Girard

The Girard Post Office originated in about 1907 and was located on the William Pinkly farm, about one-half mile north and quarter of a mile west of the present Raymond Franz farm. Mrs. Pinkly was the first postmistress. The post office took its name from Girard Butte which was about two miles southwest of the Pinkly farm. The story goes that the butte was named after Girard Whistler, an army officer of Fort Buford.

In the spring of 1928, Ruby Daniels, was appointed postmistress. At that time the post office and store were relocated in a small building on the Charles Daniels farm. In 1929 her mother, Mattie Esler, came from Princeton, Minnesota to help with our work. She was made assistant postmistress and took over the care of the post office and store until she returned to Minnesota in 1939. In 1942 Girard Post Office was discontinued.

Those waiting for the mail liked to pass the time visiting, eating peanuts, and throwing peanut shells at the old dish pan that kept the ashes from falling on the floor beneath the stove. Groceries were ordered from a Bismarck Grocery Company wholesale firm in Sidney and the mailman would haul them out for a small fee.

Gasoline was sold from a gas pump furnished by the company from which we bought the gas, first Burleigh and Kincaid and later, Litening Gas. Gas truck drivers were O.L. Chapman, Gussie Obergfell, Einar Rasmussen and maybe others.

For years after Daniels’ discontinued the store and post office, people still considered Girard the halfway point to Sidney where they could always get gas or stay overnight in emergencies. Many still stopped to get water, as they were lucky to have one of the best water wells in the area Even though the store and post office had ended, the community spirit which they had created had not.