Lost place names: Linden and Katwijk
Linden and Katwijk. Was this a place name where a post office was established? North of Cuijk in North Brabant lies the village of Katwijk, and to the northwest the village of Linden, precisely in a bend of the Meuse. A delivery house was established in Linden that belonged to the jurisdiction of the main post office in Grave. This delivery house only had a name stamp. The delivery house had already been established on August 1, 1851, and was called Groot-Linden from 1854 onwards. On July 1, 1867, the delivery house was upgraded to an auxiliary post office.
Linden was delighted in 1921 with the establishment of a new auxiliary post office: Announcement No. 8111S of July 13, 1921: Effective July 1, 1921, an auxiliary post office has been established in Linden and Katwijk, named “Linden and Katwijk”, for which the post office in Cuyk acts as the head office.
Due to budget cuts at the State Post and Telecommunications Company, the auxiliary post office was downgraded to a postal station. This was communicated as follows: Announcement No. 1709S of March 9, 1927: The auxiliary post, telegraph, and telephone office in Linden and Katwijk will be replaced, effective April 1, 1927, by a post, telegraph, and telephone station with telegram delivery. Mail delivery will be handled from Cuijk. The postal service station in Groot-Linden will be closed effective the aforementioned date.
If there is no further text regarding the situation as of April 1, 1927, other than that stated in your article, I conclude that it merely states that orders from Groot-Linden (where the auxiliary post office 'Linden en Katwijk' was apparently located and which is evidently what that sentence refers to) are discontinued as of that date. Surely there is no mention of (the allocation of) a Groot-Linden stamp?
It is indeed exceptional and curious that multiple place names appear on a stamp. As far as I know, this only occurs elsewhere with Scherpenzeel-Munnekeburen (which immediately makes me wonder where that little office was located) (barring true twin villages like Etten-(en)Leur and Heeswijk-Dinther). It was not very unambiguous, nor was it very useful. Imagine if the names of all offices serving multiple places in the surrounding area were incorporated into the stamp; it would be a never-ending story. Moreover, it would be confusing because it would no longer indicate in which of the places the office is located. So the rationale for naming these two offices that way at the time escapes me. Perhaps local political sensitivities played a role, such that the place without an office wanted its name included as well.