Today's Looking Back can be found here.

In the days of pioneer Alaska, a town knew it had made it if it had a post office. Post offices were (and still are in towns and villages) a place where folks could meet and discuss the latest news, sell or trade furs and goods, and let folks Outside know you were still alive. Post offices were an economic boost as well; government money paid a salary that wouldn't otherwise be in the community, injecting money into the local economy. The need to ship mail meant government contracts for hauling, too, meaning others would benefit as well.

But when the boom times ended and folks moved on, there wasn't as much need for a post office any more. In the towns around Fairbanks, the post offices closed down as the population declined and improved transportation meant fewer people could cover more ground. From the April 26, 1910 News-Miner:

OLNES OFFICE IS ABANDONED

No Longer Sufficient Business on Lower Dome to Justify P.O.

LAST MAIL OUT TOMORROW

Mrs. Wm. Dick, nee Mrs. Dora N. Anderson, was Only Postmaster.

On the recommendation of the postoffice inspector, who visited the camp last summer, the office at Olnes has been abandoned, business not being sufficient to justify its continuance. The last mail that will go to the Olnes office will be dispatched on the train tomorrow morning.

When the office at Olnes was provided for three years ago, Mrs. Dora M. Anderson, now Mrs. William Dick, was appointed postmistress. She is now on the Outside and as the abandonment of the office was contemplated no successor has been oppointed since her departure.