A History of Mecklenburg County, Virginia’s Many Post Offices

Post offices in Mecklenburg County 1765-2022

I had a theory that most of the small place names in Mecklenburg County had at one point in time had been the location of a post office. Then I wondered if perhaps all the rural place names I found on maps had been the locations of post offices during the county’s 257 year history? I found some maps showing Mecklenburg County post offices on the Library of Congress’s website. Someone from the Mecklenburg genealogy Facebook group posted about postal contracts available at NARA. I’ve been studying Mecklenburg maps, Mecklenburg GIS communities, Virginia postal maps and Mecklenburg contracts. I have added historical post offices to my map, (shown above) using the envelope symbol. They map pins are colored to match the time periods for the other layers in my map, according to the time period the post office existed.

Here are the results of my research. I found 154 place names in Mecklenburg County. Some places changed names over time, like Chase City and Bracey. These places were only counted as one post office, with all names for the post office notated. This number of 154 does not count rivers, creeks, or roads, just place names given to land on a map at some point in the past.

• I have found documentation that 118 of the 154 places were the locations of post offices
• 49 of the places that were post offices are still on Mecklenburg GIS 2022 places map.
• 69 places out of 118 places that were post offices are not on the Mecklenburg GIS 2022 places map. All of these 69 post offices were closed before 1920, 122 years ago. Many of these post offices were open for less than 5 years, and the majority of them were closed before Virginia’s reconstruction time period in the 1870’s.
• 36 of 154 place names did not have a post office connection that I could find. Some of these places are listed as stores, which often had a post office in them. I could not find any evidence that these stores had a post office. Some of these places may have been part of the old railroads, no longer there. Presbyterian Point, Easters and Pleasant Grove reference churches.
• Some of the post offices that are not on the GIS 2022 map have the same names as present day roads.
• The Randolph Macon post office does not have a post office place in the Mecklenburg GIS, because the college moved out of the county after the Civil War.
• 102 post offices had postal contracts on the NARA microfilm.
• 86 post office places were on postal maps found on the Library of Congress web site.
• 100 of the 118 post offices are marked on my map above.

154 place name statistics

118 places were post offices	76.62%
36 place names have no known post office connection	23.37%
49 post offices remain on Mecklenburg GIS map	41.52%
102 postal contracts for Mecklenburg on NARA microfilm	86.44%
86 post offices marked on a postal map	72.88%

I have not yet found a postal connection for these 36 places :

Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives

“Rural mailman riding to the crossroads where he will meet another postman in a wagon. The mail sacks will then be transferred to his saddlebags and he will take the mail further up the side road and creek beds where no wagon or car can go.” – Library of Congress Website

Chronological history of Mecklenburg’s Post Offices

This image above was in the archives with each post office in service in 1837. After the post offices resubmitted their paperwork, the post office made a new map in 1839 of where all the postal contractors were located. I cropped to the Mecklenburg area.

1839 Virginia, Maryland, & Delaware Post Offices Map, Library of Congress website

This map shows that in 1839, Mecklenburg County had 20 post offices. Each regiment had 10 post offices.

*Finneywood appears on the above map as two words “Finney Wood” and just across the county line in Halifax County. But the postal contracts show it was in Mecklenburg.

1896 Virginia & West Virginia Postal Map, Library of Congress website

The next post office map that I could find was from 57 years later, in 1896. This map shows there were 25 post offices in the area previously known as the 22nd Regiment, and 30 post offices in the area previously known as the 98th Regiment. The map now shows rail road tracks. The postal contracts added the question about the distance from their post office to the nearest rail road. Here are the 65 post offices by Old Regiment, alphabetically:

Some 98th Regiment notes:

*Joyceville is presently in Brunswick County, but in this time period, it was in a different location, where Robert Joyce’s estate was. The postal contract says it was Mecklenburg in 1896.

**The name St. Tammany changed to Bracey in 1900, 4 years after this map was published.

Whittles Mill was listed in Lunenburg on this map. I’m not sure if this was a mapping error or if the location actually moved across the Meherrin River.

The brochure 1901 Hand Book of Mecklenburg County, Virginia references 10 less post offices than on the 1896 map, and 18 less than the 1906 map.

