Rincon’s city council has decided to acquire the city’s first post office building and move it behind the police department for the time being.

Last Monday night the council approved a bid by Braswell Brothers in the amount of $1,500 to relocate the building.

Former Rincon resident Roberta Dickey’s family is rich in local postal history. She contacted Mayor Ken Lee and asked him if the city would like the small building, which has been in her family for generations.

“I just felt like it would be something the city should have,” Dickey said of her gift to the city.

Rincon’s first post office was located inside a store owned by her grandfather, Benjamin F. Helmy Sr. Dickey thinks he built the building she just gave to the city.

The small structure originally sat next to her parents’ house on Carolina Avenue and faced the railroad. It was moved to its current location on West Sixth Street on property Dickey owns a short time after the second post office was constructed.

Dickey’s father built the second post office around the late 1950s, she believes. It was located on Highway 21 in the building now occupied by Cindy’s Hair Salon.

Lee said he and the council haven’t decided what do with the building beyond moving it.

“From there I can’t really say,” he admitted of their future plans. “We really haven’t gotten that far.”

However, he would like to have it restored to its original condition and placed in a highly visible location.

Dickey had only one request of the council: “My stipulation was that it stay in Rincon,” she laughed.

Lee believes that residents who have lived in the city for many years will appreciate the building’s restoration.

“I was quite pleased that she did that,” he said of the offer.