Allemansville is a small village located in the southernmost part of Gulich Township. It actually rides the line that separates Clearfield and Cambria counties.
An early settler, and the community’s namesake, Henry Alleman, built a house, in the 1850’s, that was said to have the kitchen as a part of Cambria County and the dining room, a few steps away, set in Clearfield County.
The town became a farming- and lumbering-based community as the extended Alleman family and others made their homes there. The post office, shown in the photo, was established in 1868.
It shared building space with Henry Alleman’s general store. Mr. Alleman served as postmaster for 18 years. The combined post office and store is shown on the map, which is taken from a page of the 1878 Caldwell’s Atlas of Clearfield County.
Alleman’s store did well at a time when local people mostly walked or travelled three or four miles, by horse and wagon, to either Janesville or Glasgow for everyday provisions.
The village’s Oak Grove United Methodist Church was founded in 1871. Additions and renovations have enhanced the century and a half old building, and it still stands as an active and thriving parish today.
The U.S. Postal Service was crucial to both communication and livelihoods of the late 19th century. Mail delivery was usually accurate and rapid.
But the post offices, then, did not have to contend with the huge volume of mail that passes through each zip code today. Even with phones and the heavy influx of online business and shopping, so prevalent today, the nation’s post offices still remain vital to most people.
Clearfield County once had a far larger number of post offices than at the present time. Populations in outlying areas have dwindled for decades. Rising costs have caused the Postal Service to both close and consolidate buildings and locations.
Old stamped envelopes can still show hand-stamped postmarks from long gone post offices in West Moshannon, Munson, Ansonville, Ginter, Sanborn (Jeffries) and Marron to name a few. The Allemansville Post Office is a part of the list.