US "Star Route" mail wagon, 1892

Two horses hitched to carriage stands in front of a store front with the word "Groceries" across the top. In the carriage sits two persons, one in the front holding the reins, and one in the back. A third horse stands next to the carriage. Two men in hats stand in front of the open doorway of the store, two persons can be seen behind them standing inside.

This "Star Route" mail wagon would have served Coralville and North Liberty in the 1890s. The store was owned and run by *Thomas Ross Hackett and John Williams; they ran the general store and distributed mail to the citizens of Coralville (Lovetinsky et al., p. 66; Walch, p. 40).

The first Coralville Post Office was established in June 18, 1869. Lemuel G. Wilson was the first postmaster. In 1870, Alice Ott became the first postmistress. According to Lovetinsky et al., "The post office was discontinued on June 3, 1895, was re-established March 26, 1896 with John Davis as postmaster, and then was discontinued again on July 31, 1902" (p. 66).

*The following note is included in this image's caption in Lest We Forget: "...The wooden double store and warehouse faced west on the bank of the Iowa River. Thomas Ross Hackett was proprietor and postmaster. Later the store half of the building was moved across the street and turned to face south. The move was made when the Interurban was built across the site of the store. It was used as a store until 1970" (p. 66). Given this information, it is possible that half of this double front store later became Wilson's Store, and then Koser's Store, which was in operation until 1970.

Coralville Public Library. Coralville Digital History Library.

1892

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English

Coralville, Iowa