~ A tidbit from our upcoming book, A Pictorial History of Palm City, Florida, by Sandra Thurlow & Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch

“You’ve got mail.”

In Palm City, in 1914, no one would have imagined email, texts, or cell phones. “Mail” meant a handwritten letter inside an envelope, one that may have been sent from very far away. One from a dear family member or an old friend. One about business opportunities. Having a post office was very important.

George Washington Jones signed the application for the Palm City Post Office on April 14, 1914. It was located inside his general merchandise store near Palmetto Street that later became Martin  Downs Boulevard. Mr. Jones was postmaster, a very prestigious and important position in the growing community.

It has been said that: “The history of the post office is the story of America.” Palm City’s post office played a chief role in bringing more people to the area. Letters from settlers shared information encouraging others to join them in Chillingworth’s remote Palm City Farms. One could call the post office, the “social media” of the day.

In this plat map from the 1920s it shows the location of the post office marked by a red dot. The St. Luice River and rudimentary bridge would be located to the east. Today we take such things for granted, but not in those days of yesteryear. The Palm City Post Office was a key place, a place where people came to get the “news of the day” or a “letter from a friend.”‘ Now we just look at our cell phones. Personally, I think I would rather sit, gossip, and wait on the porch at the old post office!