Farmington Post Office Records, 1882-1897

The post office at Farmington, Whitman County, WA was established originally as "Pine Creek Post Office" on November 23, 1877. At the request of G.W. Truax, an early settler in the area, who desired to have the town named after Farmington, MN, it was changed in 1879. On June 19, 1879, the post office name was changed officially to "The Farmington Post Office."

On July 12, 1888, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed E. E. Paddock to the position of postmaster at Farmington. He was reappointed by President William McKinley on April 23, 1894. The post office was located in the Paddock Drug Store until the building was razed by a fire on the night of Feburary 11, 1897.

The population of the twon reached a maximum of approximately 1000 in 1889 (By 1915 it had dwindled to less than 500).

Jacob Blickendorfer took over the office by appointment from President McKinley on March 8, 1898 (Blickendorfer's 53rd brithday). He held office until his death on March 8, 1913. Upon Blickendorfer's appointment the post office was moved from Paddock's Drug Store. After Jacob's death his wife Mary Alice (Winkler) filled the position, assisted by her son Charles, until the appointment of a successor.

On November 1, 1913, Willard E. Overholt assumed the postmastership at Farmington and served through the administration of President Woodrow Wilson. The correspondence file indicated that Overholt was postmaster at least until April 10, 1922.