A post office called "Ewen" was established at Ewen's farm in 1893 and discontinued in 1895. It was moved to Joseph's Haven farm on October 3, 1895 and its named was changed to "Haven" on June 19, 1896.
Mail would be carried once a week from Carrington to Larrabee Post office. This is where the Spickler ranch is now. The carrier would stop at Ewen post office on his way.
Each of the mail carriers would have his own method of transportation. Mr. Willoughby rode a mule in carrying the mail. One time when Mr. Willoughby got to the Ewen post office there was such a terrible blizzard that he decided that he could go no further. As he and Mr. Ewen started for the barn, they became lost, Mr. Willoughby persuaded Mr. Ewen that they were going the wrong way. They changed their course and finally found the barn.
At one time, when Mr. Thornton was walking from Carrington to Larrabee with the mail, a bad storm came up, and when he did not return home his wife became alarmed and sent one of their sons to look for him. He walked to the Ole Elton farm (about ten miles from Carrington) and asked someone to go to look for his father. Ole and Peter Elton started, they stopped at a shack on the Saxlund farm. There was no one there, either. Since they were then about six miles from home, they decided that Ole should go back home and Peter went on to Larrabee Post office. He found Mr. Thornton there waiting for the weather to get better. Peter and he went back home the next day.
R.F.D. No. 3 was established on September 1, 1911. The first mail carrier was Ed Blake. The first route was twelve miles east on the "south road", then three miles north, then west two miles and south for two miles back to the "north road" then the ten miles to Carrington making a total of thirty‑one miles.
Other mail carriers on this route at various times were: Mrs. Ed (Lottie) Blake, Bert Noble, Theodore Halaas, Scott Snyder, Frank Brown, and George Wiley.
Ivan Sheets became the mail carrier on February 2, 1916 and continued until January 18, 1918, then started again in December 1919 and continued until he retired on June 1, 1958. After Ivan Sheets retired, Glenn Sheets was temporary carrier. John Paulson became the regular carrier in February 1959 and is still serving.
When Ivan Sheets first started, he traveled with horses, using a buggy or a sled as the weather warranted. At times, it was necessary to walk and pull a hand sled.
Before the roads were improved he became stuck many times in the mud and often slipped off the muddy roads, many times into the side ditches which were often filled with water. It was a common experience to become stuck in the snow. In 1917, he began to use an automobile. He recalls that on one trip it was necessary for him to make thirty‑one extra miles in order to deliver the mail.
This route was changed to Route No. 1 in 1942. The route was extended to 56 miles. Later more miles were added making it 64 miles. It is now 77 miles long. To give you some idea of the changes over the years, thirty of the farms which were on Mr. Sheet's first route have since disappeared. At one time, there were eight mailboxes at the Haven Schoolhouse corner. There are now only three there.
Mr. Sheets had many interesting experiences during his term as carrier. He recalls that on one trip he had a run‑away with his horses. He did not find his horses that day, but the next morning a farmer found them in a stubble field with the lines frozen in the snow. The temperature that morning was thirty degrees below zero.
He appreciated the assistance that was given to him by his patrons who helped him many times in delivering the mail.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 383