You’re reading “Echoes in Time,” a weekly newsletter by the Independent Herald that focuses on stories of years gone by in order to paint a portrait of Scott County and its people. “Echoes in Time” is one of six weekly newsletters published by the IH. You can adjust your subscription settings to include as many or as few of these newsletters as you want. If you aren’t a subscriber, please consider doing so. It’s free!
Today’s newsletter is sponsored by the Scott County Chamber of Commerce. Since 1954, the Scott County Chamber of Commerce has advocated for a strong community by supporting stronger infrastructure and leadership.
Today, there are six post offices located in Scott County — Oneida, Helenwood, Huntsville, Winfield, Robbins, and Elgin. The Pioneer post office serves part of eastern Scott County but is located outside the county’s boundaries. There was a time, though, when there were far more.
There have been as many as 58 different post offices in operation in Scott County — though not all at the same time. Huntsville is the oldest. It was established in 1851 as Scott County’s very first post office, and remains in operation today. Then came Winfield, in 1857. There was a postal boom in the late 1870s and early 1880s, coinciding with the arrival of the Cincinnati-Southern Railroad. That’s when the rest of the surviving post offices in Scott County were established: Robbins in 1879, though it was originally called Ernie and then Bianco; Helenwood in 1880; Oneida in 1880; and Elgin in 1891.
By reading through the list of Scott County’s post offices, you can trace the rise and fall of the various mining and logging towns throughout the county. Many of the communities that exist in Scott County today took their names from the post offices that served those communities … and many of the post offices took their names from the postmasters who oversaw the operations there.
For example, Robbins was first called Ernie, then Bianco, before the name was changed to Robbins, after the postmaster: Andrew J.C. Robbins. The railroad town the post office served became Robbins, and remains Robbins today.
Although most folks don’t call the Paint Rock community Almy anymore, that’s what it was once known as — even the school there was called Almy, and the name still appears on maps. That’s because of the first postmaster at the post office that served Paint Rock. His name was Adrian A. Almy, and he came to Scott County to help procure land for the Paint Rock Coal & Coke Co. railroad, which would eventually expand all the way into Anderson County and be called the Tennessee Railroad.
While Brimstone isn’t called Hughett anymore, it once was — and that name, too, is still found on maps. That’s because the post office there, located between Indian Fork Creek and Slick Rock, was named for its first postmaster, Jasper Hughett, who would later serve as a prominent businessman in Robbins.
And Straight Fork was once known as Byrd, because the post office there was named after its postmaster, Oliver P. Byrd.
Finally, there was Fort Brandau (incorrectly recorded by history as Fort Brandon), which certainly doesn’t appear on maps anymore. It was named for its first postmaster, Dr. Gustavus Reynard Brandau, a German immigrant who lived in Scott County for a short time and was a surgeon for the Union army during the Civil War.
Not all post offices — and the communities they served — were named after the postmasters, of course. Smith Creek, in far eastern Scott County, was once known as Bowl, because the post office there — located near present-day New Salem United Baptist Church — was operated by John Fetterman, who owned the Fetterman Bowl Company there.
And in many cases, the post offices were simply named after the pre-established communities they served.
Here is a list of some of those Scott County post offices that took on place names no longer in existence.
• Brynffynon: Located on Nancy Branch near the intersection of present-day Toomey Road and O&W Road, west of Oneida, Brynffynon was named for the Welsh settlement where it was located. Brynffynon loosely means “spring on a hill” in the Welsh language, and it was founded by a man named John Roberts, who immigrated to the United States with big dreams but was ruined by constant raids by Union and Rebel soldiers alike during the Civil War. His brother, Richard Roberts, served as the postmaster. The post office was open from 1865 to 1870.
• Cordell: Located near Bull Creek, the Cordell post office opened in March 1895 with James M. Newport serving as postmaster. It eventually closed in January 1937, with Rebecca Brown serving as the last postmaster. The name remains on many maps although the post office is long gone.
• Cortland: The post office at Cortland was located at what we now know as Lone Mountain. It opened in December 1892 with Eldridge Shannon serving as postmaster. It closed in December 1936, with Cassie Griffith serving as the last postmaster.
