Zion Was Delray’s First Postal Address

Readers: For our May 7 column, Dottie Patterson, archivist for the Delray Beach Historical Society, gave us the lowdown on the story behind the name of Old Germantown Road. Because no good deed goes unpunished, we’re running yet another inquiry past Dottie: Was Zion the first postal address used for Delray Beach, in 1885?

“Yes,” Dottie writes, “the House of Refuge was the first post office in the Delray area. Of course you know the story of the Barefoot Mailman. In his book Letters from Linton, Charles Hofman says there was a man called ‘Long John Holman’ who carried mail from St. Augustine to Biscayne Bay, hiding in caves along the way. He started doing this during the Third Seminole War in the 1850s and also again during the Civil War.

“In 1885, the U.S. government contracted for mail carriers along the South Florida coast. These were the ‘Barefoot Mailmen.’ It was their custom to stay over at the Orange Grove House of Refuge.

“Annie Andrews, wife of the refuge keeper, Stephen Andrews, ran the Zion post office out of the House of Refuge from 1885 to 1893.

“I looked at the bibliography in Charles’ book, but where he got the info on Long John Holman was not apparent. I know that Charles is a meticulous researcher and was a high school and college English teacher, etc.

“He dedicated his book to his grandparents, Delray Beach pioneers (1895). Underneath was a quote from Psalm 84:7: ‘They work from strength to strength until they stand before God in Zion.’ I suppose Annie Andrews chose the name.”

Thanks again, Dottie. As always, we welcome more detail from our readers.

Updates: The Germantown Road column also prompted a note from Dr. Bennett Miller of Atlantis. He notes that while we mentioned Germantown, Tenn., far more prominent is the one near Philadelphia, where in October 1777, George Washington’s army fought “a pivotal battle in our fight for independence. Initially, the Americans penetrated into the streets of Germantown, but partly due to a heavy fog, the Americans were eventually defeated, and from there had to withdraw to winter quarters at Valley Forge.”

Tags: Delray Beach, place names, post offices