Postville, Nebraska - How Postville Got It’s Name:
John W. Elliott brought his family to Joliet Township from Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, near Carlisle, in the early 1870's. He obtained his homestead land (SW 1/4 of Section 23, 160 acres) from the Union Pacific Railroad Company on May 27, 1876 at the cost of $680.00.
On September 26, 1878, Mr. Elliott made application to the U.S. Post Office Department to have the Post Office moved from Wolf, Nebraska in Burrows Township; 3 miles east which was on the east side of the Shell Creek and on the Columbus to Lindsay route. Mr. Wolf and Mr. Burrows were land owners in this area at the time.
Mr. Elliott claimed on his application by moving the Post Office to the west side of the Shell Creek on the Columbus to Lindsay route, it would shorten the mail route by 3 miles. The application was approved on October 12, 1878.
Mr. Elliott named the new Post Office, Postville, after a good friend of his, Alfred M. Post who lived in Columbus, Nebraska. Mr. Post was a lawyer and was a Chief Justice of the Nebraska Supreme Court. Mr. Elliott believed that Postville, Nebraska would grow and become a prominent location in history and he wanted his friend, Mr. Post, to be part of that history and have a town named after him. The recorded population of Postville, Nebraska in 1900 was 47.
Mr. Elliott served as the Postville Post Office Postmaster from October 17, 1878 to October 3, 1881. His son Hanson S. Elliott served as Postmaster from October 3, 1881 to February 5, 1896. Mr. Thomas Jones served as Postmaster from February 5, 1896 to September 30, 1902, at which time the Postville, Nebraska Post Office was discontinued and the papers were transferred to Monroe, Nebraska. The Postville, Nebraska Post Office was in service from October 17, 1878 to September 30, 1902 for a total of 24 years.
This is why the First Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Church, founded December 6, 1881, later became know as the Postville Welsh Church and Cemetery.