The Kunkletown Post Office opened on December 20th, 1845 with the appointment of Postmaster Stephen Hess.  

 

At that time, townspeople had to come to him to pick up their mail.  Most likely he had a store in town and ran the Post Office there along with his business.

 

John Harter served as Postmaster twice - first for five years beginning in 1850, and then again beginning in 1860 and remaining for 21 years.

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The town's Post Office was constructed sometime between 1885 and 1890 - during which time Lewis and then Adaline Patrick served separate terms as Postmaster.

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James F. Pearsol became Postmaster at the very end of 1891, he left in 1897 and returned to the job in 1905.

 

It is said that he lived above the Post Office for many years with his wife and children.  In 1900, he started the West End Telephone Company in the Post Office building (many old-timers recall the switchboard being located in there). He sold stock shares in the company for $1 each and rented phones to customers for $1.50 a month.  

He was also the President of the Chestnut Ridge Railroad.  He was the Secretary of the School Board and active in Church affairs.

 

During his 2nd term as Postmaster, rural delivery was instituted - a mail carrier now brought the mail to your mailbox.

 

A Postmaster was not necessarily an executive job. At 10 am, the U.S. mail would be dropped off at the Post Office and the Postmaster had 30 minutes to sort it and then he or a mail carrier left to deliver the letters - returning to the Post Office at 6pm. 

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James F. Pearsol's son, Wesley Herbert, is said to have been born in the room above the Post Office in 1885. He served as Postmaster from 1914 to 1951. He also operated a General Store in the same building, and the Pearsol family ran the Telephone Company in that building.

 

In 1911, the telephone company was renamed the Blue Ridge Telephone Company. They had 60 subscribers. In 1956, the Blue Ridge Telephone Company was sold to the Palmerton Telephone Company.

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Wesley Herbert Pearsol's 37 years as Postmaster was interrupted from 1930 to 34 during with time John Kleintop and then Allen and later Oliver Schoenberger filled the office

In later years, he built a "lodge" across from the Post Office and all the town's civic meetings were held there.  

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James Pearsol died in 1929.  His son, Wesley Herbert, died in 1953, two years after retiring as Postmaster.

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In 1994, the Post Office moved to the Municipal Building complex further west along Kunkletown Road.  In that year, the zip code (introduced in 1963) was expanded beyond the border of Eldred (and the traditional border of Kunkletown) into Polk Township and as far north as Jonas.  The zip code 18058 is known as Kunkletown.

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The Eldred Historical Society is working to restore the old Post Office.

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By the way, I asked the U.S. Postal Service why our Post Office was called the Kunkletown Post Office and not the Eldred Post Office.  It seems they have a regulation that no two post offices in a state can have the same name and Eldred was already used and still is elsewhere in Pennsylvania.

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Please note the Marriage Certificate for James & Sophia Pearsol.