CURTIN POST OFFICE

​A post office was established in 1867 to serve the community at Eagle Iron Works and Curtin Village, and it remained in operation until 1935. The original postal window from that office was presented to the American Philatelic Society in 1973 by my uncle, H. Parker Glenn (1901-1996), at a ceremony also attended by Thomazine Curtin Weinstein (1920-1998).

H Parker Glenn and Thomazine Curtin Weinstein at the American Philatelic Society, then located in State College, in 1973.

The postal window was in a storage building at my uncle's home in Mt. Eagle, which had been the family home since 1923. In 1890, my paternal grandmother’s father, John M. Parker, became the postmaster in Roland (Curtin*), and was succeeded by Kathryn J. Parker, my great aunt.  In 1902 (or 1905 -- sources vary), Jerry Glenn, my grandfather and John Parker’s son-in-law, took over.  H. Laird Curtin officially assumed the title of postmaster in 1921.  In 1913 my grandfather and family had moved from Curtin Village to Howard Township, outside the Curtin postal district, and as of that year the postmaster was required to reside within the postal district served by the post office he or she managed.  In reality, Jerry Glenn (1874-1936) continued work as the unofficial postmaster until the post office closed in 1935. The post office had been located in the same building as the general store, which was torn down in 1967. It is possible that my uncle salvaged the post office window at the time the building was razed, but it is equally as plausible that it was moved when the post office closed or when the store was remodeled as apartments around the time of WWII.

The Curtin postal window is now on permanent display in the Expertization Section of the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania.

Window from Roland Post Office on display at American Philatelic Center, Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. Photo credit: William Monsell

​* The post office was initially called Roland, named after Roland Curtin. The name was changed to Curtin in 1907.