1906 Virginia Postal Map, Library of Congress website

The next map that I found is from 10 years later. According to the the 1896 and 1906 maps, 3 post offices were closed and 22 new post offices opened, in only 10 years!

The area of the old 22nd Regiment had 1 post office close called Siddons. Eleven new post offices opened during that 10 year time period: Arvin, Beechnut, Cephas, Malva, Nunn, Oakview, Otter Mills, Overland, Reddirt, Royster and Tanny.

The old 98th Regiment area had two post offices close: Lambert and Cuscowilla. Eleven new post offices opened: Dockery, Egmont, Gold Leaf, Inca, Kimono, Norvello, Ogburn, Portia, Redlawn, Reeke’s Mill, Smilax. The name St. Tammany changed to Bracey.

This map shows 73 post offices operating at the same time! Here are the post offices in service during 1906:

The Rural Free Delivery Act of 1893 was a huge undertaking to get mail to the rural areas of the country. An estimated 65% of the country’s population lived in rural areas at this time. There were debates in Congress about this, because there was a fear that delivering to rural areas would bankrupt the postal system. I think this is why there was such an increase in local post offices in 10 years, and why there were so many post offices open at the same time. I assume the goal was to get more post offices closer to people. The act was passed in 1893, the first route was in October 1896 as an early test. “Rural free delivery became a permanent service effective July 1, 1902. The word ‘free’ was dropped in 1906, since it was understood.” To get a rural delivery route, there had to be 100 households and the roads had to be passable year round. Virginia had a list of rural free delivery routes printed in 1904. There weren’t any place names from Mecklenburg County was on that list. But I did find an newspaper article about Chase City’s rural delivery route in 1907:



The Times Dispatch Richmond, Virginia 07 Dec 1907, Sat  •  Page 3



Virginia Postal Map, by: U.S. Govt. Print. Office, 1969

The next post office map I found was 63 years later, in 1969. Fifty seven post offices closed in between the 1906 map and this 1969 map. Rural Delivery routes replaced the smaller local post offices. Here were the 16 post offices open in 1969:

“The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 was a law passed by the United States Congress that abolished the then United States Post Office Department, which was a part of the cabinet, and created the United States Postal Service, a corporation-like independent agency with an official monopoly on the delivery of mail in the United States. President Richard Nixon signed the Act in law on August 12, 1970. The legislation was a direct outcome of the U.S. postal strike of 1970.” (Source: Postal Reorganization Act of 1970)



2022 Virginia, United States zip code map

H.R.3076 – Postal Service Reform Act of 2022

This map of 2022 shows 11 post offices in the county, currently in service.

Five of these post offices have been in existence since at least 1837. I’m not sure of their start date because the pre-1837 contracts were lost in a fire. These post offices have been housed in a few different buildings over time, but there has been a post office in each of these locations for at least 185 years!

1. Clarksville
2. Chase City (first known as Christianville)
3. Boydton
4. South Hill (before it was even a town)
5. Bracey (first known as St. Tammany)

The other 6 post offices have all been around for at least 126 years, first appearing on the 1896 postal map.

1. Nelson, 1894-present =128 years
2. Buffalo Junction 1890-present =132 years
3. Skipwith 1883-present =139 years
4. Baskerville 1890-present =132 years
5. La Crosse 1890-present =132 years
6. Brodnax 1890-present =132 years

I reviewed all the postal maps that were on the Library of Congress website and have included them on this page. I think that these maps may have all been made when the postal system was considering reorganization, or reforms. The first map, from 1839, was created because they needed a new map after their fire. The 1896 map was created at the time they were trying to establish rural delivery routes. The map from 1906 was made when many more rural routes were established around the country, after initial tests and trials. The 1969 map was created one year before the postal reform bill, and then the 2022 map was made when another reform bill was introduced.

