Low-key event will celebrate 125th anniversary of Fulton’s founding

• Fulton sign

A pickup drives into Fulton Friday afternoon. The small Hanson County town will hold its 125th anniversary celebration today. (Chris Huber/Republic)

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FULTON — In 1887, a little town northeast of Mitchell began when the railroad arrived. Today, Fulton is celebrating its 125th anniversary.

“It’s just a really lovely thing that this little town has survived for 125 years and is still here,” said Liz Soladay, the officer in charge of Fulton Post Office.

The celebration will be small, with a meal at 11:30 a.m. starting off the day’s events. At 1 p.m., Soladay’s father, Doc Soladay, will lead the parade in an old-fashioned buggy as the grand marshal. Doc Soladay was chosen for the position because he is the oldest resident in Fulton. His 90th birthday was June 21.

“It’s nice that he’s around to be the grand marshal,” Liz said. “He’s frail, but he’s still alive and kicking.”

Dawn Mayer, one of the event coordinators, said the parade has approximately 100 entries.

“We have entries of kids riding their bikes … businesses of Fulton, clowns, horses, tractors, lots of antiques,” Mayer said. “It’s a little bit of everything, from kids to old people.”

Once the parade is over, inflatables, games and a dunk tank will be set up for entertainment.

Poems and music will be played, along with fun fact and riddles about the town’s history.

“Mostly people are just here to visit and see the parade,” Liz Soladay said.

But as officer in charge at the post office, Soladay is looking forward to something else: a stamp cancellation.

For special events, such as a town’s anniversary, the postal service allows a special hand stamp to be made. Fulton’s stamp will say 125th anniversary and have a picture of the post office.

On the day of the event, the stamp can be used. Many times, people don’t use the stamp to send mail. They get the stamp on a postcard or envelope as a souvenir of the day.

“That’s a nice memory,” Soladay said. “Once the town was founded, the first thing they did was get the post office founded.”

Soladay will also be accompanied by previous Fulton’s postmaster Ruth Pommer and her daughter Kate Aulner, Mitchell’s postmaster. Soladay’s father Doc will also be at the post office because he was postmaster for 33 years.

“It’s basically parent and child with quite a few years in the post service among us,” Soladay said.

The post office has been a big part of the town and one of the remaining businesses.

After the large fire in 1918 that took out many businesses and the railroad leaving, Fulton never recovered. The last graduating high school class was in 1964 and today, the brick building is gone.

Soladay said many citizens are up in arms about the threat of the post office being shut down, as many are across the country.

“The town hangs on,” Soladay said. “The bank and elevator are going … and the post office is still here.”

Saturday will be a nice celebration for Fulton residents.

“It’s small-town America, built up with the advent of railroads and when the railroads left, it started to fade,” Soladay said. “That said, it’s a pretty clean, well-kept little town. It’s a nice place to live.”

Chris Huber/Republic

A pickup drives into Fulton Friday afternoon. The small Hanson County town will hold its 125th anniversary celebration today.

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