Mail by the Pail: The J.W. Westcott Company

If you have never been to Belle Isle, or if you have never stopped in at the Dossin Great Lakes Museum, this is an opportunity to do both. Dossin Great Lakes Museum has a special exhibit on the "mail boat", the Westcott. Please note that you need to have a Recreation Passport to drive onto Belle Isle if there is an attendant on duty. Admission to the museum is $5.

Description of the exhibit from the museum:

The J.W. Westcott Company has been an active and beloved presence on the Detroit River for over 150 years. Casually referred to as the “mail boat,” the Westcott is the U.S.A.’s only floating zip code – 48222. Westcott staff deliver mail, packages, crew members, and even pizza to the vessels that journey across the Great Lakes during shipping season from April to December, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Still a family company today, the Westcott has evolved with the times. In this new exhibition, learn how Captain John Ward Westcott started his business in 1874 as a marine reporter, documenting river traffic and delivering company communications to ships via rowboat. See how the company's vessels began contracting with the U.S. Postal Service in 1948 and how its operations have shifted with changing technology – from ship-to-shore radio, to bigger freighters, to cell phones and the internet – and its focus has adjusted to best meet the needs of mariners.