Glen Powell submitted this information to the Mecklenburg Genweb website in July 2002, “According to local legend, Shiney Rock got it’s name from miners looking for gold in the area in the 1800’s but all they ever found was “shiny rock”. Also, if memory serves me correctly, the country store at Shiny Rock also served as a post office under the name of “Nunn, VA” in the very late 1800’s and early 1900’s. Shiny Rock is located on Shiney Rock Road approximately 1 mile south of Union Chapel Baptist Church and approximately 1 mile north of the Virginia/North Carolina border”

The post office called Bracey moved a few times. It was called St. Tammany, then the railroad wanted the name shortened and called it Bracey. There is a contract showing the name change in 1900. The post office at Bracey was associated with the Bracey station, also the Bracey General store, and then later moved to the building across the street from the general store. The name St. Tammany, Bracey Station and Bracey are all included in the table below in one line.

Alexander Clausel is the post master listed for two post offices. He ran the Sycamore Grove post office from 1817-1819. Then he ran another post office called Reformation from 1825-1828. I’m not sure if he moved, if the post offices were in two different locations, or if there could have been two different men by the name of Alexander Clausel. I counted each post office separately.

The Mecklenburg Genweb page lists these 11 post offices I couldn’t find anywhere else: Cedaria, Ferry Hill, Locust Hill, Marshallville, Medon, Mount Hope, Otter Hill, Reformation, Ridge Grove, Rose Level, and Sycamore Grove. The dates of service for these 11 post offices (according to the Genweb page) fall in-between the dates of the postal service maps, and are not shown on the maps; also I did not see contracts for them in the microfilm collection on NARA. This web page also says the post office named Roanoke changed it’s name to Clarksville in 1828. It also listed Barnesville as mistakenly listed in Charlotte County. I did not include Barnesville because two maps clearly showed it was in Charlotte, and there was no contract for it in the NARA postal contract records. There were contracts for each of the places on the postal maps.

Sources used for place names:

• NARA record for Brodnax, Brunswick County. Images 49-52
• NARA records for Mecklenburg County. Mecklenburg begins on image 202.
• Mecklenburg GIS
• Maps of Mecklenburg County, Virginia on Library of Congress website.
• Postal maps on Library of Congress website, links above with each map.
• Mecklenburg County GenWeb post offices page. This page also shows the transfer of where the mail service moved to when contracts changed.

