Christmas star burns bright over Star, N.C.

In Montgomery County, N.C., the Christmas rush at the Town of Star’s post office begins on Dec. 1. When Postmaster Angela Johnson opens the doors at 8:30 a.m., she’s likely to find folks lined up…for a block or two. 

Local postal patrons want to be among the very first to get their Christmas cards and letters hand-stamped with Star’s new holiday pictorial postmark.

 

The holiday postmark tradition in Star began in 1987, and it has earned the town a designation by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as an official “Christmas Town.” 

Typically, Johnson said the Star post office receives about 24,000 requests for the special postmark during the Christmas season, but she may have to recruit volunteers this year to handle an expected spike in volume.

 

Star’s status as a “Christmas treat” in North Carolina is the subject of a five-page feature article and photo spread that appeared in the December 2021 issue of Our State magazine. Our State claims that each issue is read by 1,117,000 people. 

Written by Trudy Haywood Saunders of Mount Gilead (another town in Montgomery County), the Our State story effectively conveys that a down-homey Christmas spirit is part of Star’s DNA. Mayor Mary Hughes O’Brien “sets the tone at the top.”

 

Star is smack-dab in the middle of North Carolina. Truly, it is the geographic center of North Carolina, and there’s a stone marker and plaque to prove it. Folks will travel to get a Christmas postmark stamp, Johnson told Saunders.

 

All roads lead to Star. It’s about 50 miles south of Greensboro, 70 miles east of Charlotte and 85 miles west of Raleigh. 

Star’s little post office is located on Main Street, and it’s open Monday-Friday, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., but closed for lunch between noon and 1 p.m. Saturday hours are 8:30 a.m. to noon. 

The town has about 756 residents, but the Star zip code of 27356 serves about 3,205 postal customers in portions of Montgomery and Moore counties. 

USPS now has 104 “Christmas Towns” across America, ranging from A to W – Angels Camp, Calif., to Wiseman, Ariz. 

Other towns named Star are in Idaho, Mississippi and Texas. A USPS spokesperson said Star, N.C., stands out because it has offered “a different cancellation every year, creating a high demand among collectors. Artists compete to have their drawing selected as the winning design.” 

Star started out as Hunsucker’s Store. Historian Tony L. Crumbley of Charlotte said that Martin Hunsucker established a trading post, called Hunsucker’s Store, in 1858. That became the name of the community as well. 

“Following the Civil War,” Crumbley said, “Angus Leach found his way to Hunsucker’s Store. He later married Deborah Hunsucker and became associated with his father-in-law (Martin Hunsucker) in business enterprises.” 

While serving as postmaster in 1866, Angus Leach grew “weary of writing the long name ‘Hunsucker’s Store’ over and over again on letters and post office records. Leach lobbied postal officials to rename the town. He said: ‘Let’s name her Star and let her shine.’” 

“The post office department officials approved the change of name and Star became a reality on Feb. 11, 1887,” Crumbley said. 

“If it was possible for a man to be the nucleus of a town that grew up around him, then Angus Leach was that man. His endeavors, his business success and his generosity run like a thread through the early history of this town,” Crumbley concluded.