Historic Post Offices That Existed in the Bethel/Cruso Area
Forks of Pigeon Post Office was in Colonel Joseph Cathey's Store (also called Cathey's Store Post Office). Postage for a letter was five cents. Colonel Cathey charged an additional three cent fee for writing the letter. This post office eventually moved its operation temporarily during the Cival War and and operated briefly out of the Blaylock home near Silver Bluff in Bethel.
Dates of Operation: 1841-1901. During the Civil War (1861-1865) sources vary regarding the operation at the Forks of Pigeon Post Office. U.S. Postal Museum records indicate that Forks of Pigeon Post operated as a Confederate States of America (CSA) post office during the war. Other sources indicate that postal operations moved temporarily to the nearby Blaylock House during the Civil War and returned in 1867. In checking the seven Haywood County post offices in operation during the Civil War (Crabtree, Fines Creek, Forks of Pigeon, Ivy Hill, Jonathan Creek, Pigeon River (Canton), and Waynesville), US Postal Museum records state the following: “CSA office closed on or before April 30, 1865.” Only Forks of Pigeon in Bethel and Ivy Hill in the Waynesville area make the statement “Federal Office discontinued.” Unclear is what is meant by “Federal office discontinued January 4, 1867” at the Forks of Pigeon Post Office, but federal operations did continue by January 9, 1867.
Included below is the line of operation according to the U.S. Postal Museum records.
Postmasters/Postmistresses with dates of appointment:
William Cathey, Sr. (September 23, 1841)
Joseph Cathey (April 7, 1852)
Joseph Cathey, CSA - (July 4, 1861)
G. C. Moore, CSA
CSA Office closed on or before April 30, 1865
Federal office discontinued January 4, 1867
Armand Ermintia S. Deaver (one source lists Ermintia L. Deaver) (January 9, 1867)
Mary C. Evans (February 26, 1867)
William S. Evans (August 19, 1869)
Thomas R. Hyatt (January 17, 1881)
Washington Haynes (January 10, 1882)
James A. Blalock (August 6, 1883 - November 30, 1901) - Last Postmaster
Discontinued November 30, 1901
After November 30, 1901, mail was directed to Canton Post Office
Envelope from an 1846 letter from Thomas Isaac Lenoir to his sister Sarah at Fort Defiance, NC. with Forks of Pigeon on the label.
-from the Carroll Jones Collection
Garden Creek Post Office was operated on the Osborne Farm in the vicinity of today's Crestview Baptist Church on Highway #110. The Osborne family ran one of the finest dairy farms in the state into the twentieth century on the Osborne Farm, and the post office was operated by the family on the farm in the later quarter of the 19th Century and two years into the 20th Century. Available historical documentation lists Arthur and sisters Mary Louisa and Florence Osborne in charge of operations at the Osborne Dairy Farm, though other family members may have been involved with the post office operation also.
Dates of Operation: 1878-1901
Postmasters/Postmistresses with dates of appointment:
Adoninamy Judson (sometimes listed
as Adoninamy Osborne or Adoniram J. Osborne or as J. Osborne) (April 8, 1878)
Other members of the Osborne family
Discontinued November 30, 1901.
After November 30, 1901, mail was directed to Canton Post Office
The Reverend James Anderson Inman built the Lavinia Post Office near his home just off McClure's Creek Road. Later the operation moved to the home of Joseph and Susan Inman near McClure's Creek. Their son Lon walked approximately twelve miles to Waynesville twice a week to bring the mail to the post office. James Ballou Inman contracted to carry the mail three times a week from Waynesville to Livingston, Sonoma, Retreat, and Lavinia Post Offices. He earned $112 per year.
Dates of Operation: 1886-1913. Historical records differ concerning this post office in relation to the operation of Sunburst Post Office, with one source indicating that Sunburst Post Office mail was discontinued by October 31, 1908, and mail was directed to Lavinia Post Office. By 1913, mail moved back from Lavinia to Sunburst Post Office
Postmasters/Postmistresses:
Charlotte L. Penland (March 27, 1886)
Joseph W. Singleton (April 21, 1891)
Minnie Franklin (January 2, 1892)
Joseph Pingree Inman (November 6, 1893-1913)
Susan Franklin Inman (August 19, 1910 - 1913)
Mail Carriers to the post office with dates of operation:
Lon Inman
James Ballou Inman (May 1896-1900)
M.J. Boyd
James Inman
Discontinued February 8, 1913
After February 8, 1913, mail was delivered to Sunburst Post Office
Little East Fork Post Office was primarily a horseback delivery arrangement.
Dates of Operation: Unknown
Postmasters/Postmistresses:
Holden G. Warren was the mail carrier
Cruso Post Office
Forks of Pigeon Post Office
Garden Creek Post Office
Lavinia Post Office
Little East Fork Post Office
Lavinia Post Office
-from the Cheryl Haney collection
Cruso Post Office existed in a variety of locations through its five decades of operation. The area that would become known as Cruso was served by Springdale and other small post offices. Post office locations moved as new postmasters were appointed. The first Cruso Post Office was on Cold Creek Road, then near Tom J. Reece's farm near Pisgah Creek, later across the Creek from the Free Will Baptist Church, then to Lucy Poston's and Oder Burnette's. The last location recorded was in the Ira Cogburn Store near today's East Fork Baptist Church and the Cruso Fire Department. Eva Pless Fulbright Cogburn Fish and family operated the store. The Jack Delmar Fulbright family briefly lived in the back of the store that also served as a post office until 1942.
Dates of Operation: 1890-January 30,1942.
Postmasters/Postmistresses with dates of appointment:
US postal archives lists a total of 16 postmasters for this area, though our available documentation lists only 12.
James R. Trull (May 2, 1890)
William J. Trull (June 10, 1896)
Thomas N. Massie (January 3, 1901)
William J. Trull (November 23, 1903)
William W. Pless (September 10,1904)
James N. Osborne (January 31, 1914)
Thomas J. Reece (September 30, 1919)
Ira H. Cogburn - Acting (July 7, 1925)
Ira H. Cogburn (November 10, 1925)
Roy L. Pless - Acting (November 12, 1936)
The Reverend Oder F. Burnett (March 26, 1937)
Frank D. Grogan- Acting (March 15,1938)
Frank D. Grogan (July 14, 1938) - Appointment rescinded August 8, 1938
Arnold Poston - Acting (August 12, 1938)
Jacob Arnold Poston (January 14, 1939)
Discontinued June 30, 1942
After June 30, 1942, mail was directed to Canton Post Office
1927 Photo provided by Diana Fulbright Berg
Diana Fulbright Berg and Eva Pless Fulbright Cogburn standing in front of the Cruso Post Office. (1980s Photo provided by Diana Fulbright Berg)
Photo is from the Robert Cathey and Bill Holbrook collection