Painter Harris was the Negaunee postal carrier in the late 1930s and early 1940s. (Photo courtesy of the Negaunee Historical Society)

NEGAUNEE — Records reveal that Negaunee was established as a post office in Marquette County, Michigan

On Jan. 21,1938. The first spelling was, “Neganee.” In 1859 there was a spelling change that included the “U,” now to read Negaunee.

Edward C. Hungerford was the first postmaster , serving from 1858-1859 and was succeeded by George Hamblin. Hungerford Avenue in the city bears the name of the first postmaster.

In 1860, a post office was established in Cascade, Michigan which later became Palmer, Michigan so as not to confuse it with another Cascade in lower Michigan. They did not have an official postmaster until 1873. The Suomi and Midway Locations also had post offices from 1908-1912. The mail in those early years was delivered by stage coach from Negaunee to Cascade(Palmer) by Cascade Mail Service.

They advertised their hours as, “Leaving Negaunee at 11 a.m. standard time, Leaving Cascade 8 a.m. mining time. Passengers could ride for 25 cents. It was a fashion to put small community post offices in retail stores. In Palmer it was Kirkpatrick’s, Davidson’s or Honkavaara’s. The store owner could read and write and he knew the people in the area. It was also a place to hear the local gossip.

It seems the Negaunee Post Office made many moves, like so many other business’s. It was located in the Muck Block on Iron Street, which was purchased by the First National Bank. In 1902, Thomas

Connors was postmaster and it was moved to the Sundberg Block. It remained in this location until 1913, then moved to the Perkins Block. In February of 1924 it moved to the McDonald building on the corner of Pioneer Avenue and Jackson Street.

During this time there was a steady growth in the volume of mail. In 1902 one pouch was usually sufficient to carry all the mail from the train depot on Gold Street to the post office. This job was usually handled by a railroad employee. A quarter of a century later the mail had grown to five times the amount that it was in 1902. In 1911, the Negaunee council made provisions for the numbering of houses and free mail delivery service was inaugurated.

Up until this time it was necessary for all local residents to get their mail from the post office which charged for boxes. Following a Civil Service examination, mail carrier positions were filled. The first three carriers were Oscar Holmberg, David Murphy and Louis Houle.

With the closing of the post offices in Suomi and Midway Locations, residents mailing address’ were Palmer, Michigan. Residents had to pick up their mail or students who rode the school bus took care of family postal affairs.

With the growth of Negaunee a motor rout was established covering sections of the city that were part of a rural route. In 1922, considerable groundwork was done by Capt. Joe Thomas a city alderman, who enlisted the help of Congressman Frank James, to grant approval of free rural delivery service by the Negaunee office. An improvement in mail service to the outlying areas of Palmer was the introduction of rural carrier service, with Hugo Tenhunen being the first rural carrier, serving from 1936-1945.

The postal service made another change and the area was transferred to the Negaunee RFD system, now residents have a Negaunee postal address. Since the end of World War II, with the decline of rail service a change has taken place in the method of handling mail.

It is noted that in 1965, not a single train brought mail to Negaunee. The closest point for rail service at that time was Champion Michigan and from that point mail was dispatched by mail trucks.

Negaunee’s new post office on Case Street was occupied on Jan. 9, 1938.

Things to note about the post office in its early years, is that it served more than just a mail operation.

It served as the local bank. Money orders from the post office substituted for checks. Telegrams came through the post office. Telegrams arriving during war time could be bad news, a son was missing in action,

or worse, killed in the line of duty. People got their two inch thick catalogs from Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards from “down below”through the post office. And how we waited for the Christmas catalog.

At Christmas time, the post office is a direct link to Santa Claus. Today we have the convenience of having our mail delivered to our door or by a rural carrier whodrops it in a roadside box, or it can be picked up by person at the post office. Rain, hail, snow or sleet the mail must go through.