SUNBURY – Except for a towering carousel of homemade cupcakes on a desk behind the counter, it appeared to be another typical day at the Sunbury Post Office here Friday, Feb. 12.

On US 158 outside the small brick building, vehicles buzzed by on a cloudy, cold day, perhaps running a final few errands in advance of a projected snowfall that afternoon.

Inside, it was warm and cozy. Postmaster Winston C. Hobbs, the lone employee of the USPS facility, was busy sorting through the mail. Customers came and went….some lingering a few extra minutes engage Hobbs in conversation. As typical for a small-town Post Office, the chit-chat ranged from a local resident that was recovering at home following surgery; who just added to their family; and who may be experiencing a run of bad luck.

But something else was in the air on this particular day as the Sunbury Post Office was celebrating the anniversary of its opening. This wasn’t your average birthday celebration…rather one that was 200 years in the making.

Postmaster G.G. Gray was the first to open the doors of the Sunbury Post Office on Feb. 12, 1816. Back then the tiny community was known as Sunsbury.

Four postmasters later, Richard Ballard was at the helm when the name was changed to the Folly Post Office, effective Dec. 13, 1827.

Less than three months later (March 10, 1828), Jesse Cox was the Postmaster when the village of Folly was renamed Sunbury.

Twenty-four Postmasters later, Hobbs is the man in charge. He has served as the Sunbury Postmaster since Oct. 11, 2008.

The current location is at 990 US 158 in a building that was opened in 1967.

“I’ve been told that the Sunbury Post Office was at one time located where Studio 32 is now, just around the corner on NC 32,” Hobbs said. “That building was once the home of Hill Brothers General Merchandise. It was common at that time to have a Post Office inside a privately owned store. Prior to that I don’t know where the Sunbury Post Office was located.”

Hobbs said in the early 1930’s, Frank L. Nixon constructed a brick building adjacent to what is now First Citizens Bank (also on NC 32). Nixon rented the building to the US Postal Service for use as a Post Office and also served as Sunbury’s Postmaster from 1933 until 1964.

Among the customers conducting business at their Post Office on Friday morning were Margaret Johnston and her neighbor Barbara Lassiter. The latter presented Hobbs with a gift in celebration of the special day, and both women received a 200th birthday cupcake in return.

“We have the best Postmaster in the United States,” Lassiter said of Hobbs. “He’s very professional. He’s always smiling and works hard to get the job done….he gets you in and out and on your way. He has a way of communicating with people. I don’t know of anyone that doesn’t love him.”

Another customer enters and picks up his mail. He also was handed a celebratory cupcake and, without a skipping a beat, Hobbs hands over a second sweet treat for the man to take home to his wife.

Hobbs, who grew up in Lynchburg, VA, has a link to Gates County. His grandparents and parents are Gates County natives. He moved to the county in 1990. He joined the USPS in 2006; working briefly in the position of Postmaster Relief in Sunbury. A year later, he worked as a part-time employee at the Elizabeth City Post Office. He came back to the Sunbury PO as Officer-In-Charge on March 14, 2008. He was named Postmaster seven months later.

“My grandmother lived just two doors down from this Post Office,” he said. “After she passed away, I purchased the house and have lived there ever since. I don’t have any excuse to miss or to be late for work as I don’t have that far to go. If there’s a hurricane or a blizzard, I’m here…the doors here will be open. As a matter of fact, I walk to work.”

The US Postal Service has reorganized the structure of its business model over the past few years and Sunbury was downgraded to a single-employee office.

“Actually, I’ll be the last Postmaster here,” Hobbs said. “Whenever I choose to retire, this location will remain open, but the next person here will only have the status of a clerk.”

In the meantime, Hobbs will continue to serve the community of Sunbury….just without the cupcakes on a daily basis.

As a bit of Sunbury Post Office lore, there were three members of the Costen family to serve as Postmaster: Henry (1831-1833), William E. (1859-1867), and Minne J. (1891-1895). Miss Minnie was the first-ever female Postmaster or Officer in Charge in Sunbury. Once that gender barrier was broken, six others followed: Ruth B. Manning (1895-1920), Lucy B. Hofler (1927-1933), Mrs. Hallie T. Lewis (1964-1966; and again from 1983-1987), Catherine S. Williams (1982-83), Joan M. Hudgins (July 30, 1987 – Oct. 10, 1987), and Robin Harrell Hollowell (1987-2008).