Tonkawa’s post office is turning 126 years old. Its birthday is celebrated Monday, March 9.
Postal records show it opened March 9, 1894.
The petition for a post office was written at the camp of the Old Yellow Bull crossing in October, 1893, or a short time after the Cherokee Strip run and was circulated among the settlers in this vicinity during the fall of 1893. Eli Blake and H.L. Wile wrote up the petition which was granted the Post Office Department a short time afterwards. Eli Blake was named the first postmaster at about the time the town of Tonkawa was platted.
The post office, for a time, was in Blake’s residence on what is now 12th Street but was later moved to the block west of Main Street.
Mike Newcomb is present postmaster.
Other Tonkawa postal officials include Noah Springer, city carrier; Anna Luna, city carrier; Craig Edwards, rural carrier; Tiarra Senn, RC sub; and Jan Burk, clerk.
History of the post office is from excerpts from letters written by A.M. Thomas of Tonkawa to his daughter in Colorado, who was a small child at the time of the opening of the Cherokee Strip. Several of these historical letters by Mr. Thomas are printed in the “Chronicles of Oklahoma” Vol. XXI, No. 4 (Dec. 1943) and the Oct. 27, 1994, issue of The Tonkawa News.
Past Postmasters
Eli V. Blake, March 9, 1894
William L. Stalnaker, April 23,1898
James Wilkin, Feb. 11, 1909
F.S. Chambers, July 11, 1913
Carl F. Williams, Aug. 14, 1915
Bernie A. Cockrell, Feb. 13, 1922
Harry James Barclay, acting, Dec. 10, 1933
Harry James Barclay, postmaster, May 22, 1934
William S. Marsh, acting, Feb. 28, 1954
Glen L. Strange, June 22, 1956
Jesse Watson, assistant postmaster, Oct. 9, 1965
Jesse Watson, officer-in-charge, 1974
John H. Levacy, officer-in-charge, June 30, 1975
Robert V. Bennett, Sept. 27, 1975
Glen C. Jones, officer-in-charge, Oct. 6, 1978
Lester W. Goodger, officer-in-charge, April 3, 1979
Jesse D. Lyall, June 16, 1979
Sherrie I. Schatz, officer-in-charge, Dec. 30, 1988
John L. Powers, Feb. 11, 1989
Keith Fletcher, Dec. 29, 1994
Divina Love, June, 1998
Sharon Socia, officer-in-charge, Sept, 2009 - April, 2010
Mike Newcomb, April, 2010 to present.
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