This
week’s Picturing the Past photographs feature the Pisgah Forest Post Office in
the 1940s and the current facility.  Pisgah
Forest first established a post office in December 1906.  Although it was a newly named post office, it
basically replaced the Davidson River Post Office at that time.  Two years later Davidson River would once
again established its own post office.

The
Pisgah Forest Post Office was likely located in the Deaver & Patton Company
store near the intersection of Brevard Road (today Old Hendersonville Highway)
and Rye Lane (today Ecusta Road).  Miss
Mallie English served as the post master for 10 years before Harry Patton was
named post master in 1917. 

Edward
P. McCoy became post master in 1920.  McCoy’s
father had become a part-owner in the store when Deaver sold his shares.

Today Terminix is located in the former Pisgah Forest Post Office building constructed around 1948.

The
1931 and 1945 Sanborn maps show the post office at different locations along
the Hendersonville Highway near Wilson Rd. and Pisgah Forest (Ecusta) Rd.  For a short time in 1933-34 Sid Barnett was
the acting postmaster before Dewey Edwards took the position in July 1934. 

On
July 1, 1945 Joe P. McLeod became the Pisgah Forest post master.  McLeod was in charge in 1961 when the current
post office was constructed.  Post offices
constructed during that time period were either Colonial Revival style or
International Style.

The
International Style “Thousand Series Post Offices” all featured flat roofs,
brick, stone or precast concrete exteriors, aluminum or steel-framed window
walls, aluminum or stainless-steel entrance doors, and overhanging
canopies.   The interiors included a
metal-frame glass partition between the box lobby where the mail boxes were
located and the retail lobby and had vinyl or terrazzo interior floors.  There was little or no emphasis on landscaping
around these facilities. 

The current Pisgah Forest Post Office was built in 1961.

An
examination of the Pisgah Forest Post Office reveals that the 3,272 square foot
building met those technical requirements. 
The facility, opened on November 23, 1961, is the only “Thousand Series
Post Office” in Transylvania County. 
McLeod continued as post master until he retired in July 1970 with 25
years of service.

Although
the post office boxes in the lobby have been replaced the building retains most
of its original features.  It is eligible
for the National Register of Historic Places because it is associated with a
significant event—the consolidation of small, rural post offices into modern
facilities during the mid-20^th century.  It also represents a distinctive style of
post office construction during that time period.

Photographs
and information for this column are provided by the Rowell Bosse North Carolina
Room, Transylvania County Library. Visit the NC Room during regular library hours
(Monday-Friday) to learn more about our history and see additional photographs.
For more information, comments, or suggestions contact Marcy at [email protected]
or 828-884-1820.