Lake Orion resident Ed Roberts is on a quest.
Since first hearing about Orion being the first in the country to offer marine mail delivery on Lake Orion in 1905, Roberts has been digging up research to try and prove that claim. He hopes to have a reenactment of the mail delivery on Lake Orion next June, to commemorate the 100-year anniversary.
‘I’ve gone to all the post offices around here,? he said. ‘The big thing I’m missing is anything official from the post office saying this happened in 1905.?
Roberts has found plenty of residents who had relatives who delivered mail on the lake, and lots of references to it happening in various articles and guidebooks. His search hasn’t been easy since the oldest local newspaper, The Review, lost its records from 1881.
‘I found a Review from 1931 that has 50 years of progress in Orion,? Roberts said. ‘It chronicles what happened since the first issue of the paper in 1881. It said there in 1905 the Marine Postal Service was established on Lake Orion and was the first in the country.?
Unfortunately for Roberts, that Dec. 18, 1931 issue of The Review was missing pages. It’s only available on microfilm at the Orion Township Library.
‘I would love to find someone in the area that had that paper,? he said. ‘If somebody had put this away…I put paper’s away that could have a lot of history. I could fill in the pages that are missing.?
Roberts said he has heard that an issue of The Oxford Leader from May 1950 mentions that overland routes in Orion are being rerouted, but that no change is planned for the marine routes.
‘It was still being done in the 1950s,? Roberts said. ‘I would like to find people who worked it…it would be nice to have that reenactment in the Venetian Parade on the lake.?
Roberts has been in contact with Romeo Postmaster Alex Stubbs III, who agreed that a reenactment could be fun.
‘He said he knew Gary Richardson, the postmaster from Lake Orion (since retired),? he said. ‘That was last year. I’ve been trying to get a hold of (Richardson).
‘Besides a reenactment, I wanted to get a commemorative stamp issued that would show the boat they used,? Roberts said.
Roberts has lived on Lake Orion for 17 years after moving from Columbus, Ohio. When he traveled to the Belgrades area of Maine two years ago, he learned they were still doing marine mail delivery.
‘They charge $10 a head to go on the route with them,? he said. ‘They said that one was started in 1900, which would have been before (Lake Orion’s).?
Roberts said there has been some differences in the time the marine mail delivery started in Orion in articles he’s read.
‘In a history called Orion since 1818 by Paul Scott, it says in 1905 the U.S. Postal Service designated Lake Orion as the first marine delivery. That was also mentioned in a tour guide from 1941,? he said.
‘The Oakland County Book of History said the marine mail service was established in Orion in 1909, and an Oakland Sunday Magazine from 1980 also says 1909,? Roberts said. ‘I have to believe the records from The Review are right, and it was 1905.?
Roberts said he is pursuing the research of marine mail delivery in Lake Orion because he is a ‘history buff.?
‘The big thing now is to get something from the post office…I think people will have a lot of fun with this,? he said.
Anyone with information about marine mail delivery on Lake Orion can contact Ed Roberts at 693-1052.