The Singleton General Store & Post Office

Singleton’s General Store and Post Office operated for about sixteen years on this site. The building was originally occupied by Mrs. Mary Bicker – the town’s first postmistress. The Singletons (Joshua, Henrietta, and their three children, Van, Virginia, and Henry) left Kansas and arrived in Allensworth in 1910. In 1912, the Singleton General Store opened. The retail store and post office occupied the front room and the family’s living quarters were in the rear of the building. The store area was one large room occupying two-thirds of the building and contained a cubicle for the post office. The residential area occupied one-third of the building which was divided equally into three rooms; a kitchen, dining room, and bedroom. Access to the living quarters was through a door at the rear of the store. The store access was through double doors leading from the unit which contained the post office boxes on either side of a pass window where a kerosene lamp sat. Extending from the post office area was a counter with open shelves running the length behind the counter. An ice cooler was placed at the end of the counter. A heating stove sat in the back west corner. In the east corner, sacks were stacked against the wall underneath a shelf. A long counter was located on the east side of the store with open shelves on the walls. A coffee grinder with a big wheel, a cheese cutter, a cash register, and a meat cutter were permanent fixtures on the counter.

The store’s sign did not have the Singleton name on it, although, it may have read, “Allensworth Cash Store”. The words “Post Office” were present. Supplies were ordered and shipped by train from Stockton, San Francisco, or Fresno. Singleton stocked men’s work clothes, underwear, overalls, and red bandanna handkerchiefs. The food supplies included, Folgers and MJB coffee, which some people at Allensworth call Mary Jane Bickers’ coffee because she had the same initials as MJB and owned the first store in town. Coffee came in one and five pound sacks of whole beans. Coffee beans were fed into the grinder and put back into the original sack. Cold meats like salami, bologna, salt pork, bacon, and other perishables like milk, cheese, and butter were kept in an “ice box”. Ice was ordered from Corcoran and stored under the floor in the dining room. Mr. Singleton sliced the bacon with the slicer located near the end of the counter so it would show in the window. Cigars were displayed in a glass case near the front of the store. Two big sponges that looked like red bricks were kept near the cigars to keep them from drying out. The cheese cutter consisted of a board, a lever, and a slicer. Round wheels of cheese were placed on the board. One lift the of the lever measured one-quarter. The slicer would then cutoff the desired amount. Cheese and meat were packaged using a ball of string hanging over one of the counters and a big roll of paper lying nearby. The store had scales like vegetable scales, marked so the price could be seen by following the line. The cash register was the latest at the time.

Townspeople went to the Singleton store almost daily to check on the mail. At lunch time, folks would stop by for a box of crackers or a can of sardines.

The post office was established September 25, 1909. Mary Jane Bickers was the first postmistress and apparently operated the Post Office from her store. The original mailboxes are presently located in the Singleton General Store. On September 15, 1910, Joshua W. Singleton assumed the duties on February 10, 1920 when Carlos J. Powell replaced him. Henry Singleton followed on October 19, 1921, and Joshephine Cowes ran it from January 26, 1922 until January 30, 1932 when Anna H. Wells became postmistress. The Post Office was discontinued on April 13, 1933, thereafter all mail was sent to Earlimart, California.

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