Mecklenburg’s 118 Post Offices, 1765-2022

name of post office	date started	on postal maps	on Meckl. GIS	image # on NARA film for contract	postal contract with
1. Abbyville 	1839-1868	1896 1906	no	209-213	1890 Betty Gill
2. Antlers	19 May 1890	1896 1906	yes	214-215	1868 SP Pool 1898 OR Mills 189_ WS Ridd
3. Arvin	2 Apr 1904	1906	no	217-218	1904 Viola Valeria Talley
4. Aspen Mount	pre-1839	1839	no	216-217	1837 Request from post office for info
5. Averett	1888	1896 1906	yes	219-225	1890 Willie W. Averett 1933 Mrs. Luby W. Yancey
6. Barry’s Bridge	pre-1839	xxx	no	xxx	xxx
7. Baskerville	19 May 1890	1896 1906 1969 2022	yes	226-227	1890 Sterling Neblett Hutcheson
8. Beechnut	11 Oct 1896	1906	no	288-229 	1896 EA Winn
9. Blackridge	1839-1896	1896 1906 1969	yes	230	1894 LA Taylor 1942 Mary C. Wilson
10. Boydton (name changed from Mecklenburg to Boydton PO)	1765 1806	1839 1896 1906 1969 2022	yes town	203, 238-244	1837 Philip Rainey 1868 LF Lucke 1898 Charles Alexander 1903 Geo B. Finch
11. Bracey (St. Tammany pre 1837, Bracey 1900)	pre-1837 18 Jun 1900	1839 1896 1906 1969 2022	yes	245-249	1900 AH Bracey
12. Brodnax (contract in Brunswick)	26 Apr 1890	1896 1906 1969 2022	yes town	*Brunswick, 49-52	1890 Herbert L. Walker 1916 BL Pennington
13. Buckhorn Cross	20 Apr 1854	xxx	no	250	1854 CA Arnold
14. Buffalo (Lithia) Springs	between 1839-1896,	1896 1906	yes	251-252, 258-263	1898 Maggie Pascal 1930 Alma T. Crowder
15. Buffalo Junction	14 May 1890	1896 1906 1969 2022	yes	253-259	1890 David Robert Lee (Buffalo Springs hotel separate contract)
16. Cabbage Farm	8 Jul 1874	xxx	yes	234, 264-266	1875 Mary Pennington 1875 William H. Mayo
17. Cedaria	1853-1856	xxx	no	xxx	John B. Tunstall
18. Cephas	29 Jun 1900	1906	no	267-269	1900 Cora Lamson
19. Chapel Hill	28 Jun 1848	xxx	no	270-274	1848 Charles R. Edmondson
20. Chase City (previously named Christianville)	pre 1839	1839 1896 1906 1969 2022	yes town	274-277	1868 David R. Clopton 1914 WA Broocks
21. Cisco	5 Dec 1892	1896 1906	no	278-283	1892 Joseph Love 1899 JA love 1901 William Love Boswell
22. Clarksville	pre 1837	1839 1896 1906 1969 2022	yes town	284-291	1822 Robert Hester 1868 AS Field 1898 JW Spruier? 1903 WB Alfred
23. Clifton (renamed Swepson PO in 1891, but known as Clifton)	17 Nov 1878	1896 1906	yes (as Swepson)	291-292 Clifton 574-575 Swepson	1878 Bascom Morse 1891 R. Moore
24. Crayon	4 Dec 1896	1896 1906	no	293-294	1896 Peter Burton & Richard Moss
25. Cuscowilla	7 Sep 1875	1896	yes	295-300	1875 Finley & Freeman 1880 RH Finch 1898 Mary E Townes
26. Dockery	14 Feb 1903	1906	yes	301-305	1903 William H. Ryland
27. Dorinda	11 May 1904	xxx	no	306-308	1904 Howard B. Crenshaw
28. Drapersville	12 Aug 1868	1896 1906	yes	309-311	1868 James L. Sculthorp
29. Egmont	8 Jun 1897	1906	no	312-315	1897 Edward Shalfer _?__ Alvin H. Gee
30. Exact	31 Mar 1902	xxx	no	316-317	1902 Morris A. Galloway
31. Ferry Hill	1812-1824 1843	xxx	no	xxx	William Birchett
32. Fields	8 Jun 1882	1896 1906	no	318-322	1882 & 1890 Michael Murphy 1904 YA Throckmorton
33. Finchley	1 Oct 1890	1896 1906	yes	323-334	1890 John Graham Barnett 1900 CP Mills 1902 Sydnor Owen Barnett
34. Finneywood	pre-1839	1839 1896 1906	yes	335-341	1877 JS Burwell 188_ James L. Thompson 1898 DJ Thompson
35. Forksville	pre 1839	1839 1896 1906 1969	yes	341-345	1868 & 1890 L. Hite (also known as Hite’s Store) 1900 MF Hubbard
