Although mail was being delivered in Whitley County for several decades beforehand, January 14, 1854, is considered the official anniversary date for the Columbia City Post Office.
A post office was designated for the county seat in 1842 with weekly mail deliveries beginning on July 1 of that year. Residents wanted it to be called “Columbia Post Office,” but that name was not approved because another existed elsewhere in the state. As the issue was debated, the Post Office department named it Whitley County Courthouse and changed the name of the “Whitley Post Office” to “South Whitley Post Office.” This only added to the confusion for mail delivery with both offices frequently receiving the wrong mail.
A meeting was held in Columbia City on December 16, 1853, to officially determine a new name for the post office here since residents had not been consulted on the last name. “Columbia City” ended up being the winning name and it took effect on January 16, 1854. On that day, Lewis Dowell took office as the first “Columbia City” postmaster.
According to Oren Clark, who worked for the post office from about 1893 until the 1950s, the earliest post office he remembered was on the northeast corner of the courthouse lawn, from there, it moved to the southeast corner of the courthouse lawn. From there, it moved around the downtown for a period of years until finding a permanent location on the corner of Jackson and Chauncey Streets.
Construction on the current building began in 1935 and was completed in early 1936. The building was constructed by Henry Dattner at a cost of $35,037. The Columbia City Post Office building opened officially on May 6, 1936. Irvin Sell was the postmaster during that era.
On Saturday, January 16, 1954, the Columbia City community celebrated the 100th anniversary of the post office here. Later that summer, an extensive three-month renovation took place at the facility. At that time, the exterior trim was repainted, sidewalks and steps were repaired and the curbs and parking lot areas were updated. Additionally, the roof was updated and plaster was redone in the workroom. Harry Bollinger was the postmaster during that renovation.
For customer convenience and to reduce congestion inside the post office building, the Columbia City Post Office added curbside mailboxes in December of 1954.
Thank you to Jennifer Romano, Whitley County Historian – Indiana for her outstanding research and writing of the article and the Whitley County Historical Museum for sharing photos from its collection
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Two pineapples and an urn set atop the front door of the United States Post Office, 115 North Chauncey Street. Built in 1935, our Post Office building is an example of the Colonial Revival style used for many federal buildings across the country by the Public Works Administration. The Treasury Department developed standardized, efficient, floor plans and recommended a handful of architectural styles for these buildings.
The Colonial Revival style combines features of the Georgian, Federalist, and other styles of the 1700s. The dark brick with contrasting mortar, arched windows with stone keystones, and pediment with decorative pineapples and urn details over the front door are all aspects of this eclectic style.
Also memorable for long-time residents was the fallout/storm shelter sign that directed the public to the basement stairway until the 1990s.
Thank you to Nathan Bilger for providing the recent photos and valuable insights into the architectural history.
