Post Office Closing Signals Small Town Trend

By Josh Hinkle, Reporter

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By Josh Hinkle

Story Created: Oct 17, 2007 at 4:26 PM CST

Story Updated: Oct 17, 2007 at 6:18 PM CST

RANDALIA - The recent closing of the Randalia Post Office is not the first in Fayette County this year. It joins the Westgate Post Office as a trend towns are turning toward. Residents says it’s earning those towns a near-extinct status.

Even though the Randalia Post Office has closed, residents will still keep the Randalia zip code, and the town will remain on the map. But residents say closing this building signals the loss of something greater - the very life of their town.

Randalia is one of those towns that the bigger highways just missed, and the railroad never ran through. But, as residents put it, such seclusion does have its perks.

Geraldine Winkie says, "(I) know everybody that's here, I guess."

Winkie's post office box is one of 23 remaining in Randalia. A collection box is all that remains of the postal service here. Winkie and her husband Pete are two of only 70 people left.

Since 2000, about 15 people have moved away. Winkie says it all started when the local school closed in 1957. Her class of ten was one of the last. Now, only the school's gym remains.

The only gas station also closed, as did the fire station. And a fire destroyed the town's only grocery store. So, there really isn't much to attract new neighbors.

Grace Jessen says, "(There are) lots of empty houses."

Jessen's family moved here two decades ago for more peace and quiet. But, with her kids grown up and gone, she says Randalia is almost too quiet.

Winkie and many other residents volunteered to run the post office in the absence of real workers, but the postal service told them they needed training.

There is a small chance that this post office could come back to life. Because the post mistress retired and no one else works here, the building is considered 'suspended' at this time. It could be two years before officials decide whether to close it permanently.

Postal service in Randalia has since moved to Sumner, which is nine miles away. This spring, a major tornado destroyed the post office in Fruitland. The U.S. Postal Service says it closed about a half dozen locations in Iowa in the past year. Officials say they only close a post office if the building is destroyed, as in Fruitland's case, or if there are no trained workers available, as in Randalia's case.

Email Josh Hinkle at Josh.Hinkle@kcrg.com

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