The Wolf Bros. building, 7440 Madison St. (now Grand Appliance), housed a restaurant, a few upper flats and became the new Post Office headquarters for Forest Park in August 1917. This “fire-safe building” also had a “cement basement containing the heating plant and an automatic belch pump for keeping out the water.” The “new” post office was center of operations for 15 carriers, three clerks and four trucks. The carriers would be responsible for 75 pounds of mail daily, with routes that required 13-14 miles of walking. Twice a year they would deliver the 5-pound Sears Roebuck catalog. Twenty years later, the Forest Park Post Office would build the current post office at 417 Desplaines Ave.
Jill Wagner
