TEMPLE – The Temple Post Office will no longer be located in Hodgkins Store after March 24. The current plan is to move operations to West Farmington on what the U.S. Postal Service believes will be a temporary basis.
At the close of business on Saturday, March 24, the Temple Post Office will suspend operations. The probable, although likely temporary, new location for Temple residents to receive services will be at the West Farmington office, approximately four miles away.
According to USPS communications specialist Steve Doherty, the West Farmington option is a “stopgap measure” that will become active on March 24 if necessary. The post office had a lease to operate out of its longtime location at 12 Temple Road, in a building that also included the Hodgkins Store, but that lease ended March 31, necessitating the move.
“We are actively looking at options within the town,” Doherty said, adding he was “optimistic” that an in-town location for the Temple post office would be found.
One option would be to move the post office into the Temple Town Office at 258 Temple Road. At a special town meeting in early February, the town voted to provide space for the post office operations in that town-owned building. Doherty said that the town office option seemed favorable for both the USPS and Temple residents. The USPS has a process it goes through prior to setting up a new office, he noted, including inspections of proposed sites.
The West Farmington office is located at 126 Bridge Street. It is open from 8:30 a.m. until noon, and then 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. It is open from 8:30 a.m. until 11 a.m. on Saturday and closed on Sunday.
There is a lot of history behind the Temple Post Office’s closing.
Clarence Hodgkins (1878-1950) opened a general store in Temple in 1895. He was appointed post master in 1905 and served for 42 years. It helped that the post office was housed in the store. The store, which he turned over to his son Austin “Slim” in 1941, subsequently moved across the road, taking the post office with it. While the store in its new location closed in 1999, the post office continued to operate. It was said to have been the longest family business in Franklin County and Hodgkins was known as the oldest postmaster in Maine in terms of age and length of service.
I offered to build a new post office on the corner of the varnum pond rd. So when they say they are searching for a new place it is just an excuse to close the temple post office.