The Oxford Post Office has a new leader with lots of experience. Brian Kist, a three-decade veteran of the U.S. mail system became postmaster in April.

He began his postal career while a student at the University of Iowa. Since then, his resume shows stops in Kansas, Minnesota, Kentucky, Missouri and Nebraska. 

Kist has strong feelings about being a postmaster and what the position has meant historically for communities across the nation. “It was the system that knit the country together,” Kist notes. 

Kist said his nearly 30 years of work with the Post Office has seen many changes, especially with the growth of the internet and electronic mail. Letters and cards are becoming increasingly uncommon, he said.

Rather, Kist said, the Post Office is evolving into a package delivery service, for the most part.

Kist hopes to bring better leadership and accountability to Oxford, he said. Because Kist began his career in a college town, he knows the ins and outs and what is expected. 

The Oxford Post Office, along with many residents and retailers, has a short break during the summer months to enjoy a slower pace, knowing that soon the students will return for the fall semester and downtown will again be busy with activity.