Friday, July 25, 1997
New post offices for Sylvester and others
By Ken Ellsworth/ Abilene Reporter-News
SYLVESTER - Bobbie Hardwick may be the happiest of the 79 people
the Texas Almanac says live in Sylvester. Hardwick, the postmaster
here for the past 20 years, finally has a new post office building.
"I know I am going to enjoy it very much, and everybody
in the Postal Service has been very nice and very helpful,"
Hardwick said when I stopped by early this week.
A truck towed the new post office building to town and laid
it down on a concrete slab that had already been prepared near
the old post office. The new building is a modular, or mobile,
unit.
Hardwick thinks the new, gray-toned building with white trim
is just right for a small town post office. It has clean, white
walls, new postal boxes, increased storage space, and most importantly,
more working room.
The old building, which is about 50 years old, has just barely
500 square feet of interior area. The new one has 700. Hardwick
welcomes the additional space.
"And I am finally going to have a dump table that I'll
be so thrilled to get," she said as she walked through the
new building pointing out its modern features.
Hardwick, who grew up in Olney and attended Abilene Christian
University from 1942-45, explained that a dump table was just
a big table on which to pile packages and other items. Up to now,
the surface of Hardwick's desk has served as the dump table.
Hardwick, a resident of Sylvester for 30 years, has kept the
old brass postal boxes polished and pretty, but she is not sorry
to see them give way to new ones.
"I have complained about my boxes. They are old and worn
out," Hardwick said, adding that many of the locks are unrepairable.
The new post office will be in operation by mid-August. Hardwick
plans to have an open house around the first of September.
John Howard is not surprised that Hardwick is ready to celebrate.
Howard is a manager of the U.S. Postal Service operations for
the Fort Worth District. He oversees 152 post offices in this
area, working out of the post office in downtown Abilene. He recommends
new post office buildings, when he sees a need, to the U.S. Postal
Service.
He has seen plenty of need.
"It's kind of been neglected out here for some time. We're
trying to correct that. We've been putting in new post offices
big time for several years now," Howard said.
Old Glory, McCaulley and Novice, in addition to Sylvester,
have received the modular units. Jayton and Hawley already have
new brick buildings. Tuscola, Clyde, May, Buffalo Gap and Winters
are scheduled to get new brick post offices sometime in 1998.
Baird and Sweetwater will receive new permanent structures by
1999. Knox City and Snyder will are scheduled for new brick post
offices in the year 2000, Howard said.
Modular units are purchased by the U.S. Postal Service, but
new brick offices in smaller communities are leased. Buildings
over 10,000 square feet, though, are owned by the postal service,
Howard said.
"We own the little bitty ones and the great big ones,
but we lease the ones in between," he explained.
I asked Howard what would happen to the antique boxes from
the old Sylvester post office.
"Well, I don't know for sure. Sometimes things like that
are sold, but sometimes they end up in the museum we have down
here in the basement of our building here in Abilene," he
said.
This column covers the cities and communities of this part
of West Texas. To contact Ken Ellsworth, call (800) 588-6397 or
(915) 673-4271, Ext. 381, or write to P.O. Box 30, Abilene, TX
79604.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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