Niles Post Office

The early post office on East State Street about 1912. PO1.383	Niles Post Office. By 1834 the settlement had reached the proper proportions of a village so James Heaton planned the streets, marked off the lot division and named the village. Until 1834 the settlement was appropriately called “Heaton’s Furnace”, but James Heaton gave it a new name “Nilestown” in honor of Hezekiah Niles, editor of the Niles Register, a Baltimore paper, who’s Whig (early political party) principals Heaton greatly admired. Nilestown remained the name until 1843 when Ambrose Mason, Postmaster, for convenience shortened it to “Niles” and that is how Niles got its name.” The post office was located on East State Street, then called Mill Street and Furnace Street, and was in use until a new post office was built on West Park Avenue. This post office opend January 1, 1933.

Post Office location on 1882 panorama map.	Post Office location on 1909 map.	New post office location on 1934 City Map.

A postcard view of the Niles Post Office on inspection day, December 29, 1932. The Post Office was opened to the public on January 2, 1933. PO1.385	Photograph of Niles Post Office, August 1933.	It was in 1913 that the first move was made for the United States Post Office which is one of the outstanding buildings in the City of Niles. At that time, the lot on which the building stands, was bought by the government through the efforts of W. Aubrey Thomas, formerly of this city who is now living in Alabama. At that time he was a congressman from this district. It is said that the price paid for the lot was approximately $15,000. The late W.R. Thomas was postmaster at the time the post office site was purchased. In 1931 a plot of land 420-1/2 feet in size was bought from the heirs of the late William Thomas and added to the government site.