• Doctors: The Doctors post office was located at Buffalo Creek. It opened in April 1891, with John M. Wilhite serving as postmaster. It closed in October 1897 and moved to Bowl. Samuel L. Babb was the last postmaster there.
• Elva: The Elva post office opened in September 1904 on No Business Creek. It later moved to Station Camp Creek. The first postmaster was Lewis Burke, and the last was Ike King. It closed in July 1935.
• Fogal: The Fogal post office was located in Oneida. Alvin C. Terry served as the first postmaster, and William Stanley was the last postmaster. It was only open for three years.
• Frona: We don’t know where the Frona post office was located, but it must’ve been somewhere near Station Camp in the Big South Fork National River & Recreation Area. It opened in 1892 with William H. Blevins serving as postmaster. It closed in September 1895 and moved to Oneida. The last postmaster was William W. Owens.
• Gennett: The Gennett post office was located near Smokey Junction. It opened in November 1927 and was named for its first postmaster, Andrew Gennett. It lasted until the end of World War II. It closed in December 1945 and moved to Huntsville. Mae Sexton Harness was the last postmaster.
• Horse Shoe Bend: The Horse Shoe Bend post office was Rugby before Rugby was Rugby. It opened in June 1856 with John B. Sandusky serving as postmaster. It closed in July 1881, as the Rugby settlement took root. Isaac Riseden was the last postmaster. Horse Shoe Bend still appears on maps.
• Newland: The Newland post office was located on Smokey Creek. It opened in September 1908 with Sylvester B. Leeper serving as postmaster. It closed in May 1923 and moved to Smokey. The last postmaster was Carl H. Sparks.
• Parch Corn: The Parch Corn post office wasn’t located where you might think. There’s a Parch Corn Creek in the Big South Fork, but this Parch Corn was located near Helenwood. It opened in March 1877 with Calvin C. Terry serving as postmaster. It closed in January 1892. Interestingly, Terry’s sister, Hellen Emily Terry Blevins (William H. Blevins’ mother, incidentally), lived and was buried at the other Parch Corn, in the Big South Fork. Lorenzo Dow Marcum was the last postmaster at Parch Corn.
• Roberta: Today, the name “Roberta” is most commonly associated with landfills. The original landfill at Bear Creek was called Roberta Sanitary Landfill when it opened, and efforts to build a second landfill are known as Roberta Phase II. But the Roberta name predated the landfills at Bear Creek and was what that community was long known as. The post office there opened in October 1909 with James B. Craig serving as postmaster. It closed in 1931. The last postmaster was Louis E. Bryant.
• Sedgemoor: You won’t find Sedgemoor on a map today, but that was the name of the first railroad depot at what we now know as Elgin. The reason for the name Sedgemoor has been lost to time, but we know engineers on the Cincinnati-Southern Railroad didn’t name it Rugby Road because they wanted to avoid confusion with Rockwood further down the tracks. The post office opened there in October 1880 with Walter S. Allen serving as postmaster. Craven Duncan was the last postmaster when it closed in December 1881.
• Walnut Springs: Another community name that’s long been forgotten is Walnut Springs, which was located near Winfield. The post office there opened in October 1866 with Abraham H. Cross serving as postmaster. It closed in June 1868.
• Zena: The Zena post office opened in November 1897 with Lewis Burk Jr. serving as postmaster. It was a forerunner to Elva post office at No Business, and closed in January 1898.
For a complete list of Scott County’s post offices, see the Encyclopedia of Scott County.
Thank you for reading. Our next newsletters will be Threads of Life on Wednesday and The WeekenderThursday evening. Want to update your subscription to add or subtract these newsletters? Do so here. Need to subscribe? Enter your email address below!
◼️ Monday morning: The Daybreaker (news & the week ahead)
◼️ Tuesday: Echoes in Time (stories of our history)
◼️ Wednesday: Threads of Life (obituaries)
◼️ Thursday evening: The Weekender (news & the weekend)
◼️ Friday: Friday Features (beyond the news)
◼️ Sunday: Varsity (a weekly sports recap)