Take a US Postal Mailboat Tour of Geneva Lake

Don't Miss This Boat!

The Walworth II, the Official U.S. Mailboat

Each year from June 15 to September 15, the Lake Geneva Post Office has a water route and up to 150 tourists ride along for an up-close and personal experience of the unique mail delivery system. Gage Marine has the US Postal contract for delivering mail -- via Geneva Lake -- to 60-70 lake front homes. It is one of the few marine mail routes in the United States (the JW Westcott, out of Detroit, MI, delivers mail to ships and has its own ZIP Code: 48222) and the only one that has run continuously since 1873, when there were no roads to many of these homes. Today, the water route is a tourist's delight. The WalworthII departs from the Riviera Docks, in Lake Geneva, promptly at 10:00 a.m. and returns to dock at 12:30 each day. They deliver mail Monday through Saturday and newspapers on Sunday.

The Boat Never Stops!

For over 40 years, Capt. Neill Frame has navigated the 60-ton ship close enough to the piers to enable the mailpersons (often called "mail jumpers") to jump from his moving boat to the stationary piers. He needs to steer the boat close to the piers, but no closer than four feet. He keeps the speed at an even pace to prevent crashing into the piers. Picture your mail delivery person jumping from a moving boat, across a four foot span of water, just to give you your mail! As Captain Frame maneuvers near the piers, the young, agile mail jumper leaps out of a side window of the boat onto the pier, snatches the outgoing mail out of the mailbox (which is often at the other end of the pier, delivers the mail into the mailbox. He or she then runs full speed down the pier and jumps back aboard at the stern before it leaves him or her behind!

The challenges of this unique mail route don't stop with jumping on and off a moving boat. Obstacles like toys, wet piers, and rain can't stop a mail delivery. Each of the four mailpersons learns to avoid these obstacles without missing the boat. Sometimes though people pull pranks like tying the mailbox shut, which can delay the mailperson's return to the boat. When the challenge wins, the mailperson goes for an unscheduled swim!