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LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Before Lake County existed, scattered settlements in Napa County's Clear Lake Township had mail service.
When Lake County separated from Napa County on May 20, 1861, it already had several post offices, beginning with Upper Clear Lake (now Upper Lake) which started June 15, 1858, followed in the same year by Big Valley (relocated and renamed as Lakeport), Lower Lake and Uncle Sam (now Kelseyville).
Over the next 92 years, numerous post offices were established in Lake County, the most recent being Glenhaven, established on Dec. 16, 1950. Some of those post offices still exist, while others are just names in the history books.
The openings and closings of post offices reflect changes in the economy in Lake County. A business would start, a post office would be established at that place, then conditions would change, a mine or resort would close, the population would drop, and the post office would close.
Stage stops like Middletown, halfway between Calistoga and Lower Lake, and Arabella in Long Valley were logical post office locations.
Post offices formed at mines such as Quicksilver Post Office at the Great Western Quicksilver Mine and Mirabel at the Mirabel Quicksilver Mine, both located south of Middletown.
Some ranches supported post offices, such as Big Valley Post Office on the Argonaut Ranch between Lakeport and Kelseyville and Ely's on the Ely Ranch, east of Kelseyville near what is now Kit's Corner.
Remote lumber camp post offices, such as Deerlodge in the mountains north of Upper Lake operated briefly and disappeared when the business closed.
Post offices formed at many of Lake County's early resorts like Bartlett Springs, Highland Springs, Seigler Springs, Putah, Adams and Witter Springs, which were almost towns in their own right, offering services and amenities to the guests and employees in residence.
Some smaller post offices only lasted a short time and were absorbed into larger ones. Improved communications and transportation centralized services in the larger post offices, a process which started early and continued well into the twentieth century. The small Witter Springs post office closed in 1984, although the area retains the Witter Springs zip code.
Lake County lost the Knoxville and Zem Zem post offices when a minor boundary change cut a piece out of Lake County and moved the Knox Township into Napa County in 1872.
Some settlements and their post offices from Lake County's early days are gone now.
Guenoc moved to Middletown in the 1870s and the creation of Lake Pillsbury flooded Gravelly Valley's Hullville in1922.
The history of post offices in Lake County is an integral part of Lake County's history since the 1850s.
Erving R. Feltman's book, “California's Lake County: Places and Postal History,” covers all of Lake County's post offices from the earliest days to the 1990s and tells much about Lake County's history.
This book is available to buy from the Lake County Historical Society and the Lake County Museum. The Lake County Library has copies that can be checked out.
Jan Cook has lived in Lake County for about 40 years. She works for the Lake County Library, is the editor of the Lake County Historical Society's Pomo Bulletin and is a history correspondent for Lake County News. If you have questions or comments please contact Jan at
