Walking up North 30th Street in the historic heart of Florence today, you can get swept up in the neighborhood’s deep pioneer roots. Passing the 1856 Bank of Florence, you might catch a glimpse of the historic Florence Mill or the Florence Depot and feel the weight of a town that was once a real competitor with Omaha City to become the most important city on the Missouri River. That plan didn’t work, but there is one quiet anchor of the community that has kept the mail moving and the neighborhood connected for over 170 years. This is a history of the Florence Post Office, one of the oldest continuous postal operations in the entire state of Nebraska.

The Frontier Days: Voting and Wildcat Banking

These images show the back and front from an 1855 letter posted at Florence, Nebraska. The image and caption are from Nebraska Territorial Postal History.

The story of the mail in Florence begins long before the neighborhood was officially annexed by Omaha The story of the mail in Florence begins long before the neighborhood was officially annexed by Omaha in 1917. Following the departure of the Mormon pioneers from Winter Quarters, a speculator named James C. Mitchell stepped in to plat the town of Florence in 1854. Almost immediately, the first official Florence Post Office was established. In its infancy, it was the political and social nucleus of the young town, even serving as the official voting precinct for the early territorial elections.

During its earliest decades, the post office operated out of a weather-beaten frame building standing further down north on Main Street. For thirty years, this original structure was anchored by Postmaster John Salon, who kept the mail moving during the chaotic days when the Mormons were present and long after they departed across the sandy desert.

By the late 1890s and early 1900s, the office had relocated a couple of blocks south to a uniquely shaped, “queer-roofed” building on the opposite side of the street. Here, a popular local figure named Miss Olive P. Tracy served as postmistress for nearly eight years. Appointed by President Cleveland, Tracy maintained her position through changing political administrations by simply focusing on doing her duty rather than engaging in politics.

As the town grew, so did the real estate surrounding the mail hub. By 1916, notable Florence resident and political candidate and newspaperman William R. Wall had built a big brick building that was eventually home to both the Florence Commercial Bank and the post office.

Mud, Snow, and the Coming of Rural Delivery

As the 20th century arrived, delivering the mail to the huge region around Florence was grueling work. Early carriers like A. B. Anderson and a Mr. Brown originally braved the elements in horse-drawn covered rigs, dragging the mail through thick prairie mud and mountains of snow in the Ponca Hills and west of the city of Florence.

The logistics grew more sophisticated on June 4, 1900, when Washington officially established a Rural Free Delivery (RFD) system for Florence. Armed with just a single appointed carrier, T. B. Tucker, this new twenty-mile route stretched across 38 square miles to bring consistent mail access to a rural population of 700 people.

The mail schedule was deeply tied to the railroads in Florence, especially the Omaha Road and later, the streetcar into Florence. In January 1904, when an early morning mail train was taken off the tracks, the post office adjusted its Sunday hours from 9:00–10:00 AM to 12:00–1:00 PM so local patrons could still reliably collect their Sunday correspondence.

The Consolidation, Pearl Door Knobs, and Andy Anderson

Delivering the mail to the expansive rural territory surrounding Florence was grueling work. The mail schedule itself was entirely dependent on the local railroads; in January 1904, when an early morning mail train was taken off the route, the post office had to adjust its Sunday mail pickup hours from 9:00–10:00 A.M. to 12:00–1:00 P.M..

Perhaps no figure is more tied to this era of Florence’s postal history than Andrew B. Andersen. Andersen began his postal career on February 3, 1903, as a rural carrier. In his early days, he furnished three of his own horses and a wagon to cover a staggering 25-mile route, earning just $50 a month for dragging the mail through the thick prairie mud and snow.

Andersen steadily rose through the ranks. He was made assistant postmaster on January 15, 1908, became a fourth-class postmaster in 1911, and was officially appointed as a third-class postmaster by President Woodrow Wilson in 1913.

Fiercely protective of his station’s prestige, Andersen successfully secured his official commission from Washington in September 1913 after nine months of negotiations. Overjoyed, he contemplated an incredibly lavish interior remodel for the Florence office, rumored to include a new letter case finished in rich ebony, walls frescoed in gold and silver leaf, circassian walnut flooring, and door knobs crafted from Indian pearl.

Four years before Omaha officially annexed the city of Florence, the independent Florence post office officially became a substation (known as “Florence Station”) of the Omaha central system in the summer of 1918. When this change occurred, Andersen was kept on and appointed as the station’s superintendent.

