In 1812, the first post office came to Hancock, located in the Whitcomb store on Main Street. John Whitcomb was the first postmaster, serving until 1860. His grandson, Adolphus Tuttle, then took over the store and postmaster job until it was sold to George Dodge. Dodge kept the post office at the store until 1898 when the building was moved to Hosley Road, where it still remains today as a home closely resembling the 1815 original.   Early post offices were usually located in an existing village store. Since mail services were operated by the federal government, postmasters were appointed in those years according to whichever political party was in office. The space in the store was leased from the owner and rent paid by the government. This explains why Hancock had so many store buildings along Main Street serving as post offices throughout the years. As the political party in power changed, so did the postmasters and post office locations. Hancock is fortunate to have all the buildings which housed the post office still in existence today. These buildings today include the Whitcomb Store, now on Hosley Road (1815-1887); The Moore House (1902-1911); Mollers Real Estate (1898); The Hancock Market (1886); Mail Box Video (1923); and the Grange Building, now the present post office.   When the railroad came to town, another post office was opened at Elmwood Junction and 16 mailboxes were housed in the train station. When the trains stopped running, the Elmwood Post Office was closed and people in that area got mail through Rural Federal Delivery service. The station itself no longer exists.   Dot Grim Hancock Happenings, Volume 1, April 1999

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