San Benito Post Office

Duane's take

Here's how the official marker tells it, and I'll give you my best rendition of the tale. When this corner of Cameron County was just getting its feet under it, the local community was granted its very first post office in April of 1907. And they called it Diaz.

Simple enough. Except, well, somebody else had already staked that claim. Postal officials had previously awarded the name Diaz to another town somewhere else in Texas, which meant this little community had to go back to the naming table before the ink was even dry.

So later that same year, the name was changed to San Benito. And just like that, a post office had a new name to grow into. Colonel Samuel A.

Robertson stepped up as the first Postmaster, and a woman named Emma Purvis Agar became the first of several women postal clerks to serve in San Benito. That detail right there is worth a pause. Several women.

Not one, not a novelty, but a tradition of women serving behind that counter. Municipal delivery got rolling in 1925, running along two routes out into the community. For years the post office moved around, operating from several different locations in San Benito, never quite settled, until 1933.

That's when things got serious. The city donated park land, the federal government put up an impressive new building right on that spot, and the post office relocated there. The building opened on April 16th, 1933, the day after an open house that drew an estimated three thousand people out to inspect it.

Three thousand. For a post office. That tells you something about what this place meant to folks.

And it wasn't just mail being sorted under that roof. At the time of its opening, the Federal building also housed offices of the International Boundary Commission, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Immigration, and the U.S.

Civil Service Commission. It was practically a small city of government all under one roof. But beyond the official business, the post office became something more personal than any of that.

It served as a social gathering place for many people in the community. A place to stop, to talk, to connect. Today, San Benito Post Office still serves San Benito and the surrounding towns of Los Indios, Blue Town, Arroyo City, Lozano, Las Yescas, Laurles, La Paloma, El Ranchito, and Rio Hondo.

Same building. Same purpose. Still holding the community together, one piece of mail at a time.

What the marker says

At the time the local community was granted its first post office in April 1907 it was known as Diaz. Because another town in Texas had previously been awarded the name Diaz by postal officials, the name of this post office was changed to San Benito later that year. Colonel Samuel A. Robertson served as first Postmaster and Emma (Purvis) Agar became the first of several women postal clerks to serve in San Benito. Municipal delivery began in 1925 along two routes. The post office operated from several locations in San Benito until relocating in 1933 to an impressive Federal office building newly constructed here on park land donated by the city. The post office opened on April 16, 1933, the day after an estimated 3,000 people attended an open house to inspect the building. Also housed in the Federal building at the time of its opening were offices of the International Boundary Commission, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Immigration, and the U.S. Civil Service Commission. The post office served as a social gathering place for many people in the community. San Benito Post Office currently serves San Benito and the surrounding towns of Los Indios, Blue Town, Arroyo City, Lozano, Las Yescas, Laurles, La Paloma, El Ranchito, and Rio Hondo.