Youngsville, NM, is one of the state’s tiniest communities, an unincorporated area of roughly 55 residents about an hour’s drive north of Santa Fe.
But the Youngsville Post Office has quite a story to tell.
Three generations of women from the same family ran the office from 1945-2012. (The usps.com Postmaster Finder has a complete list of Postmasters who served at the Youngsville Post Office.)
It began with Beatrice Salazar, a New Mexico native who knew very little about postal operations when she took over the Youngsville office after relocating to the town when she got married. She ran things from her home until a permanent office was built next door.
Throughout her postal career, Salazar had an eager helper: her daughter, Cleo Jacquez.
“When my mother attended trainings, I would come with her, and I was always helping her with her paperwork,” Jacquez said.
When Salazar retired in 1974 and the Postmaster job opened, Jacquez had one thought: “I can do that.”
Jacquez served as officer-in-charge before being appointed Postmaster in 1975. Almost two decades later, she moved to another Postmaster position, and the job managing the Youngsville office opened once again.
This time, the job went to Jacquez’s daughter, Amie Martinez, who had been serving as Youngsville’s relief Postmaster for two years. Martinez served as Youngsville’s officer-in-charge before becoming Postmaster in 1994.
Like her mother, Martinez was also a fixture at the Youngsville Post Office growing up. “I felt important to help out,” she said.
Martinez ran the office until 2012, when she became the Postmaster in El Rito, NM.
Today, each woman looks back on her time in Youngsville with pride. They’re thankful they could turn to each other for advice and support when they were running the office.
Jacquez and Martinez also honor the woman who started it all: Salazar, who is now 103, making her one of the nation’s oldest living former Postmasters.
The women are also thinking about the future — especially Martinez, whose daughter is pregnant with a girl.
“I’m hoping she joins the Postal Service one day.”