36. Fraternity	29 Jan 1885	xxx	no	346-347	1885 Stephen L. Vaughan
37. Gold Leaf	23 Jan 1904	1906	no	348-352	1904 Mrs Loula Virginia Morse 1917 Susie M. Tucker
38. Goode’s Ferry	began between 1839-1890	1896 1906	no	353-362	1890 Daniel EJ Baskerville 1904 George W. Davis
39. Great Creek	18 Apr 1851	xxx	no	363-366	1851 EH Riggan wrote about proposed changes
40. Greensboro	pre-1837	1839	no	374	Postmaster General requested resubmitting records
41. Guy	25 Sep 1885	1896 1906	no	367-373	1885 Charles G. Pearson? 1893 John J. White 1904 Salena A. Moore
42. Gypsy	20 Jul 1897	xxx	no	375-378	1897 Vela Alma Perkinson 1900 Joseph I. Ellington
43. Hagood (Hagood Store, the PO known as Malaria)	23 Apr 1886	xxx	yes (Hagood)	423-424	1886 James W. Hagood
44. Hallstone	pre 1839	1839	no	xxx	xxx
45. Hammerville	1835-1841	1839	no	381	1837 George Jefferson
46. Hanford Crossroads (Only Hanford on Postal maps)	18 Jun 1880	1896 1906	yes	379-380 425	1880 John Y. Richards 1900 Willie Hester
47. Inca	22 May 1890	1896 1906	no	388-389	1890 FW Goode
48. Invermay	14 Jan 1885	1896 1906	yes	384-387 390-394	1885 & 1905 May May Priest 1906 Grace W. Chapman 1915 Mrs. Mary E. Drummond
49. Jeffress	21 Jul 1890	1896 1906	yes	395-403	1890 & 1903 John Edward Weston 1914 Samuel G. Hardy
50. Joyceville (Meckl)	27 Sep 1872	1896 1906	no (today Brunswick)	404-407	1872 AH Bracey 1898 AO Bracey
51. Jumbo	1870-1890	xxx	no	408-409	(not dated, range estimated from being referenced on other postal contracts)
52. Keats	20 Apr 1888	1896 1906	yes	410-411	1888 Robert EL Moss
53. Kimono	25 Jan 1904	1906	no	412-413	1904 EG Dosoling
54. La Crosse	14 May 1890	1896 1906 1969 2022	yes town	414-419	1890 D. Arville H. Northington? 1894 LN Montgomery 1900 DL Nothington
55. Lambert	21 May 1884	1896 1906	no	420-422	1884 Paul F. Lambert
56. Locust Hill	1833-1836	xxx	no	xxx	1833 John C. Bugg
57. Lombardy Grove	pre 1839	1839	yes	xxx	xxx
58. Malva	5 Mar 1900	1906	no	425-426	1900 Walter S Gillispie
59. Mansen	(illegible) 1887 in service	xxx	no	427-428	PO referenced on image 529, by EH Riggan
60. Marengo	22 Jul 1874	1896 1906	yes	429-432	1874 TJ Webb 1891 TL Bennett
61. Marshallville	1801	xxx	no	xxx	1801 James Wilson
62. Medan	1860-1861	xxx	no	xxx	1860 FL Smithson
63. Midway	1898 in service	xxx	yes	referenced on image 258	possibly a railroad postal station
64. Mill Grove	pre 1839	1839	no	433	1837 John M. Yates
65. Mount Hope	1860-1866	xxx	no	xxx	1860 Peter A. Piercy
66. Muck Cross	5 Jan 1885	1896 1906	yes	434-438	1885 Minta A. Williams 1903 William Howell Puryear
67. Nelly	8 Mar 1894	xxx	no	439-442	1894 Issac M. Burton (Nelly Jones Rd.)
68. Nelson	6 Feb 1894	1896 1906 1969 2022	yes	443-444	1894 Anderson H. Nelson
69. North View	1 Aug 1871	1896 1906	yes	445-446, 457	1871 JD Petty 1898 AL Ogburn
70. Norvello	26 Jul 1899	1906	yes	447-454	1899 JR Mallett 1903 James A Manning 1935 JD Winckler
71. Nunn (Shiny Rock)	28 May 1897	1906	yes (Shiny Rock)	455-456	1897 William Hubert Gravitts
72. Oakley	pre 1839	1839 1896 1906	no	458-462	1869 Elizabeth Williams 1891 & 1898 Lou H. Hardy
73. Oakview	23 Aug 1897	1906	no	463-464	1897 LR Butler
74. Ogburn	4 Apr 1899	1906	yes	465-466	1899 Samuel F. Bugg
75. Opie	28Sep 1891	1896 1906	yes	467-470	1891 Mollie R. Land
76. Orgainsville	16 May 1879	1896 1906	yes	471-478	1879 & 1889 & 1900 Thomas Alex Orgain
