The Sidney Post Office Heist
Burglars used black powder to blow the safe of a postmaster in a small town, wrecking the building in the process.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The post office at Sidney was burglarized yesterday morning after robbers drilled the safe and detonated a heavy charge of black powder. The force of the explosion was significant enough to blow the safe door across the room and partially wreck the building. The robbers were clearly well-informed, as they knew Postmaster A. W. Robinson was absent from his usual lodging spot in the store that night. They escaped with approximately $200 in cash, including funds belonging to local Masonic and K. of P. lodges. Residents initially mistook the blast for industrial activity at a nearby dry dock.
“Blasting was being constantly done at the dry dock the report was considered an ordinary occurrence.”
Post offices were the central hubs of turn-of-the-century rural life, making them primary targets for theft. Sidney, later renamed Port Orchard, was once a remote outpost where such a blast could go unnoticed until morning.
From readers
No comments yet. If you know something about this story — a correction, a family memory, a source — it belongs here.