It took a Civil War veteran to centralize a far-flung and rugged northern Clark County community around the settlement of Amboy. Amos M. Ball (1841-1889) brought his experience working in Wisconsin sawmills with him and set one up along Cedar Creek.
But a post office would tighten connections in the loosely knit community. Residents had to ride 15 miles west to La Center to fetch their mail. In 1886, Ball petitioned to establish a post office in Amboy.
When the government received Ball’s petition, it sanctioned the post office and assigned him to be postmaster. Ball ran the post office from his home at the Chelatchie crossing at Cedar Creek. As mail routes evolved, the mail came more often to Amboy. By 1888, it came twice a week from Vancouver through Lewisville. A year later, mail carriers made deliveries between Vancouver and Amboy three times a week.
Reporting Ball’s postal and mill efforts, the Vancouver Independent wrote: “The new post office by this name (Amboy) is now established at the Chelatchie crossing of Cedar Creek, with A.M. Ball as postmaster. The mail arrives there on Saturdays from La Center. The machinery for Ball’s new mill at that place has arrived, and lumber cutting will soon be in order.”
