Senate Passes Bill Renaming Tumwater Post Office After Eva G. Hewitt

Statement

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed by unanimous consent H.R. 1526, a bill to designate the Tumwater Post Office as the "Eva G. Hewitt Post Office." The bill passed the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs earlier this month, after passing the U.S. House of Representatives by voice vote in July. The bill was introduced in the House by Congressman Denny Heck (WA-10) and was successfully guided through the Senate by Washington Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray.

"We are now one step closer to affixing Eva G. Hewitt's name to the Tumwater Post Office," said Heck, "cementing her legacy in the city she served for so long. The timing of Senate passage is only fitting, as today marks the 150th anniversary of Tumwater's incorporation. I applaud the City of Tumwater for sharing Eva G. Hewitt's story with the Tumwater community and the nation, and I thank Senators Cantwell and Murray for championing this bill in the Senate."

H.R. 1526 designates the United States Postal Service facility located at 200 Israel Road Southeast in Tumwater, Washington as the "Eva G. Hewitt Post Office." The bill would require that any mention in any law, map, regulation, document, paper, or other record of the United States properly reference the facility and use the new name. The full text of the bill is available here.

BACKGROUND

Often described as the "heart and soul of Tumwater," Eva G. Hewitt (1875-1957) played an influential role during the early years of Tumwater. She assumed the position of postmaster in 1915, where she oversaw the tremendous growth in mail volumes in the South Sound. Following the death of her husband in 1927, she took over business operations of the Hewitt Drug Store. She served as store owner and postmaster until her retirement in 1942. In addition to being Tumwater's first female postmaster, Eva G. Hewitt was the longest-serving Tumwater postmaster at the time of her retirement. She was also widely regarded as Tumwater's local historian, researching, preserving, and promoting the history of the Pacific Northwest. Hewitt passed away in Olympia in 1957.

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