The Historical Society of Avon ParkAVON PARK, FL · EST. 1886
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Avon Park Post Office Buildings and Historical Locations (1888–Present)

Since the establishment of the Avon Park post office on 8 May 1888, the federal postal facility has occupied at least six distinct physical locations along the town’s commercial and civic corridors.[maxwell-1976]

1. Waycross Street and Crosby’s Print Shop (1888–1891)

The first post office operated under pioneer settler William A. King (appointed 22 May 1888) and Arthur W. Dickson (appointed 1889).[maxwell-1976] Mail was brought on horseback from the railroad terminus at Fort Meade, initially once a month and later weekly. Operations were housed in a small frame building on Waycross Street, located immediately to the rear of the Verona Hotel, where town founder Oliver M. Crosby published the promotional newspaper The Florida Home Seeker.[maxwell-1976]

2. Pioneer Main Street Mercantile Counters: Kinney and West (1891–1904)

Following the incorporation of the Florida Development Company, the post office moved to East Main Street:

  • In July 1891, postmaster Dorr D. Kinney relocated the postal counter inside his general merchandise store (the former Tobe Hendry building).[maxwell-1976][gaz-1895]
  • After the Great Freeze of 1894–1895, Benjamin F. West acquired the building and maintained the postal distribution boxes inside the B. F. West & Son store and private banking counter from 1896 to 1900.[maxwell-1976]
  • Gabriel Skipper and Marion W. Sargent continued operations in commercial premises along Main Street from 1903 to 1908, with A. W. Sargent running a fancy goods and notions counter alongside the postal boxes.[dsc-1905-11-10]

3. The Arthur Sargent and Spinks Building (c. 1908–1922)

Around 1908, Arthur Sargent constructed a dedicated two-story frame commercial building on East Main Street specifically arranged for postal operations on the ground floor.[maxwell-1976] In October 1910, Fannie P. Reeves (later Mrs. Glen Spinks) was appointed postmaster, serving seventeen years.[maxwell-1976] The building became widely known as the Spinks Building. In 1939, the structure was acquired by the City of Avon Park to serve as the municipal Chamber of Commerce headquarters.[maxwell-1976]

4. The 1922 Boom-Era Post Office

With the rapid population growth of the early 1920s land boom and the extension of the Mile Long Mall, the postal department outgrew the frame Spinks building.[nrhp-90000486] In 1922, a new masonry post office facility was constructed on Main Street.[maxwell-1976] This building accommodated the surge in postal volume resulting from nationwide real estate sales and advertising; postal receipts increased by 33 percent in 1923 alone.[maxwell-1976] In later decades, following the post office’s relocation, this 1922 building housed the Fairyland Children’s Specialty Shop.[maxwell-1976]

5. The Verona Avenue and East Main Street Facility

As commercial expansion continued into the mid-20th century under Postmaster Douglass G. (“Doc”) Perry (who served from 1936 to 1960), a newer post office station was constructed at the corner of North Verona Avenue and East Main Street, adjacent to the municipal park and hotel district.[maxwell-1976] After postal operations transferred to a larger federal station, this facility was repurposed for private commercial use (housing One Hour Cleaners).[maxwell-1976]

6. Modern West Main Street Postal Station

In the post-1960 era, the United States Postal Service constructed a modern central post office facility with automated sorting, loading docks, and dedicated parking on West Main Street (U.S. Highway 27 corridor), anchoring federal postal operations for Avon Park and surrounding rural routes.[usps-loc]

References

Where this comes from

Evidence
corroborated — More than one independent source agrees.
Review
unverified — Drafted from sources but not yet checked by a volunteer.
Rights
society

Sources

  1. Leoma Bradshaw Maxwell, The First Hundred Years of Avon Park, Florida (references/the-first-hundred-years-of-avon-park_leoma-bradshaw-maxwell_1976.md) (1976)
  2. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Avon Park Historic District (1990)
  3. The De Soto County News, Arcadia, Fla., The De Soto County News, 10 November 1905: Avon Park notes (1905)
  4. Belden Publishing Company, Florida Railroad Gazetteer and State Business Directory, 1895 (1895)
  5. United States Postal Service, USPS Post Office Location: Avon Park, FL (2026)

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