Photo By Charlie Carson
To many, the “heart” of this town is the Mooresville Post Office. Built after 1840 of sawmill lumber and now owned by the Town of Mooresville, it is located at the corner of Lauderdale and High Streets.
It is the oldest operational post office in the state of Alabama. The mailboxes and office furnishings are even older, having been transferred from the original post office in the tavern. The post boxes are numbered 1-48 and some families have had the same box number for several generations.
One method to date a building is to examine the wood. Axe marks are indicative of wood that was cut by hand before the widespread use of the sawmill in 1840. As the wood on the post office shows no evidence of axe marks, it was presumably built after 1840. The handmade bricks of the chimney could indicate an earlier date of construction. The heaviness of the lumber and the pegged joints were common in earlier structures, pointing to the fact that many carpenters married earlier methods of building with more comtemporary techniques.
The Mooresville Post Office wears its patina well, adding interior charm and friendly service to the beauty of the wood. Windsor chairs, braided rugs, a fireplace and a friendly smile greet both residents and visitors when they enter this historic, full-service post office.
