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| History of Store & Post Office at Saulsville |
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| The store at Saulsville was started by W R Shumate. It was originally a wooden 2 story building located between what is now Ada Tolliver home and son Murrell's home. |
| Tollison Shumate ran it also. |
| It was moved across the road from the present Ada Tolliver home and was operated by Uriah Evans, Enoch Tolliver, Tollison Shumate, W. R. Shumate & Daniel Shumate, Silas Goode, Garner & Minnie Roles, Belva Clay, Ada Tolliver, Maxine Tolliver. |
| The first post offices in the new settlement was located in homes, later in trading posts and stores. The first regular U. S. Mail route coming into present day Wyoming County was extended from Red Sulphur Springs, Monroe County thru what is now Saulsville and on to Logan Court house in 1824. The mail, mostly letters, were carried on horseback and in saddlebags with one trip per week with a stop at the Cook settlement on Clear Fork, designated ? and kept by Thomas Cooke Sr in his home. |
| A second mail route was established between Jeffersonville, Tazewell County VA and Oceana, Wyoming County, tis route followed the old Shawnee Indian Trail across Barkers Ridge. Also, about 1880 existing routes were extended to supply an office at Cedarsburg(Otsego) about 2 miles above the mouth of Cedar Creek and another established at Basin(Barkers Ridge). About 1900 a mail route was established between Joe's Branch(below Itmann) & Jumping Branch, Summers County, with offices at Basin, Egeria, Odd, and Flat Top as Raleigh County supplied mail from Hinton. |
| Before 1881, settlers living in the Low Gap, Wolf Gap, Bower Ridge & Wash Short areas had no post office. If they had letters to mail or expected any mail, they had to travel to New Found on Bearhole, up to Buchannons place, through Wash Short up Black Fork to Eury Evans (old Dave Bower place) across head of Still Run, to Cedarburg(Otsego), up Cedar Creek, etc.... and on to the Raleigh County Courthouse. |
| By 1881 there were many families in the Saulsville area, so a post office was established at the old Dave Bowers place in Twin Falls Park through Geo M. Cook, postmaster of Cedarsburg. After some time the post office was moved to Enoch Tollivers home on upper Black Fork and was there until Tollison Shumate built his store where it remained through various postmasters, first W. R. Shumate then his brother Daniel then back to W. R. then onto sister Minnie and her husband Garner Roles until about 1934 when Belva Clay took over until her death in 1941 then to Belva's sister Ada and her husband Dan Tolliver then onto daughter in law Maxine 'Toots' Carter Tolliver |
| The earliest mail carriers for Saulsville were James Sauls, who made 2 round trips each week. Peter Snuffer of Crab Orchard was the second carrier, James R Cook was the third. |
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| Saulsville Post Office was established on October 24, 1881. Below is a list of the postmasters between the date of establishment and October 10, 1909: |
| George W Cook October 24, 1881 |
| Wiley Sizemore June 18, 1888 |
| Uriah Evans July 9, 1892 |
| F. E. Saxton July 6, 1893 |
| Appointment Order Rescinded October 10, 1894 |
| W. R. Shumate August 15, 1903 |
| Silas Phillips September 14, 1903 |
| Enoch Tolliver February 12, 1906 |
| Post Office Discontinued August 28, 1907 |
| Post Office Reinstated October 2, 1909 |
| William R. Shumate October 2, 1909 |
| Daniel Shumate May 20, 1914 |
| William R Shumate October 21, 1919 |
| Miss Belva Clay August 1, 1934 |
| Confirmed September 13, 1934 |
| Ada M Tolliver November 12, 1941 |
| Confirmed January 31, 1942 |
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| Saulsville Post Office discontinued on February 29, 1960 - Mail to McGraws |
| After 1960 the post office was designated a sub station and all functions continued with a contract passing between Patricia Tolliver and Maxine 'Toots' Tolliver. |
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| The final contract, still under Toots' contract, was given up by her son Douglas in1997 and all mails where readdressed for rural delivery through either McGraws or Maben. |
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| This is a 1960's era photo of where the Dan & Ada Tolliver home (below) and the Ted & Naomi Clay home (above) were. The home of WR Shumate which housed the first Saulsville Post Office stood in this general vicinity. The Tolliver home was built out of the lumber available from the tearing down of the Shumate Home. Dan & Ada's son Jim is in the forefront of the picture. |
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| The building in the background of this photo was were the Saulsville Post Office was after it was moved from the Shumates. This building was also constructed out of lumber taken from the Shumate home. Dan & Ada's son Clyde is in the foreground pumping gas at the station that was built to the left side of the photo, to which the post office was moved in the early 1970's. |
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| These 3 phots are of the Tolliver's Exxon garage building circa mid 1970's. Maxine 'Toots' Tolliver was the last post master of record for the Saulsville Post Office the picture above is of the work area inside the garage that was designated for the post office. |
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