Rankin.....Kuke's Corner or Mallie?

A forty-five mile an hour traffic sign is all that remains of most of Kewaunee County's once thriving hamlets, however drivers don't even have to slow down at Rankin, between Algoma and Casco on Highway 54.

Rankin was originally known as Kuke's Corners until, according to George Wing in the story of The Ghost of Dettman's Swamp, Congressman Joe Rankin "gave the hamlet a post office and his loyal Democrats, as they were, gave it his name."

Whether or not Wing is right, it was merchant Fred Plinke who applied to the Post Office Department for an office at a place he called Mallie. Two weeks after Plinke was appointed on May 13, 1886, The Record announced that the new office would be called Rankin in honor of the late Congressman who had been instrumental in relief efforts following the horrendous Peshtigo fire. Washington proffered no reason for rejecting Plinke's choice of Mallie for the post office expected to serve 500 residents. Rankin post office remained in service until being discontinued on November 15, 1902 when mail began coming from Algoma. In those few years, the Rankin post office operated in four separate locations.

As early as February 28, 1902, Algoma Record was lamenting the poor postal service at Rankin as it pointed out opportunities to better the service.While  Rankin was only 6 miles from Algoma, mail sent to Algoma from Rankin went to Green Bay and back to Algoma, a distance of sixty miles. That took a couple of days. The paper suggested Rankin residents vigorously protest the service. It was further suggested that since mail carried to Two Rivers went by stage, the stage could go through Rankin making Two Rivers' service a trifle longer but thereby securing daily service for Rankin. Apparently the lobbying worked.

It was in June 1904 that the newspaper again delivered postal news when it told its readership, "Postmaster Entringer has received word from the Post Office Department that the post office would be discontinued on November 15 when Rural Free Delivery will be put into service.The farmers through the district are rejoicing over the good news."

St. John's Church has been Rankin's most prominent institution for nearly 150 years. All that remains of Rankin commerce is the current S & K's at N 7551 County Highway D, once the site of a Rankin post office.

When Fred Plinke submitted his 1892 map, he included building locations. The map and the cover above come from Here Comes the Mail, Post Offices of Kewaunee County.