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

         When the post office opened in May 1850 in conjunction with the United States Customhouse, Pembina was still part of the Minnesota Territory. Mail was originally carried from St. Paul by ox carts on a well-traveled fur trade trail. Even at the last stop before the Canadian border, a local convenience store cashier is able to recall facts about Pembina’s famous post office.
         Community members also play a part in creating the atmosphere for small town post offices. A man about to enter the Cavalier post office suddenly stopped, turned and dashed over to the car of an elderly lady. He took her mail key and returned seconds later with a couple hand-addressed envelopes, a thin newspaper and a small package wrapped in brown craft paper. The two made sure to catch up, chatting for several minutes. Inside a nearby post office, homemade cards from local school children hang on the wall. The construction paper collages held together with Elmer’s glue have messages scrawled in crayon thanking the postmaster for a tour of the post office.

(return to top of story)


home | town | people | culture | class | sourceu