London Post Office

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'm just along for the ride. Way out in Kimble County, before there were ZIP codes or tracking numbers or any of that, there was just a ranch. Len and Bettie Lewis had built their place into something more than a homestead.

It was a trade center, a gathering point, the kind of spot where folks naturally ended up. They called it the Lewis Hotel and Wagon Yard, and if you had business in that part of the county, sooner or later you came through there. And if you had mail coming, well, Bettie Lewis was the one holding it for you.

Most of the area mail passed through that woman's hands right there at her home. Now, Bettie wasn't the type to let a good thing stay informal. In 1882, she filed an application to formalize what she'd already been doing, and when the dust settled, she was made the first postmaster of the New London Post Office.

First one. Not second, not somewhere in the middle. The first.

London's central location turned out to be more than just convenient for the Lewis family. It sat right along the direct route between Mason and Junction City, and with good roads to carry travelers through, London became the kind of place that mattered on a map. This site eventually replaced an earlier post office that had stood near the town square.

By 1997, London had seen fourteen postmasters serve that community across a hundred and fifteen years of mail, dust, news, and everything people trusted to the post. Fourteen people standing in a line that started with Bettie Lewis in 1882. That's a legacy you can hold in your hands.

What the marker says

In the early days of Kimble County, Len and Bettie Lewis established their ranch as a trade center. Bettie received most area mail at their home, the Lewis Hotel and Wagon Yard. In 1882 Bettie filed an application to formalize her postal station and was made the first post-master of the New "London" Post Office. Because of its central location and good roads, London became the direct route between Mason and Junction City. This site replaced an earlier post office near the town square. By 1997, 14 postmasters had served London in 115 years. (1997)