
January 17, 1889
November 21, 1889
June 28, 1905
February 26, 1921
November 19, 1935
July 19, 1940

LAS PALOMAS

Aloys Preisser
Christ J. Kubach
Jose M. Apodaca
Antonio Armijo

June 9, 1881
July 12, 1882
August 4, 1882
March 29, 1900

MARION
Alfred R. Barracks July 31, 1907
Wallace H. Weston January 24, 1908

MONTICELLO

Aristide Bourguet
Manuel Aragon
Otto Poepperling
Merced Montoya
John W. Ellis
Pedro Vellejos
Leonor Molinar
Merced Montoya
Pedro Vellejos
Aiphonse Bourguet
Juan B. Aragon
Charles Sullivan
Daniel E. Chaves
Charles Sullivan
Nellie M. Gabaldon
Frances M. Hill
Cruz C. Tafoya
Aurelio T. Chaves
Moses B. Sanchez
Tomasita L. Williams

September 19, 1881
January 13, 1887
August 28, 1888
June 17, 1891
May 24, 1892
January 18, 1895
May 11, 1896
July 12, 1902
May 4, 1904
June 15, 1904
April 3, 1909
July 22, 1912
October 26, 1915
October 28, 1917
December 29, 1928
February 24, 1939
August 29, 1940
December 7, 1940
August 3, 1955
July 9, 1982

TIERRA BIANCA
W. Guy Beals January 21, 1892

PALOMAS SPRINGS / HOT SPRINGS

William H. McMillan
Joseph D. Allsup
Name Changed to Hot Springs
Marie L. Casey
Retta C. Bacchus
Nora A. Keithly
Verda J. Speight
Joe D. Tafoya
Bonnie E. Mathis
Joe D. Tafoya
Name Changed to Truth or Consequences
John Houston Phillips, Jr.
Ronald W. Marshal
Robert R. Borrego
Alvaro Bobby Chavez
Richard Sanchez

July 13, 1911
March 18, 1912
October 12, 1914
October 12, 1914
September 8, 1915
November 23, 1921
July 5, 1935
March 1, 1939
April 16, 1942
April 30, 1946
March 1, 1951
May 7, 1965
December 31, 1965
April 4, 1983
August 20, 1983
October 2, 1992

WILLIAMSBURG

Mrs. Jonnie R. Daniel
Georgia M. Howe
Thomas B. Williams
Mrs. Artenia L. Crick
Ruby V. Woolf
Carlos Griego
Charlotte L. Keele
Johnny Hinojos
Eliza M. Greer
Johnny Hinojos

April 1, 1951
August 3, 1960
May 16, 1961
January 19, 1962
November 26, 1971
September 28, 1984
March 16, 1985
October 18, 1991
February 22, 1992
March 29, 1996

FAIRVIEW / WINSTON

Jacob M. Blun
Manuel G. Levy
Frank H. Winston
Ella W. Winston
Frank H. Winston
August Mayer
Name changed to Winston
Vilialdo G. Trujillo
Jeannette S. Johnson
Mrs. Lear E. Howell
Eliza M. Greer
Linda Kay Henderson

August 15, 1881
September 8, 1887
November 28, 1888
September 12, 1901
February 3, 1910
March 10, 1917
April 1, 1930
June 9, 1930
October 15, 1940
October 26, 1962
September 27, 1985
March 10, 1992

HILLSBOROUGH / HILLSBORO

Nicholas Galles
John Dunham
Nicholas Galles
George 0. Perrault
June L. Fuller
William E. Pratt
John M. Webster
Scott F. Keller
John Hamilton
John E. Smith
Roderick A. Nichols
James P. Mitchell
George T. Miller
Ninette S. Miller
Charles W. West
Thomas H. Byrne
Mildred F. Rea
Fred V. Conniff
George H. Disinger
George T. Meyers
Leroy B. Sullivan
Sonja Rutledge
Mary L. Bradshaw

March 7, 1879
December 16, 1880
May 9, 1881
June 8, 1881
December 10, 1883
October 14, 1884
December 5, 1884
February 2, 1886
September 30, 1887
April 9, 1888
June 17, 1893
January 4, 1897
March 8, 1898
June 16, 1909
February 2, 1914
November 9, 1917
January 3, 1919
October 1, 1919
March 1, 1924
October 26, 1933
June 30, 1955
May 29, 1980
May 3, 1999

JORNADO
Cassa M. Pratt July 7, 1903

KINGSTON

Asa Barnaby
W. B. Dawson
Ann S. Moore
James M. Moore
Robert H. Hopper
Walter E. Marble
Fred Lindner
Edward J. Cahill
John L. Hurst
John M. Cain
Ella Robinson
Ida F. Prevost
Arthur B. Dunn
Lucie E. Whitham
Cecilia R. Anderson
Emma L. Graham
Lewis D. Hatcher
Germain H. Gage
Nannie L. Phillips
Charlotte S. Norris
Rose C. McCahon
Hazel L. Franklin
Eleanor F. Keller
Casper C. Keller

August 14, 1882
November 19, 1884
December 4, 1885
July 14, 1886
September 11, 1886
October 29, 1889
June 28, 1893
June 13, 1895
November 8, 1895
June 16, 1899
October 5, 1900
April 6, 1901
September 17, 1909
June 4, 1910
February 5, 1924
May 29, 1928
June 19, 1929
July 25, 1930
November 6, 1933
July 18, 1940
July 14, 1942
July 25, 1952
September 2, 1954
February 21, 1957

PERCHA
John W. McCuiston November 7, 1882

ROBINSON
John Sturgis February 3, 1882
James L. McHill April 24, 1882

PHILLIPSBURG
George H. Weber March 5, 1904

ROUND MOUNTAIN
Henry G. Toussaint May 29, 1878

SHANDON
Willard F. Kennett March 4, 1904
John W. Yaple April 12, 1904