HERMON — For more than 20 years the town of Hermon has been trying to acquire a post office. This week the town got a Contract Postal Unit at the C&K Variety.

According to Town Manager Kathryn Ruth, the town’s first recorded request for a post office dates back to 1969 with a request made by the town manager and selectmen.

After considerable study by the U.S. Postal Service, which lasted through 1974, she said, the town’s request for a post office was denied.

The issue then surfaced every few years with either citizens or the council asking the manager to look into the establishment of a post office. The town’s requests were not approved.

The last time the issue came up was August of 1989 after the town office received complaints from citizens who said they were not receiving their mail and that there was considerable confusion over the addresses.

“Mail currently goes to a Bangor address or a Carmel address with several routes for the town of Hermon,” said the town manager.

“After considerable discussion and letter writing in 1989 between the town and the U.S. Postal Service, the town decided to draft a petition to show the town’s interest in having a post office,” said Ruth.

“It was also felt that this petition would gauge the townspeoples’ interest in having a post office. In December of 1990, a group of interested citizens met to organize the petition drive, with Bill McCall and Linda Webster in charge. The drive began in late winter 1990 and was submitted in July of 1991 to the U.S. Postmaster in Portland,” said Ruth.

Although the petition was not a necessary step in requesting a post office, the town felt this was necessary to show the interest and commitment of the residents in having their own post office.

Some of the reasons given by the 495 registered voters who signed the petition for wanting a post office included:

Growth. Hermon now has more than 1300 residences and buildings and a population of approximately 4,000.

Inconvenience. Citizens have to travel into Bangor or Carmel for the services provided by the Postal Service.

Confusion about mailing addresses.

Late mail deliveries on some routes.

Lack of identity because the town is served by two post offices.

In August 1991, Hermon’s request for a post office was once again denied because postal officials said that Hermon had regular and effective postal service.

The town then formally requested, through a resolution signed by the town council, that the town be allowed to have its own zip code and to have a substation in town to assist in providing services.

The town was informed in Decemember of 1991 that its request for a zip code was being sent to the Manchester Field Division General Manager-Postmaster for review and in March, 1992, the request was assigned to the Portland Office to determine what measures the Postal Service could take to provide a degree of community identity for the town of Hermon.

Ruth met with Bangor Postmaster Steven Hathaway and his staff on April 3 to discuss available options. A contract postal unit was offered as a solution to the town’s concerns. The U.S. Postal Service would bid out a unit for the town if town officials were interested, she said.

“The postmaster and his staff were very helpful and supportive of our request,” she said. The council at its April 8 meeting liked the idea and told the postmaster to go ahead with the proposal. The post office bid out the contract in May of 1992.

The town still doesn’t have a unique zip code assigned to it, said Ruth. The Postal Service has said that there will have to be 500 post office boxes in use to qualify for one.