Winds Of Change Blow Across Iowa

The Post Office in Searsboro will be closed on September 24, 2011

Searsboro, Iowa – With summer nearing an end, the warm breeze of the impeding fall and the change of the season can mirror what is happening to small towns all across Iowa.

Towards the end of July, the Postal Service announced that it could be closing nearly 3,700 retail offices across the country with approximately 175 of those being offices in Iowa. In a press release from July 26th of this year, they state, “As more customers choose to conduct their postal business online, on their smart phones and at their favorite shopping destinations, the need for the U.S. Postal Service to maintain its nearly 32,000 retail offices — the largest retail network in the country — diminishes. To that end, the U.S. Postal Service announced today that it will be taking the next step in right-sizing its expansive retail network by conducting studies of approximately 3,700 retail offices to determine customer needs. As part of this effort, the Postal Service also introduced a retail-replacement option for affected communities around the nation.”

This road that crosses the double tracks on the West side of Searsboro is now closed to traffic.

On this list are the local towns of Cedar, Rose Hill, Keswick, Kirkville. Before this latest talk of even more closures, our neighbor to the North, Searsboro, is nearing the end of its’ time of having a Post Office.

There, the Post Office is scheduled to close forever on Saturday, September 24th, 2011. In a letter posted inside it’s office, Post Office Operations Manager Jean Susnjar states that effective September 24th 2011, “delivery and retail services will be provided by rural carrier emanating from Lynnville, Iowa. Post Office Box customers will be required to change their addresses.”

One of the most interesting lines in the posted letter read, “Thank you for your input in helping the Postal Service determine the best form of mail service to meet the needs of the community. Retail and delivery services from Lynnville Iowa Post Office will ensure effective and regular services to the Searsboro community.”

My guess is the people that live in Searsboro probably don’t see this as being the “best form” for them. The drive to Lynnville is only 5 miles away, and is a comparable drive for what many already do that live in larger towns to get access to their post office, but for many small towns, the Post Office is their identity.

Searsboro Telephone Office with a pay phone still out front sits in the hot August sun in Searsboro Iowa

But in this case, the closure of the Post Office is just one of many sweeping changes to hit Searsboro. August 2nd will be an important day in what remains of the official history of Searsboro, at least it’s time as an incorporated town in the State of Iowa. On a simple white piece of paper, spit out by a printer, read the simple words, “Vote: Yes or No to Discontinue the City of Searsboro.”

According to the book ‘History of Poweshiek County’, the first election in the township that Searsboro is a part of happened in 1849 at the home of Alfred Reynolds. The April 2nd election had 20 votes cast in the process of electing the township trustees. In 1880,  Searsboro contained a hotel, depot, corn cribs, stock yards, large school house, two churches, wagon shop, livery stable, blacksmith shop, three dry-good stores and seven other businesses.

Flash forward 162 years. There is very little left in the way of business in Searsboro. RAGBRAI made it into town in 2001, where riders signed the side of a building in the middle of town. The only way to get a cold drink is from the vending machine in front of the local fire station. A pay phone stands in front of the telephone office. The road department building is marked by a simple sign, and holds the snow plows.

RAGBRAI was through Searsboro back in 2001

Residents with those simple words, Yes or No, headed off to the community center to decide history, with the result being possibly one that many of us have never seen from an Iowa town.

Residents in Searsboro voted to unincorporate their town with a vote of 24 to 15. With that, the history of Poweshiek County, and soon the town of Searsboro, will be re-written. The process to unincorporate could take months or possibly longer.

Their fate now sealed, could be looming large for many other of Iowa’s dwindling small towns. With the farming industry now done on a much larger scale than ever before, even fewer people live outside of city limits, and more importantly are forced to drive, or simply move, to larger towns where the jobs are now located for the most part.

Even larger towns struggle to stay relevant, draw business, and maintain their history. What will become of rural Iowa? Will it once again remind us of the early 1800’s when homesteads were far apart? Will there only be artery roads that make the most direct route from one major town to the next?

We do that already out of convenience to the drivers, so they don’t have to slow down at all for the small towns. We hurry along on our four lane ribbon to the next thing on our schedule. Some of the older drivers remembering how they use to stop in that town for a burger at one of their favorite diners along the way, or some little road side parks where the family might have stopped for picnic on one of their travels to the big town.

It makes you wonder if they will name the subdivision of what the future provides us with as the next large town, Searsboro, in honor of it’s history.