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EDITION 6031 - 01/13/2026
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| The mystery is solved on the Pin Oak, Iowa post office. When the name was changed to Georgetown in 1855, they found out that there was already a Georgetown, Iowa in Monroe County that had a post office that began operation in 1852. The new Georgetown stayed as the Pin Oak post office even though the name of the town was now Georgetown to avoid confusion of two towns with the same name in Iowa. It actually happened a lot in early U.S. history. That is one of the reasons the county name is often listed on early mail. When the Georgetown that was previously Pin Oak changed its name to Holy Cross in 1899. There was just one Georgetown, Iowa and that post office ceased operation in 1908. Georgetown is an unincorporated township and there is a post office in Georgetown these days which is a branch office of the Ottumwa post office |
The mystery is solved on the Pin Oak, Iowa post office. When the name was changed to Georgetown in 1855, they found out that there was already a Georgetown, Iowa in Monroe County that had a post office that began operation in 1852. The new Georgetown stayed as the Pin Oak post office even though the name of the town was now Georgetown to avoid confusion of two towns with the same name in Iowa. It actually happened a lot in early U.S. history. That is one of the reasons the county name is often listed on early mail. When the Georgetown that was previously Pin Oak changed its name to Holy Cross in 1899. There was just one Georgetown, Iowa and that post office ceased operation in 1908. Georgetown is an unincorporated township and there is a post office in Georgetown these days which is a branch office of the Ottumwa post office.