Dodge City Post Office Then and Now

612 N Second Avenue

It can be very confusing when people ask me about the “old post office.” The questions usually pertain to the blonde brick building on Second Avenue, which if my math is correct, became the fourth post office location in Dodge City.

The 1887 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows Dr. Thomas McCarty’s opera house, which was later used as a skating rink, on the east side of Second Avenue between Spruce and Walnut Streets. In those days, the building was lit with kerosene lamps.

The third post office location in the old City Furniture building ran out of room after less than a decade. The McCarty Realty Company was formed in March of 1916 to construct a new building on the opposite side of the street. Unfortunately, the skating rink was in the way and had to be demolished.

Stockholders included Dr. Thomas McCarty, Sam Stubbs, Walter Locke, Victor Carson, George Rose, A. Russell, C. E. and P. M. Imel, Doolittle and Traynor, H. R. Brown, James Arment, C. T. Benbow, A. C. Scates, George Martin, Otto Theis, W. J. Fitzgerald, Chris Behl, Mike Sutton, William Foley, L. L. Taylor, and P. H. Sughrue.

Excavation was well underway in April of 1916. The Dodge City Kansas Journal was located in the building directly south of the new post office site and their north wall fell into the foundation pit when the equipment apparently got a bit too close.

It was hoped the new building would be completed by November 1 but contractor Julian Parham just missed it.

Postmaster Heinie Schmidt officially opened the new post office on November 6, 1916.

Attorneys Edgar Foster and Charles W Milton moved to offices upstairs that December and the Palace Drug Store opened a second location with a newsstand in the south side of the lobby.

Hiram T Burr’s real estate and insurance office moved to the southwest corner of the second floor.

Leonard-Drake Auto Co. occupied the north storefront of the building.

Drs. Thomas and Claude McCarty situated their upstairs offices in the suite along Second Avenue with the big windows. Francis McAdam’s real estate office was located in Room 212.

One of the defining features of this building was a giant terra cotta eagle which extended above the parapet.

Plans to expand the post office quarters were underway in the Spring of 1920. Palace Drug Store had vacated their space in the south part of the lobby and that area was used for postal operations and an office for Postmaster Schmidt.

Partnerships came and went but Hiram Burr maintained a constant presence.

The Drs. McCarty vacated their offices in the post office building around 1925 and consolidated their practices in the McCarty Hospital at Central and Spruce.

In 1926, things became very muddled. McCarty Realty constructed a building directly north of the post office which became known as the McCarty Building. I won’t drive myself crazy trying to determine which dentists and barber shops were in each building because street numbers meant nothing in those days. However, it’s worth mentioning the Dodge City Daily Globe occupied most of the first floor and the entire basement of the new structure.

The 1926 Sanborn shows the new McCarty Building in the spot between the filling station and post office.

The upper floor lost several tenants when the new First National Bank opened in September of 1930. By this time, Hiram Burr was President of the McCarty Realty Company. The fifth and current post office building was completed in 1931 after about five years of planning struggles.

W. W. Virtue Dry Goods Company of Dodge City was formed on May 27, 1932 and occupied the former post office building by the end of June.

This April 1, 1939 photo taken during the parade celebrating the premiere of Dodge City shows the building in background with the Hiram T Burr Investment Company sign painted on the south wall.

Pauline (Younger) Wagner is shown here during the 1940s braving a snowstorm outside Virtue’s dry goods store.

Hiram Burr and L. B. Hancock formed Burr-Hancock, Inc. in June of 1946. This firm eventually became Coldwell Banker Hancocks of Dodge City.

McCarty Realty Company was officially changed to Hiram T Burr, Inc. in February of 1949, the same year the Burr-Hancock partnership was dissolved.

Burr’s offices moved to 209 W Spruce Street around the early 1950s. Controlling interest in W. W. Virtue, Inc. was sold to the J. M. McDonald Company of Hastings, Nebraska effective February 1, 1954. At that time, Virtue operated 33 stores in five states and they were gradually rebranded over the next couple years.

After the F. W. Woolworth Co. moved to their new location up the street around 1954, the McDonald store expanded northward into their old space. Some people say McDonald’s was in the old post office while others insist it was one building north. They’re all correct!

The second image in this slideshow shows the eagle was still in pretty good shape during the 1960s.

McDonald’s moved to the new Village Square Shopping Center around the Summer of 1970, serving as the south anchor where Ollie’s is now.

The main floor of the old post office sat vacant for a while after McDonald’s left and finally became home to Litwin’s Clothing Store in the mid-1980s, followed by Alle’s Art Gallery on the main floor and The Doctor’s Office in the basement.

After Alle Craig moved her gallery over to the Ham Bell Block around 2003, the old post office was occupied by Q’Moda Women’s Apparel. Ensueño Boutique has been in that space since around 2007.

A ton of work has been done to the building since Ensueño moved in. The sketchy awnings have been removed as well as the modern storefront cladding. Unfortunately, previous modernization efforts damaged the brickwork to the point where new brick veneer was applied from the ground to above the transoms. That new brickwork unified the two McCarty buildings, which were combined into one parcel many years ago.

This is how the fourth old post office looks today:

I love walking by this building every day and seeing the Hiram T Burr, Inc. mats in front of the doors as well as the Burr ghost signs on the south wall. Unfortunately, the location of that magnificent tile eagle is currently unknown. If you find it, please bring it to me. I’m not saying there will be a reward but I’m also not *not* saying that.

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