77. Otter Hill	1860-1866	xxx	no	xxx	Reps O. Robertson
78. Otter Mills	16 Mar 1903	1906	no	479-482	1903 Mrs. GW Robertson 1905 OB Robertson
79. Overland	28 May 1888	1906	no	483-487	1888 Charles L. Paxon 1900 Thomas M. Chandler
80. Palmer Springs	pre 1837	1839 1896 1906 1969	yes	488-498	1837 William Hendrick 1878 Baxter Smith 1879 TJ Morriss 1893 JW Hendrick 1900 Maria L. Morris 1916 NF Read
81. Phillis	began 1839-1896	1896 1906	yes	499-504	1913 JE Woodfin 1922 Mrs. Lucy B. Thompson (earliest surviving contract 1913)
82. Portia	17 Mar 1902	1906	no	505-506	Marshall J. Vaughan
83. Push	3 Feb 1888	1896 1906	no	507-512	1888 William Len Pool 1890 Mrs. TM Pool 1903 Ella Chandler
84. Radcliffe	8 Apr 1892	1896 1906 1969	yes	513-514	1892 Mrs. AE Moore
85. Randolph Macon College	before 1850	xxx	no (moved)	516	1850 David Duncan
86. Reddirt	17 Nov 1903	1906	no	517-518	1903 Jesse D. Borden
87. Redlawn	19 Mar 1902	1906	yes	519-522	1902 Joseph OD Gholson
88. Reekes Mill (shortened to Reekes)	10 Jun 1902	1906	no	523-527	1902 Clara L. Reekes 1904 CL Reekes
89. Reformation	1825-1828	xxx	no	xxx	Alexander Clausel
90. Ridge Grove	1837	xxx	no	xxx	Charles G. Ogburn
91. Riggan’s Store (shortened to Riggans)	Mar 1887	xxx	no	528-530	1887 Edmund Hall Riggan
92. Rose Level	1860-1866	xxx	no	xxx	George T. Gregory
93. Royster	9 Mar 1900	1906	no	531-532	1900 Mrs. R L Steinbridge
94. Saffolds	Sep 1891	1896 1906	no	538-541	1891 & 1894 Mrs. Laura E. Smith
95. Scotts Crossroads	Aug 1871	1896 1906	yes	542-544	1871 Rebecca W. Almand 1898 EN Oliver
96. Shaw’s Store	1 Aug 1874	1896 1906	no	545-548	1874 WH Shaw 1898 Reuben A. Jiggitts
97. Shopville	15 Apr 1851	xxx	no	549	1851 Benjamin Williard?
98. Siddons	8 Apr 1891	1896	yes	550-551	1891 Robert E. Callahan
99. Skipwith	9 Jun 1883	1896 1906 1969 2022	yes	552-555	1883 Henry Pope 1905 RL Stenibridge
100. Smilax	11 Jun 1900	1906	no	556-559	1900 Margaret H. Lanner? 1912 RT Coleman
101. Smiths Crossroads	20 Aug 1872	1896 1906	yes	560-561	1872 Henry E. Smith
102. Soudan	20 Mar 1888	1896 1906	yes	562-565	1888 HW Bouldin 1920 Wm B. Taylor
103. South Hill	pre 1839	1839 1896 1906 1969 2022	yes town	566-570	1890 Daniel B. Bell
104. Spanish Grove	pre 1839	1839	yes	xxx	xxx
105. Stoney Cross	8 May 1856	1896 1906	yes	571-573	1856 James W. Edmondson 1872 James A. Gregory
106. Sycamore Grove	1817-1819	xxx	no	xxx	Alexander Clausel
107. Tanner’s Store	pre 1839	1839	no	581-584	1872 WHC Walker 1872 Henry Kinker
108. Tanny	1 Sep 1897	1906	no	576-577	James J. Mortin?
109. Tarry’s Mill	18 Sep 1895	1896 1906	no	578-580, 585-586	1898 Thomas A. Park
110. Terryville	1804-1831	xxx	no	xxx	James Whitlow
111. Union Level	pre 1839	1839 1896 1906 1969	yes	587-592	1875 Mary E. House 1890 DM Smith
112. Vaughan’s Chappell	17 May 1852	xxx	no	598	1852 AB Gardner
113. Void	22 Aug 1898-1902	xxx	no	593-594	1898 Joseph W. Carroll
114. Wayside	1860-1871	xxx	no	597	___ William TZ Finch
115. White House I & II	pre 1839	1839	no	260, 599-600	1874 R. Williams
116. Whittle’s Mill (previously named Vinyard)	pre 1839	1839 1906	yes	601	1837 Conway Whittle
117. Wightman	Dec 1887	1896 1906	yes	595-596	1887 Robert Hume Johnson
118. Woburn (submitted as Highpoint, but changed to Woburn)	30 Apr 1884	1896 1906	no	382-383, 602-603	1884 Charles W Finch 1893 Andrew C Jones