During a convesation about plans to close many rural post offices, my friend Joel said he remembered when there was a tiny post office at Willowdale (the crossroads of Routes 926 and 82 in East Marlborough).
I didn't remember one, but he seemed very sure and he's been around here longer than I have, so I thought maybe it was just before my time. Especially when he offered to bet me $1,000.
When I got home, I questioned a few longtime residents. Neither Mary Dugan nor Chris Barber remembered a Willowdale post office. Jessie Cocks said she remembered picking up the mail in the building that's now Catherine's Restaurant in Unionville.
Don Silknitter, a retired Unionville schoolteacher (and a new father-in-law!), forwarded me a complete list of Chester County post offices, dating back to 1798 (Downingtown). Sure enough, a Willowdale post office was established on May 21, 1869, with Joseph S. Pyle as postmaster. There's no mention of when it was shut down.
If anyone has more information about it, I'd love to find out.
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