By 1910 the population of Elgin had grown to 175 and residents were ready for services closer to home. Ruben Collie’s petition for a post office in Elgin was approved and he became the first postmaster. He built a wood frame building adjacent to his adobe home for the post office and sold canned goods and other staples. [Barr, Betty. Hidden Treasures of Santa Cruz County, 2006:64-65].
Merchant Victor P. Hanson moved to Elgin in 1912 to build a store, a hay warehouse and a 14-room hotel. The store and hotel quickly became the locus of community activities. “Mr. Hanson… is a live wire, and his enterprising disposition makes him an effective and valuable citizen in any community.” [The Oasis, 11/23/1912]. At some point after 1912, Hanson’s store also became the new home of Elgin’s post office. Cora Everhart, postmaster from 1919-1925, noted: “Mail traveled from Nogales to Benson and returned once each weekday. Besides the postmaster, two other postal employees worked out of the Elgin office. A Rural Carrier who delivered the mail in the Rain Valley District and a Star Route Carrier who delivered the mail in the Canille (Canelo) District.” [Everhart, Cora. An abbreviated story of my life, 1975]. When Victor died in 1920 his son Albert took over management of the store; services for automobiles were added.
Troy Ramsey purchased the store, hotel and garage from Albert Hanson in 1926. In 1928 a fire destroyed the hotel and Ramsey built a new store, a warehouse on the site of the hotel, and a home for his family. [Arizona Daily Star, 8/29/1928]. Troy and his wife Grace served as postmasters (1927-1939). Grace was a founding member of the Elgin Community Club and in 1932 the couple deeded four acres of their property to the club. In 1939 the Ramseys sold the business to Ronald Horn.
Horn was the first of a series of short-term owners who operated the store until Russell and Geraldine Van Gorder purchased the business in 1944, and Russell became postmaster. Dick Schorr has fond memories of the couple: “When our milk cow died they sent milk and bread to the mailbox near my parent’s ranch in Canelo. Mr. Van Gorder also gave me my first airplane ride, one Christmas Day. He kept his plane in a building near the store.” Russell died in 1959, and Geraldine became postmaster, a position she held until her death in 1971.
About 1962 Geraldine sold the store to Elbert “Sandy” Sanders and his wife Kay. Sandy added an extension to the 1929 Ramsey store building to house the post office and a small library. “The Elgin store was my first-ever shopping experience. I loved Sandy and Kay!” noted Anne Gibson, who spent summers at the Babacomari Ranch. Terry Pyeatt Murrietta remembers visiting the store with her grandfather and watching Mr. Sanders cut meat. She especially loved the long rolls of longhorn cheese. Teri Basinger Powers and her siblings would visit the store after school and use the pay phone to call home for permission to buy candy.
Sometime in the early 1970s the Sanders sold the store to the Van Gorders’ daughter, Sue Jennings and her husband Alford. By 1974 the Jennings had moved, and the store closed. The post office continued operating until 1987 when mail service was transferred to Sonoita.
The property and buildings were next purchased by businessman Bill LeTarte. The store/post office building was used for a variety of purposes including a store, art gallery and restaurant. “Elgin’s refurbished post office is now the home of Karen’s Wine Country Café, a restaurant featuring nouvelle cuisine to the plaudits of everyone who goes there.” [Arizona Daily Star, 5/19/1993]. Today it is used as a residence and is part of the Village of Elgin Winery/Elgin Winery and Distillery complex.