The ’Sconset Post Office
BY CHRIS EDMONDS INDEPENDENT WRITER

So much for the lunchtime rush. Only five people entered the

’Sconset Post Office between noon and 12:30 on Friday to collect their mail. Two stopped at the window to send packages or receive bundled mail that no longer fit in their boxes.

“Friday’s always a slow day,” said clerk Karen Quigley. She offered a matter of-fact, je-ne-sais-pas shrug in between assisting the precious few patrons, but Quigley ought to know. Clerk at the ’Sconset Post Office since June 2004, she spent summers working at the post office in the early 1970s.

Her village ties are also irreproachable: “a darling ’Sconset girl” according to fellow east-end denizen Mina Manner. Quigley grew up in the community, attended the ’Sconset School in the 1960s and remains a member of the village. The soloist job – additional help comes only during the busier summer months – at the post office she had as a child fits her, she said.

The post office at 6 Main St., like Quigley and those clerks and postmasters who preceded her, has become such an intrinsic part of the village that the phonebook does not list individual street addresses for the office or businesses in its vicinity. “Post Office Square” suffices as a descriptor for ’Sconset Real Estate, The ’Sconset Market and The ’Sconset Cafe.

Looking east towards Post Office Square and the Siasconset Book Store, 1904 (above); The Siasconset Post Office in the 1880s, with Postmistress Anna Barrett standing in the doorway.

And yet, while many remember the post office as a permanent fixture at its current locale, the eponymous Post Office Square is the office’s third resting place. First at Capt. William Baxter’s house Shanunga and for a short time in a store on the bridge, the post office moved to 6 Main in 1902, 30 years after mail service was established in the village. CHANGING HANDS

The post office’s settling in this location coincided with Albert Brock’s purchase of the property from Harriet Gardner, widow of Oliver Gardner, for $1 plus other considerations on July 8, 1902.

Gardner had bought the property on April 22, 1892 from James and Charlotte Gibbs, again for the everpopular $1 plus other considerations.

While Gardner owned 6 Main for hardly more than 10 years, the Brock family did not relieve themselves of the property until Dec. 2, 1948 when Clinton and Agnes Murray bought 6 Main from four individuals, including William Brock and Mary Lewis, trustees under the will of Albert Brock. The Murrays sold their newly won acquisition on Nov. 1, 1949 to Philip Morris, then approaching the end of his nearly 35 year run as postmaster.

Less than three years after his 1962 retirement, Morris sold out to William and Jean Hunnefield of New York City on July 15, 1965. On Nov. 20, 1970, the Hunnefields in turn sold to Richard and Grace Coffin for $23,000. The property remains in the family, now under the watch of Bernie Coffin.

Under the Coffins, the rear apartment became the ’Sconset Real Estate Office. The apartment above the post office, now empty, has been used previously as personal accommodations and for overflow storage.

POSTMASTERS: FEMININE MYSTIQUE AND PHILIP MORRIS

According to a Nantucket Historical Association document, the first four postmasters, until May 15, 1928, were women. Love Baxter, daughter of Capt. William, was the first, appointed in November 1872. The same document shows that her annual salary was $12. Capt. William boosted the fatherdaughter income to $20 with his job carrying mail to other parts of the island. Priscilla Almy followed Love Baxter, who was in turn followed by Anna Chinery.

The revolving cast was stabilized in 1897 by Annie Barrett. Barrett held the post for more than 30 years. She was eventually succeeded by Morris. The precedent set by Barrett’s lengthy stay in office extended into Morris’ run as postmaster. The King Street resident served from May 16, 1928 to Dec. 28, 1962. In his tenure, Morris left an indelible mark on the then-children of the village, many of whom now as adults and seniors have some anecdote about

Sconset’s first male postmaster.

“With Philip Morris, when you went in, you wouldn’t get your mail unless you had a written note from your parents. He wouldn’t just give it to you. He was responsible for the mail, so he wasn’t going to give it to some little kid to lose,” said Jerry Eldridge.

