The old tan-yard at Hall’s Gap was on the farm of John Carter. J. D. Bastin operated it for many years. A large pond now stands where the old vats were originally. The hides were placed in the vats with tan bark and salt for a time, then removed to the tan-rock, the hair scraped away and then placed in the drying bar for curing.

Tanbark is obtained from the red oak tree and the tan-rock is a large flat, smooth rock. The tan-rock used in this operation is about six feet wide and two feet long and is now lying at the foot of the front steps leading to the front porch of the Carter house.

About 100 feet from this tan-yard operation, was a grocery store also owned and operated by Mr. Bastin and in the store was the Ewell post office, It is not known just when the post office was discontinued, but much later, in 1940 the Hall’s Gap Post Office was established, to eliminate mix-ups of mail on a rural route out of Waynesburg. It was housed in the general store of Robert J. Johnson, with Mr. Johnson as the postmaster.

In March 1950, he sold the store to Mr. Hodges who became acting postmaster and was appointed postmaster in September of that year. Mr. Hodges closed his store in June 1959, but continued as postmaster until the post office department placed all patrons on a rural route and formally closed the office at the end of June. This was the last rural post office in Lincoln County to be closed.