Joel Hampton of Leicester, who has worked for the United State Postal Service for about nine years, had put in for a transfer to Maggie Valley several times throughout his career.

However, he didn’t realize the significance of the potential move until he attended a Setzer family reunion in Maggie Valley a few years ago. Betty Ferguson, Hampton’s great aunt, made him aware that his great-great grandfather Jack Setzer was the first postmaster of the Maggie Valley Post Office from 1904-1909.

“I didn’t know when I first started,” Hampton said. “I found out he worked here several years back at a reunion.”

So when Hampton was named Maggie’s new postmaster in January, Ferguson was thrilled at the historical meaning.

“I love history,” Ferguson said. “And this is history in the making.”

According ...