THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407140188
SECTION: CAROLINA COAST PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY PAUL SOUTH, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: AYDLETT LENGTH: Long : 160 lines
THE WHITE CLAPBOARD building looks more like a location for a Mom and Pop grocery store than Uncle Sam's office in Aydlett, N.C. But here the United States Postal Service has done its business for almost a century.
Come rain, sleet, snow, or dark of night, the folks in Aydlett have come here to retrieve mail order dresses from Sears, perfume-laced love letters sealed with X and O hugs and kisses, Christmas gifts and birthday cards.
In wartime, they came to receive ``Greetings from the President of the United States'' telling them their sons would be off to war. Later, some of those same mothers and fathers would receive the sad news: ``The United States Government regrets to inform you . . . ''
Flowing through this small place, five paces wide by 15 paces long, is the correspondence of life - love and loss, birth and death, poverty and prosperity.
``If you took away this post office, there would not be anything to give this town an identity,'' said Kim Holden, a postal clerk at the Aydlett branch. ``People come here to find out who's had babies, who's died, who's sick. They even come here to sell their vegetables,'' she said, motioning toward a basket of bright yellow squash and cool green cucumbers which sat on the post office floor. ``This is Aydlett.''
So it is for towns throughout northeastern North Carolina.
FOR COMMUNITIES FROM Aydlett to Ocracoke, Maple to Salvo, tiny post offices are their heart and soul.
The romance with the small-town post office began on the Outer Banks shortly after the Civil War. According to David Stick's ``The Outer Banks of North Carolina,'' only four post offices were on the Outer Banks at war's end. Portsmouth (1840), Hatteras (1858), Ocracoke (1858) and Knotts Island. Three additional post offices were established in 1873 at Cape Hatteras, Manteo, and Kinnakeet. In 1874, the seaside village of Chicamacomico got its own post office.
Year after year, additional branches were added in virtually every community on the Outer Banks from Deals (established in 1907 north of Corolla and later discontinued) to Cape Lookout (established 1910, and later closed).
The increase in the number of post offices came with a price, however. Many of the colorful names of Outer Banks communities were discarded by postal officials, because they were considered too difficult to spell, or didn't fit the personal tastes of Washington authorities.
As a result, the post office at Chicamacomico was renamed Rodanthe because the original Indian name was too difficult to spell. Cape Hatteras was changed to Buxton in 1882. Kinnakeet was changed to Avon in 1883. Ashby's Harbor on the western shore of Roanoke Island became Skyco in 1892. Whales Head or Currituck Beach was changed to Corolla in 1895. Trent became Frisco in 1898. Clarks was renamed Salvo in 1901. And Wash Woods changed to Deals in 1907.
Other Outer Banks communities took on new names with the arrival of the post office. Pennys Hill became Seagull in 1901. Naghead was changed to Griffin in 1915, and then to Nags Head in 1916. South Rodanthe became Waves in 1939.
More barrier island post offices were established in the late 19th century. Kitty Hawk (1878), Wanchese (1886) and Kill Devil Hills in 1938. Post offices in Colington, Deals, Otilla, Seagull and Cape Lookout were once active, but have since been discontinued.
SINCE THE PASSAGE of the 1971 Postal Reorganization Act in which the postal service sought to cut costs and streamline its operation, closure has been the lot of a number of area post offices.
With those closings, many hamlets lost the main building that gave them their identities. They lost their lone landmark.
The consolidations mark a disturbing trend for some residents of the towns, who not only count on the facilities for their mail, but for human contact.
``This is the only building we have in this town,'' said Elizabeth Donski, who, along with other Aydlett residents, fought successfully to keep their post office open. ``They talked about giving us mail boxes for rural delivery, or consolidating ours with another post office. That wouldn't have worked because when we get bad weather here, it's tough for the older people to get out. And a lot of our folks here are on fixed incomes. It would cost a lot of money they don't have to go back and forth to another post office.''
Leandra Palmyra, postmaster of the Linville Falls, N.C., branch and a Post Office review coordinator charged with collecting all data and public comment when a post office is up for review, said the debate over post office closures is ``a two-sided issue.''
``Things change,'' said Palmyra, who has been in charge of the Linville Falls office for 15 years. ``We're trying to be responsive to the needs of the community. And as those needs change, we have to adjust. Also, we have to look at how we can provide quality service for the most efficient cost. After all, we're not subsidized by government funds. We don't have to make a profit. We have to break even.''
Palmyra said communities like Aydlett that were able to save their post office succeeded because the people took an active role in the battle.
``Communities where there is a great deal of activity, not just in the post office but in other aspects of life, tend to have a better chance to keep their branch,'' said Palmyra. ``In Aydlett's case, the people got involved and active.''
POST OFFICES DON'T generally come up for review until there is a vacancy in the postmaster's office.
``We're not in the business of firing people,'' she said.
Marguerite Sawyer served for 39 years in the postal service including a stint as postmaster in Camden. She is now president of the retirees section of the North Carolina chapter of the National Association of Postmasters.
``It's virtually up to the community,'' she said of a post office's chance for survival. ``If they use their own local post offices and the advantages and services they have there, the chances are pretty good that the post office will remain there.''
Palmyra said that while rural route delivery provides the same level of service as a small post office, many people are skeptical of losing their physical facilities.
``There are a lot of people who have always used a post office box, and have concerns about security for their mail. People who use rural route delivery know the dedication and the quality of service they get. It's really a matter of perception.''
There's no mistaking the perceptions of the folks in Stumpy Point, some of whom are concerned that their branch may be the next victim of cutbacks. Some residents have already put up mailboxes and are receiving mail. For Ralph O'Neal, that's a bad sign.
``I would hate to have a mail box in front of my house,'' said O'Neal, a Stumpy Point resident who's picked up his mail at the Stumpy Point office for 57 years. ``Used to, you'd come in here and the post office was full of people. Puttin' up mailboxes is what done it. Ain't nobody else done it but the people here. I ain't never gonna put one up until I see that door close,'' he said from the steps of the small building.
According to lifelong Stumpy Point resident Roy Midgett, the post office is more than a place to get your mail.
``If four or five came in here at the same time, they might stop outside to talk for a while,'' he said.
The same is true in Linville Falls.
``This is the gossip corner of the world,'' said Palmyra. ``We're just catching our breath from the Highland Games. We've had guys running around in kilts all week.''
At least one Stumpy Point resident, 73-year-old Irma Paschal, doesn't mince words about the impact closure of her post office will have on the community. It could sum up the feelings of small town folks around America, who know and love their post office, and fear its loss.
``If we don't have a post office,'' Paschal said, ``we won't have anything.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by DREW C. WILSON
Color on the Cover: A Vanishing Landmark: America's Small-Town Post
Offices
Ralph O'Neal, a Stumpy Point native, retrieves his mail from a box
at the U.S. Post Office where it has been delivered for 57 years.
Stumpy Point residents Major Hooper, left, and Roy Midgett catch up
on the news on the front porch of the community post office.
LEFT: Inside the Stumpy Point post office, relief clerk Jeanette
Ambrose chats with resident Kay Receveur,left, while Roy Midgett,
center, and Major Hooper read their mail.
BELOW: Ricky Hill is postmaster of the white clapboard U.S. Post
Office at Aydlette. He lives next door to his place of employment.
by CNB