Post office being transformed into apartments

Andy Burford has been busy this fall changing the old Gonvick Post office building into apartments. He has the first one rented out and is working on getting two more units in the structure.

When Gonvick was first homesteaded in 1896, the mail was brought by train as far as Fosston. From there it was brought by horse as far as the Winsor Post Office, which was established on November 28, 1896.

Post office buildings in Gonvick were located in several places.

On June 26, 1900 a post office was opened at the Wildwood store with Nels Fredensberg as postmaster. They would have a “Star Route” that would leave Gonvick in the morning with  a team of horses. They would go from Gonvick to Winsor to Gully and then to Olga, south of Gully. They would meet the carrier from Fosston and exchange incoming and outgoing mail. 

The Gonvick Banner Printing office, where Burfords building is located burned to the ground and a block building was put up and that became the Gonvick Post Office in 1935. In August of 1981 the post office was moved to the present location on the west side of the building that houses Richards Publishing Company. Mark Judd was the Postmaster in charge of the move from one building to another. 

Since 1981 the old post office building had housed a gift shop and an office for a trucking company. 

The gift shop was owned by Sara Madsen and called “The Forget Me Not Shop”. Her assistants were Becky Mikkelson and Sheryll Petterson. 

Dave Wentworth Trucking Company was the last tenant that was in the old post office building.