From Main Street to the Atomic Age

These are pics of the exterior and the post office boxes at the USPS Florence Station in 2011.

The station bounced around the neighborhood as business needs evolved. In late September 1948, equipment was moved a block and a half south from the old Florence Postoffice located at 8617 North Thirtieth Street (owned by Dr. Charles Bunniwell) to a newly renovated building at 8501 North Thirtieth Street (owned by E.H. Pilmaier), located right across the street from the Florence Bank. This location soon proved too small for the booming post-war growth in far North Omaha though, and the federal government decided something needed to be done.

In 1961, the physical footprint of Florence’s mail service shifted off the Florence Main Street, then known as North 30th Street. To start construction, a company called the MPS Corporation secured a $50,000 building permit to erect a dedicated, standalone facility just around the corner. The completed mid-century modern building at 2910 State Street was valued at approximately $75,000 and featured 3,700 square feet of interior space—exactly twice the size of the 30th Street substation it replaced. Though mail operations quietly began moving out of the new brick-and-block structure on December 11, its official dedication was a grand civic event.

On a Thursday afternoon at 2pm, neighborhood residents and dignitaries gathered at the Florence Masonic Temple for the formal dedication. The celebration held immense personal significance for the chairman of the dedication committee, Andrew R. Andersen—the superintendent of training for the Omaha Post Office and the son of Florence’s late, long-serving postal pioneer Andrew B. Andersen. During the ceremonies, U.S. Representative Glenn Cunningham presented Acting Omaha Postmaster John P. Munnelly with an American flag that had previously flown over the Capitol building in Washington, D.C.. Under the initial leadership of Station Superintendent Edward T. Spellman, a 21-year postal veteran, the state-of-the-art facility opened with a crew of 18 men handling a massive, expanding delivery territory spanning nearly 100 square miles. The building was constructed as a lease, and the post office took out a 10-year lease with a 20 year renewal option.

By the 1980s, the space-age building was a seasoned workhorse of the community, where local carriers like Roy Holmgren became familiar neighborhood fixtures as they loaded their trucks along the State Street platform. Interestingly, local postal data from this era upended the common belief that Christmas was the most grueling time of year for mail carriers. Mail Processing Director Gene Ivey noted that for the Florence Station, January was historically much busier than December. Once the holiday rush cleared, carriers were hit with a massive, sluggish deluge of federal and state income tax forms alongside oversized magazine subscription contest mailings, solidifying 2910 State Street as a vital, year-round engine of neighborhood life.

The Great Fight of 2009

By the dawn of the 21st century, the United States Postal Service faced massive budget deficits. In 2009, the federal government officially placed the Florence Post Office on the chopping block, alongside threats to close the local branch of the Omaha Public Library. To Florence’s residents, it was an attack on the soul of the neighborhood neighborhood’s soul.

Led by the Florence Historical Foundation and local leaders, a massive grassroots campaign successfully forced the postal service to back down and ensure the doors stayed open. Today, when you walk into the lobby at 2910 State Street to drop off a letter, you aren’t just using a utility. You are participating in a historical tradition that predates the state of Nebraska itself.

You Might Like…

• MY ARTICLES ABOUT THE HISTORY OF FLORENCE
  
• Basics: History | Banks | Newspapers | Churches
• Public Places: Florence Main Street | Florence High School | The Mormon Tree | Mormon Bridge | Florence Boulevard | River Drive | J.J. Pershing Drive and Monument | Potter’s Field | Post Office
• Businesses: Florence Mill | Zestos | Florence Home | Florence Bank | Florence Mill | Florence Ferry | Florence Water Works | Florence Depot
• Houses: Parker Mansion | Brandeis Country Home | Lantry-Thompson Mansion | Mitchell House | Hunt Mansion
• Other Historic Places: Cutler’s Park | Winter Quarters | Vennelyst Park | Florence Building | Railroads & Streetcars | Forest Lawn
• People: James M. Parker | James Comey Mitchell | Florence Kilborn | Jacob Weber Sr. | Mayors
• Neighborhoods: Winter Quarters | Florence Field | Wyman Heights | High Point
• Mormon History Locations: Mormon Pioneer Memorial Bridge | Site of the Mormon Tree | Cutler’s Park | Brigham Young House | Mormon Mill
• Other: Directory of Florence Historic Places | ROCK BOTTOM: A History of Florence, Nebraska