The Somers Post Office recently turned 110 years old, and a group of citizens celebrated the event with a special emphasis on promoting the town’s history.
The Somers Company Town Project is an effort by Flathead Valley residents interested in historic preservation activities. In honor of the post office’s anniversary, the SCTP commissioned a stamp, a cachet and a cancellation stamp to commemorate the event, according to Tom Sliter, the group’s treasurer.
Multiple books of stamps and 250 envelopes were sold during the anniversary celebration on Oct. 21.
The stamp, created on Stamps.com, features a 1940 photo of the town’s historic S-2 steam locomotive engine. This engine, put into service in 1929, moved trams of railroad ties in the tie-treatment plant established by the Great Northern Railway, according to the SCTP.
At its peak in 1937, the Somers sawmill employed 375 people and produced 60 million board feet, according to the SCTP.
When the engine was taken out of commission, Somers residents worked to get it placed back in town after a term with the county historical society. It was repainted and placed at the head of Rails to Trails.
Sliter said the SCTP is raising money to build a shelter to cover the engine and protect it from the elements. The funds earned from the cachet and stamp sales on Oct. 21 garnered about $1,000 toward the project, he said. There was more interest than the group expected.
“Because of the success we had that day, we sold out (of cachets and stamps),” Sliter said.
The group expected to receive a new shipment of stamps and cachets on Oct. 28. Sliter said many of the people who purchased the anniversary products either used them to send a note to relatives or set them aside as collectors’ items.
The stamps are official postage and worth 44 cents. The cancellation stamp features the Oct. 21 anniversary date and reads, “Somers Post Office 110 Year Station.” The cachet envelope features a photo of downtown Somers in its early years.
As part of the event, Sliter said the group put together a pamphlet on the history of Somers, including important landmarks such as the water tower, St. Ann’s Catholic Church, a historic milk route and the various historic uses for Flathead Lake.
Other than the post office’s anniversary and the S-2 engine, the SCTP has worked on multiple historical preservation projects, including one with local eighth-grade students, Sliter said. The students interviewed longtime community members and recorded the sessions, eventually transferring the chats to DVDs.
The SCTP has also hosted a wine tasting event at the Somers Bay Café, Sliter said.
For more information on the Somers Company Town Project, visit www.sliters.com/somerscotownproject.