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Here the J.W. Westcott II mail boat makes a delivery to the CSL Niagara, a 225.5 meter Great Lakes bulk vessel passing through the Detroit River. The Detroit River Post Office is the only one in the world that exists solely to deliver mail (and sometimes pizza) to vessels that are under way. It even has its own zip code (48222). Mail boats have been operating from this location since 1895, and J.W. Westcott has been under contract with the postal service since 1948. At the turn of the century, the river was so crowded with traffic that in addition to the existing mail boat, two auxiliary rowboats were frequently deployed to throw tow lines up to the towering decks above and pass mail up through a bucket.
The boat is also used to transfer Great lakes pilots onto foreign vessels. The ship's story is well known, probably for its romantic history of helping seamen receive words from loved ones long before the cell phone era. Jack White of the White Stripes even wrote a poem about the boat. We were on a boat tour of the river and were lucky enough to pass by the Niagara just as the Westcott was making a delivery.
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