Post Office changing some addresses

Occasionally this newspaper publishes a story about an area ghost town. When this area was settled, travel was not as easy as it is today. Steam locomotives frequently needed water or other servicing and towns were often spaced six to eight miles apart. Entrepreneurs often hoped to profit from the development of communities.

Post offices were established and then closed when the communities they served faded. But this week, we have a story to write about a new town, sort of, just south of Superior.

Effective Sept. 23, postal customers served by the Superior post office and located in northern Jewell County will have new addresses. According to a letter sent from a postal service office in Sioux Falls, their 911 street address and zip code will not change but the town reference will change from Superior to North Montana Township Kansas.

The new system isn’t perfect for giving location. We checked two postal customers located in Harrison Township and receiving mail from Superior and found their address is North Montana Township.

Under current rules, mail using the Superior, Nebraska address will continue to be delivered but that may change.

Longtime Superior residents remember when the post office decided if Superior had south streets, the community also had to have north streets. Though only that portion of Park Street between Eighth and Fifteenth was designated as north on the city plat, the post office has decided the city has six additional north streets. When the city council and residents complained, they were told not to worry mail would continue to be delivered without the use of north. But today mailers who do not use the north designation are being told the address is incorrect and must be changed.

According to the letter sent from the Sioux Falls office, the change was made in response to customer requests.

For some folks, it will end confusion. For example a motorist has sometimes encountered problems when showing a Kansas driver’s license with a Nebraska address.

The change is likely to introduce some new problems. For example, a traveller looking for an address on a printed map will have trouble finding North Montana Township. The Express did ask Google for North Montana Township and was shown the correct map.