Starks
Somerset County, Maine
last update for this page: 25 June 2020
Maine Postal History
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Waterville Stamp Club
Thank you for the contributions to this page from Ethelyn G. Munroe, Cheryl Willis Patten, Carolyn G. Spring, and the Strout family collection.
During the history of the town of Starks, there has been only one post office.
Briefly, the history of this one is as follows:
1. Starks post office was established on 30 October 1816, and was renamed on 30 September 1963 as Starks Rur. Sta. Anson.
In 1914 there were one post office in Starks: Starks (source: Post Route Map of the State of Maine 1914)
Click on image to enlarge.
Postmarks from the town of Starks include:
Starks
1816 October 30:
Starks post office opened. (source: Maine Philatelic Society. 1995. The Post Offices of Maine: A Rarity Guide.)
1816 October 30:
James Waugh appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
According to page 28 of People and Places of Starks, “James Waugh was the first postmaster in Starks, formally appointed in 1816 but, according to many accounts, acting in that capacity from shortly after he settled in Starks with his home the post office. The post office was likely moved to Starks Corner at a fairly early date, but was in the Village area from sometime before 1900. For many years, it was in one or the other of the stores in town, or in someone’s home.”
1825 October 1:
James Varnum appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1846 December 15:
Leander G. Smith appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1849 April 4:
Enock Hinkley appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1849 October 2:
William Waugh appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1853 June 3:
Asa Chapman appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1856 May 15:
Leander G. Smith appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1860 September 20:
Daniel W. Griffin appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1861 July 9:
Leander G. Smith appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1867 November 12:
Wakefield Greenleaf appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1871 March 19:
T. Frank Ladd appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1876 July 31:
Warren M. Higgins appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1883 June 25:
Wakefield Greenleaf appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
year? June 11:
The circular postmark is 23–24 mm in diameter. Note the spelling of “Stark”.
Click on image to enlarge.
1901 April 3:
William M. Witham appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1903 to 1924 April 30:
Zelber F. Greenleaf was a rural carrier who delivered mail from the Starks post office. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1909 August 2:
Marohn T. Greenleaf appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
From page 28 of People and Places of Starks:
Click on image to enlarge.
1911 to 1924 April 30:
Howard L. Greenleaf was a rural carrier who delivered mail from the Starks post office. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1912 January 31:
Marohn T. Greenleaf re-appointed appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1918 March 6:
Leland O. Grey appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1923 September 4:
Vivian Farrand appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
From page 28 of People and Places of Starks:
Click on an image to enlarge.
1924 May 1 to 1955 September 30:
Everett O. Greenleaf was a rural carrier who delivered mail from the Starks post office. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
From page 28 of People and Places of Starks:
Click on image to enlarge.
1950 May 18:
Leon C. Farrand became acting postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1950 December 6:
Leon C. Farrand appointed postmaster. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
date? to 1955 Septmber 30:
Lester Moore was a substitute rural carrier who delivered mail from the Starks post office. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1955 October 1 to 1977 May 31:
Lester Moore was a temporary rural carrier who delivered mail from the Starks post office. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1956 November 6:
The circular postmark is 32–33 mm in diameter.
Click on image to enlarge.
1957 June 1 to 1963 October 1:
Richard M. Clogston was a rural carrier who delivered mail from the Starks post office. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1950s on: (contributed by: Cheryl Willis Patten)
After Leon Farrand was postmaster in Starks, my mother, Iva Farrand
Willis, served as post master - later became officer in charge as a Rural Station.
When Iva served as post master the post office was in the store pictured
below left (July 1971 Starks store) - although this photo is earlier than when
she served. It’s the store that was in Starks Village.
The Willis Farm Yard (photo below right) is of our farm in Starks when instead of a post office, the mail was via a Rural Station. You can see the outside mailbox folks could use for outgoing mail when the office was not open. It’s
attached to the tree.
Click on an image to enlarge.
When it was a Rural Station, the kitchen of our house transformed each
day the post office was open. It was a movable set of boxes and a work area on
casters that was perpendicular to the kitchen door when in use -
otherwise kept in the front hall. In the photo (below) in the
upper left you can see a portion of the desk where the mail carrier for
the outlying portions of town “put up” the mail - that is, sorted it
before putting it into his mail bag for delivery.
Click on an image to enlarge.
More than you ever wanted to know -- :-)
1963 September 30 to 1973 July 31:
Starks post office became a Contract Station to the Anson post office. Iva (Farrand) Willis was the officer in charge of the small station and held this position until 31 July 1973, when Starks became a part of Anson’s Rural Route line. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
From page 28 of People and Places of Starks:
Click on image to enlarge.
1986:
The following is from the dedication of the 1986 Starks [Somerset County] Town Report. The photo and information was supplied by postmaster Leland O. Grey’s daughters Carolyn G. Spring and Ethelyn G. Munroe.
Leland O. Grey, May 23, 1895–December 9, 1986
Hazel B. Grey, August 11, 1893–April 6, 1970
Born the son of Angier M. Grey, Leland rose out of local “farm” teams to
become highly noted as the Town’s first (and only?) professional baseball player. He served as the Town’s postmaster in the store he owned and tended in the Maccabee
building on the corner until about 1930. He also owned and operated a
sawmill on Lemon Stream until the mid-30s. Though our Town’s
oldest citizen, his appreciation for life and his own youthful outlook led him to
refuse the Boston Post Cane because “people who held it were old and didn’t last long”. He beautified our homes with his furniture and warmed our hearts with
his pleasantries.
Starks Rur. Sta. Anson
1963 September 30:
Starks post office became a Contract Station to the Anson post office. Iva (Farrand) Willis was the officer in charge of the small station and held this position until 31 July 1973. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)
1973 July 31:
Starks became a part of Anson’s Rural Route line. (Source: Historian, Corporate Information Services, United States Postal Service, January 6, 1994.)