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The Okanagan’s first post office
A petition from settlers led Ottawa to open the valley’s first post office and arrange weekly stagecoach mail service after population growth increased demand.
- Following a March 1872 petition from settlers, the Dominion established the first post office in the Okanagan Valley on Aug. 14, 1872, located at the O'Keefe Ranch to serve the growing North Okanagan community.
- Prior to 1872, mail arrived via horseback from Kamloops or Cache Creek. To facilitate regular delivery, authorities constructed the first wagon road into the Okanagan Valley, connecting the region to Kamloops.
- Barnard's Express stagecoach began weekly service to the O'Keefe Ranch to deliver mail and passengers. Postmaster Cornelius O'Keefe built a general store that functioned as a community meeting place, especially on mail day.
- A clerical error in Ottawa likely resulted in the facility being officially named the Okanagon Post Office, though it provided vital services to travelers and residents despite the spelling mistake.
- The post office retained the misspelled name for 33 years before correction to Okanagan. O'Keefe remained as postmaster until 1913, serving the community for more than 40 years after he started.
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Penticton Western News+3 Reposted by 3 other sources
The Okanagan’s first post office
In the earliest days of settlement in the Okanagan Valley, when only a handful of white settlers lived in the area, mail was usually carried on horseback from Fort Kamloops or Cache Creek by anyone traveling into the valley. By 1870, there was a post office at Kamloops and Duck’s and Pringle’s (Monte Creek) but, as more settlers arrived in the Okanagan, there was a growingdemand for regular mail delivery. When British Columbia joined the Canadia…
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Leaning Left3Leaning Right0Center0Last UpdatedBias Distribution100% Left
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