On July 1, 1963, the American landscape, once defined by the names of cities, towns, and villages, underwent a slow and quiet change. That day, the U.S. Post Office introduced the Zone Improvement Plan, later shortened to ZIP. The term “ZIP” even suggested that mail would travel faster from place to place. Soon thereafter, two-letter state abbreviations such as WA for Washington were introduced. The five-digit numerical Zip Code eventually made traditional geographic place names almost redundant. Maple Valley was awarded 98038, while nearby Hobart and Ravensdale became 98025 and 98051.
Three years before the introduction of ZIP Codes, a new Maple Valley Post Office was opened. This photo accompanied a Feb. 1, 1960, newspaper article detailing its dedication. Like the five post offices before it, this one was located in old Maple Valley, where Highway 169 crosses over the Cedar River. And this, the sixth post office building, is still used commercially by AC Custom Metal Work, which specializes in metal gate repair and maintenance. It’s located at 21715 Dorre Don Road, the first structure on the right.
Keys to the new building were presented to Postmaster Donald W. Fern, along with a 49-star flag that flew over the Post Office headquarters in Washington, D.C. Alaska joined the union in 1959, eight months before Hawaii, making 49-star flags collectable. The Tahoma High School band played the Star-Spangled Banner, and a color guard of Boy Scouts hoisted the new flag. The Lions Club of Maple Valley sponsored the program.
Lyman Stamper, Supt. of Tahoma schools and President of the Lions Club, was master of ceremonies. Rev. Wayne Smith of the Church of Nazarene gave an invocation while Rev. Charles Van Ness of the Assembly of God provided the benediction. The building contractor was Herschel Maxwell of Maple Valley. More than 200 Maple Valley residents attended the celebration held in the concourse at the rear of the building.
Vine Maple Valley’s first post office was established on May 22, 1882, and named Arthur, three years prior to the railroad that altered the economic dynamics of southeast King County. Charles O. Russell served as Postmaster, and the office was located in his residence. The post office name was changed in 1885 to Maplevalley (the town’s alternate spelling after ‘Vine’ was dropped). That year, the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad completed its rail line along the Cedar River on its way to the coal mining towns of Black Diamond and Franklin.
Mail delivery was next handled at the general store that the second postmaster, Mrs. Emirgene McDonald built in old Maple Valley in 1891. She sold that store to William D. Gibbon the same year. In 1894, Gibbon constructed a new post office in his general store, and the original structure became a creamery. In 1906, the store and post office building were transported across Highway 169 to the present-day location of the Maple Valley Market, built in 1949. Today, W.D. Gibbon’s general merchandise store is one of the Maple Valley Historical Society’s main attractions, open from 10 am to 2 pm, the first and third Saturdays of each month at 22024 S.E. 248th Street, across Witte Road from the Maple Valley Library.
The post office was moved again, briefly, into the Maple Valley Hotel. In 1951, it was relocated next door to a newly completed structure, which served as a combined post office and fire station. That 3-bay, 2-story building still stands adjacent to Cascadia Pizza and is used for commercial rentals.
This sixth post office location, as seen in the above photo, was constructed in 1959. It operated on Dorre Don Road for 26 years until early 1986. Then, after more than 100 years in the original Maple Valley locale, the seventh post office site was built on Wax Road, closer to Wilderness Village, which, over the decades, supplanted old Maple Valley as the area’s business hub. Today, Four Corners is the generally recognized commercial center of Maple Valley. This photo comes courtesy of JoAnne Matsumura, an Issaquah historian. Dick Peacock of the Maple Valley Historical Society provided background information.
