Sealed with Community Support
By: Jessica Zillgitt

Driving through rural North Dakota, it is not unusual to see an old two-car garage or a transformed trailer home with a United States Post Office sign attached to the front. These modest structures do more than distribute mail to the small communities they serve. Step into a post office in Pembina County and you are surrounded by a visible representation of small town atmosphere. The post office serves as the center of communication, a point of pride and a reminder of the town’s heritage.
     In these close knit communities people “take their turn being mayor” according to the postmaster of Bathgate, and community support for the post office is strong. There are only 25 homes and approximately 65 people in Bathgate. The postmaster said residents believe if they let the post office disappear, their community will eventually die. To show how fragile Bathgate is, consider that the addition of one new business more than quadrupled the flow of mail through the small post office.
     The post office serves as a place where locals can go in the morning to get their mail and discuss the new pastor at the local parish or the couple building the new house on the outskirts of town. The people of Pembina County support their post offices because they are a place to socialize and keep up-to-date on community happenings. In contrast to large post offices where employees quickly move people through the lines, small town postal employees combine the purchase of a book of stamps with an inquiry about family members and mutual friends. Postal windows are filled with chocolate eggs wrapped in pastel foil and photos of the postmaster’s family at a wedding or on a beach. These window accents invite customers in to chat about a community member’s vacation to Mexico and the grocery store owners’ new daughter.
     Within the doorways are bulletin boards covered with flyers printed on brightly colored paper advertising pick-ups, couches and vinyl siding. Posters promoting a ham dinner to benefit a local community member waiting for an organ transplant are posted in every post office in the county. A picture of a lost kitten is posted with a hand written phone number and message.
     The support given to local post offices can be experienced outside the post office. Volunteers at the Pembina State Museum enjoy sharing their knowledge of the Pembina Post Office, the first post office in what is now North Dakota.

Post Offices Continued..........

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