Accustomed to the parental note scheme, Eldridge later went to work for the post office as an adolescent.

“I’d get the letters at the post office with the clipboard and ride my bike all the way out to Sankaty for a quarter. Then I’d come back and do the southern route,” he said. By comparison, Eldridge said that his father, a carpenter, made $2 per hour while he pedaled across the east end of the island.

Sheila Folger Todd remembered the same type of job in Nancy Newhouse’s “Voices of the Village: the oral history of ’Sconset.” Todd’s mother, Lila Folger, was one of Morris’ summertime assistants, along with Nellie Morris.

Manner recalled Morris in his retirement years on account of his shell collection and his meticulous diary about the weather. Although he maintained his home in ’Sconset, Morris spent winters in Florida, where he would gather the shells.

“There were hundreds and hundreds of shells in jars,” she said. “He’d invite us up to the porch to see them. I didn’t know one from another, but Phil always had an inquiring mind.”

Mary Egan eventually replaced Morris as postmaster. She was succeeded by Cheryl Lockwood, in turn succeeded by Don Terry, and later Tom Richards. Jim Ozias held the job for 23 years – the post having changed to office clerk, although Ozias said that he was “effectively the postmaster” in the village. In 2004, Quigley moved from Federal Street to ’Sconset upon Ozias’ retirement. FAMILIAR FACES GATHER FOR NEWS

Regardless of who happens or happened to be working the window at the post office, the post office is by many accounts the place for news in the village. The winter doldrums have little effect on the amount of news that passes through the post office from one resident to another.

Alterations to the lobby in the 1970s, however, have changed in part that transmission of information. When additional post office boxes were installed, the lobby took on an L shape, that extends along the counter with the two service windows and around to a small hallway.

“You have to be careful now because of the shape,” said Manner. “It’s amazing what you may or may not hear in there.”

Of course with all things Nantucket, or in this instance ’Sconset, the past often shimmers with greater luster than the present. Eldridge said the gathering-place dynamic is no longer as strong as it once was.

“It used to be that at noon or at 4 p.m., if you wanted to see anyone, you went to the post office,” he said. “That’s when you found out what was going on in the village. It’s still in effect, although not as heavy as it was. It started to change in maybe the last 10 years.”

The familiarity between customers is also reflected in the familiarity between clerk and patron. Of the people who required Quigley’s help on Friday, none identified themselves by name or by post office box: the built-up familiarity between service provider and recipient make such exchanges redundant.

“Some of the new people you see once and then never see again, but I like to learn the people’s names, because the post office is so small and because, I guess, I have that knack of remembering,” said Quigley.

Likewise, Ozias said that one of his fondest memories of his more than two decades of service was watching the village’s children grow into adults. He also recalled one woman checking and re-checking mail deliveries for the results from her bar exam, and one particular elderly man who called at the same time everyday to ask “What’s the form” – an expression that Ozias said he never quite understood.

“He’d call every morning at 10 to ask if the mail’s in, even though it came in everyday at 11. It got humorous after a while,” he said.

MORE DELIVERIES TO COME

Despite routine inquiries made as to the building’s availability for purchase, it seems that the post office will remain at 6 Main for the foreseeable future. Coffin said that although he receives on average one letter per month from parties interested in buying the post office, the family does not intend to sell the property in the future.

“Quite frequently we get mail from people interested in buying the building, but we have no interest in selling,” said Coffin.

He said as well that no major changes are on the horizon for 6 Main, although smaller-scale projects have been considered. If Ozias had his way, a new, more reliable heating system would be at the top of that list of potential undertakings.

“The worst thing was the furnace because it went out fairly often,” said Ozias. “There was an electric heater, but once you plugged it in, all the lights went out – old wiring.”

Although like Ozias Quigley encountered frozen water pipes last winter, she said that she does not envision leaving the job to take another one.

“I’ll be here till death or retirement do us part, whichever comes first,” she said.

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