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The J.W. Westcott Company, the nation's only floating zip code
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J.W. Westcott II delivering to Canadian freighter Algowood, April 11, 2008. Author's collection.
Anyone who has ever ventured down to Detroit's Riverside Park for an unparalleled view of the Ambassador Bridge may have been puzzled by the intense activity of one small boat darting to and from the freighters that ply the river. This boat, the J.W. Westcott II, is the workhorse of the J.W. Westcott company, which delivers mail to passing great lakes freighters. This operation has been in place for over one hundred years and has been essential to the sailors aboard these vessels for communication to their loved ones at home.
J.W. Westcott office at the foot of West Grand Boulevard, Detroit. Author's collection.
The J.W. Westcott Company has its origins in the year 1874. At that time, many more commercial vessels sailed the waters of the Great Lakes, and the Detroit River would see possibly hundreds in a day passing through or stopping in the city. To ensure proper communication in these pre- radio days, J.W. Westcott started a marine reporting business. This company would take changes in orders to the freighters, tugs, schooners, and sundry other vessels from the their owners, who otherwise would be unable to reach them. In this, his business prospered.
J.W. Westcott II delivering to steamer American Valor September 4, 2007. Author's collection.
Starting in 1895, the Westcott Company branched out its services to include mail delivery to these passing vessels. This is what it has become renowned for in the modern day. At first mail was delivered to these passing behemoths from a canoe, later progressing to more modern vessels. In 1949, the current delivery boat was built, the J.W. Westcott II. This vessel, only forty- six feet long, regularly plunges out into the river, in all sorts of conditions, and has to come up alongside vessels up to one thousand feet long and four times or more higher off the water than them, all without the freighter ever stopping! The Westcott II, the worlds only floating postal code (48222), delivers the mail everyday of the navigation season, usually starting in April and ending in December. Besides the mail, the company also supplies charts, maps, and other various supplies to these ships, as well as transporting crew to and from the freighter.
The J.W. Westcott Company is unique Detroit, and indeed, world institution. No where else has a vessel with its own postal code, that delivers the mail one vessel after the other, without the receiving vessel stopping. It is a remarkable company which has stood the test of time and continues to work hard, season after season, without fail.
Author's collection.
Source: LeLievre, Roger, ed. Know Your Ships 2009.
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