How a 150-year-old company with a floating zip code helps ships on the Detroit River

Vessels in the Detroit River don't have to dock to get deliveries. The J.W. Westcott company brings mail and supplies right to them as they travel through the river.

 The company turns 150 years old this year.

"My great grandfather, back in a time with Ulysses S. Grant as president, came up with an idea that quite frankly stood the test of time," Westcott's great grandson and president of the company Jim Hogan told a crowd gathered to mark the occasion last Friday.

"We're riding on the coattails of such a great man." 

Most well-known among the company's three-boat fleet is the J.W. Prescott II. It is decorated with U.S. Postal Service branding and carries the distinction of being the first non-military floating zip code in the world: 48222. 

"Most family businesses don't survive the second generation, so it's got strength in its longevity there," said general manager and senior boat captain Sam Buchanan.

Buchanan was also among the crew that helped save a man who fell from the Ambassador Bridge last year.

How it works

The mail — put in bags and buckets — is tied to a rope and pulled up the side of the large vessels as they go down the river. While mail isn't as frequent of a delivery these days, the company will also swap out crew, bring packages, groceries and even deliver pizza to the passing vessels.

"Pretty much anything, we're here to serve," Buchanan said. 

The company also runs a pilot boat, which will switch out boat pilots on foreign ships navigating the river.

"There's no substitute for what they do," pilot Steve Boyd said.

Canadian start

J.W. Westcott actually got his start as a boat pilot in Amherstburg, Ont., in 1874 according to historian John Polacsek. He says he helped crews navigate a tricky part of the Detroit River safely.

"There were two humps of limestone out in the river and if you ran your boat on those, you're talking maybe $70,000 worth of damage," Polacsek said. 

It was also near a point in the river where rail cars were transported from the U.S. into Canada.

"You had a major area and people needed to have a pilot," he said. 

He was also a marine reporter for the Detroit Daily Post newspaper, where he would report which vessels would be passing through the area. 

"It ended up that he was really involved down there and from there he moved up to Detroit," he said.

Polacsek said he would deliver mail to the passing ships before the United States Postal Office started doing it in 1895.

It was in 1948 that Westcott was granted sole rights to the postal charter.

"He would say it's come a long way, but it's basically the same," Polacsek said.