Old Town Post Office

Old Town Post Office. . Dating from 1896, this building, constructed under the guidance of J. J. McAlester to be a bank, was not sustainable for its intended purpose. However, a common practice at the time was to convert old bank buildings into US Post Offices., In the early part of the 20th century, stamps were considered by many to be currency, so smaller Post Offices became easy targets robbers. Placing a Post Office in an old bank building, which had its own vault, was far less expensive than building a new building, and that made this building the perfect place for the North McAlester US Post Office. It was converted in 1909 and opened for business in February of 1910., The original cost of the building was $14,000 and it was leased to the US Postal Service for ten years at a rate of $240 a year. The "fixtures" of the bank were valued at $7,800, and US Postal Inspectors rated it as, "One of the best in the state of Oklahoma.", John Hopkins, an early McAlester settler and mine operator, was the "Clerk in Charge" (Postmaster) until his death on 25 Jan 1937., The Old Town Post Office remained open until the early 1940's when a new building was built across Highway 69 (near the current fire station) which remained open until the mid-1980's.