Lowell K. “Sandy” Robinson was a deputy for the Tulare County California Sheriff’s Department until he was elected Sheriff in 1951. From that election until the election in 1966, Sandy had easily defeated all others who vied for the office. The November 8, 1966, election day was a disaster for Sandy because he received only about half as many votes as his contender received. On January 1, 1967, he turned his office and the title of sheriff over to the incoming sheriff.

One of Sandy’s daily tasks was to retrieve his mail from post office box number 510 at the Visalia Post Office. It was a task that had become so routine that he performed it without much thought. It was just one of the routine details of his daily life such as putting on his shoes and grabbing his car keys. Soon after the election, Sandy decided to leave Visalia, California and move to Baxter Springs, Kansas to be near his parents and siblings. In the chaos of moving, Sandy forgot to return his post office box key. It remained on his keyring. Sandy was still getting things settled in Baxter Springs when a local hotel manager resigned and moved to another town. The hotel owner offered Sandy the hotel manager position and he quickly accepted. Sandy had not set up his new address in Baxter Springs when he was hired for his new job. When he visited the post office, he requested the same post office box which had been used by the previous manager just in case any mail intended for the hotel was delivered to that box. After completing the necessary paperwork, the postal clerk gave Sandy the box key. Stamped on one side of the key was the post office box number. Sandy was surprised when he looked at the key and saw it stamped with the number 510. Sandy had the same post office box number in Baxter Springs that he had in Visalia some 1650 miles to the west.

Sandy shrugged off the coincidence. He made sure the new key worked, retrieved a few pieces of mail from the box, then put the key on his key ring with little thought. Nearly two years went by, and checking his mailbox at the Baxter Springs Post Office became just another item on his daily routine. Then in August 1969, Sandy pulled out his keyring and opened box number 510. He retrieved the mail and was in the process of locking his post office box when he noticed that another key on his key ring was stamped “510.” That is when he finally realized that he had forgotten to return his key to the Visalia Post Office. Then, he wondered which of the two keys he had been using for nearly two years to get his mail. Other than normal wear, the keys were practically identical. Sandy tried both keys in each of the mailboxes in the Baxter Springs Post Office. Although they would not open any other box at that post office, both keys opened post office box number 510.

Sources:

1. The Wichita Eagle (Wichita, Kansas), August 25, 1969, p.5.

2. The Daily Item (Port Chester, New York), October 1, 1969, p.8.

3. “Lowell Sandy Robinson,” FindAGrave.com, accessed March 1, 2026, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28198671/lowell-sandy-robinson.