Ruralite Cafe: Published 04/26/01

By Lynn Hotaling - Associate Editor

Old Argura Post Office is now Smiths' home

Two of them are still in use today. Argura, located on N.C. 281 near Oak Ridge Road, is the home of Newt and June Smith and also the name of their plant nursery; Hornet, which was located much farther out the Canada road (almost to Transylvania County), is part of an old house used as a retreat by the Jamie Clarke family.

Argura was chartered in 1901 and served its community until 1953, when it was combined with Tuckasegee. According to Coy Melton of Greens Creek, nearby residents intended to name it "Hominy." However, when the post office opened, it was discovered that a Hominy Post Office already existed in Henderson County.

Coy's great-grandfather, James Melton won $25 for suggesting "Argura," a name he made up to conform to a post office regulation that required names to be six letters long, Coy said. Sadie Melton, who was married to James Melton's first cousin Mitchell Melton, was the last postmaster at Argura.

The emails and calls that helped with this column began two weeks ago.

I first heard from Bonnie Barker in Bellingham, Wash., who reads our paper via web television. Sadie Melton was her great-aunt, and Bonnie, who's originally from Sutton Branch, wanted to be sure Argura's story was included in the stories of Jackson County's many post offices.

"I had no idea there were so many post offices in and around Sylva. It's very interesting to read. My Great Aunt Sadie Melton lived in Canada, N.C., and she ran the post office from her home. She had one end of her front porch made into a room to store the mail, and people would walk through the woods or come on horseback to 'fetch their mail,' as my Aunt Sadie used to say. She would also tell them to say "here" when she would call their name so they could come up on the porch to get their mail. She had the post office for 22 years; her house was across the dirt road from John D. Broom's store. I loved Aunt Sadie dearly. She was a self-made woman who worked her way through college and was a school teacher, and she lived to be 97 years old. She died in 1990," Bonnie wrote. Dot Nicholson of Cullowhee grew up near Sols Creek and remembers both the Argura Post Office and Sadie Melton.

"I remember well when it was there," Dot said. "We walked across the mountain to the post office. I've still got mail cancelled 'Argura, N.C.' There was a porch you walked across, and the little post office was on the end. You did not enter that post office - she had a sign that said 'keep out.'"

The memories of Dot and Bonnie coincide with what June and Newt Smith found when they purchased Sadie Melton's former home.

They used the closed-in area of the front porch, which had housed the post office, as a storage area while they remodeled the house. The old post office is now part of their guest bedroom, June said.

"Newt found the cancellation stamp - you can still make out 'Argura.' It's handle is wooden and worn from years of use," she said. The Smiths also found the old slotted box Sadie Melton used to sort the mail.

A post office called Custer, charted in 1902, was combined with Argura in 1906.

Dot remembers Canada's oldest post office, Wolf Mountain, which existed from 1876 until 1953 when its mail was sent down to Tuckasegee. It was in the old Mack and Minnie Nicholson house, Dot said, in an area that was flooded during the 1950s with the construction of the Tanasee Creek Lake.

The Hornet Post Office, which was located on the Clarkes' property at Rock Bridge, was short-lived. It existed only from 1923 until 1932, when it was combined with Wolf Mountain. Mary Matthews is listed as its only postmaster.

The Cathey Post Office was combined with Wolf Mountain in 1901. Charted in 1883, it was probably located near Cathey's Gap. Horneyhead, chartered in 1880, merged with Cathey in 1895.

I look forward to hearing from readers who know more stories about these and other former post offices. If you have information, call 586-2611 or send an email to news@thesylvaherald.com.

Back to Archive: 04/26/01.