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issue date - August 4, 2002
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| Gowanda Post Office - In 1820, Colonel Benjamin Waterman opens the first post office in Lodi (formerly Aldrich Mills). In 1827, the Lodi (taken from Napolean's Bridge of Lodi) Post Office is discontinued; mail is received at Collins until 1830. A post office of West Lodi is then established on the Cattaraugus County side of the creek. To avoid confusion with another post office in Seneca County with the same name, the official designation is changed in 1835 from Lodi to Persia. The name changes to Gowanda in 1848. In I.R. Leonard's account, the post office moves around a great deal. In 1856, it is housed in D.N. Brown's building in the Mansion House Block, it moves to 2 Water St. in the Welch Block in May of 1862. It then moves to Jamestown Street in October of that year. By 1864, postal services are supplied from a room in what was once a variety store, and eventually is the Mentley/Press store, 5 Main St. During the 1870s, the post office relocates to the Union Block and then returns to the building on Jamestown Street. In 1884, the post office is in an old brick building on Main Street and moves, in 1894, to the Hooker Block, the north side of Main Street. Finally, a permanent location is built, completed in 1937, where the post office stands today. A few interesting tidbits include the momentous occasion in 1915 when Gowanda gets door-to-door mail delivery, first-class postage is three cents in 1955 and five cents in 1963, and in 1968, Gowanda gets a zip code. (Photo courtesy of Gowanda Area Historical Society.) |