History Trivia

Did John Sammis ever live in Arlington?
Technically, no. When John Sammis received the property, it was called Strawberry Hill Plantation, a name that the original owner Francis Richard had chosen. The area of Clifton that John Sammis owned was later named Arlington Bluff when he sold the property ca. 1870; We believe that Arlington later got its name from Arlington Bluff. Ref: Arlington, a River Port

Do you know how many post offices the Old Arlington area has had?
The area known as Arlington changed to encompass other communities (Floral Bluff, Eggleston, Chaseville, etc.) so the number keeps growing as we discover these other areas had their own post office. Just when we think we have thought of the last “new” one, someone remembers where one more was. The history column article of August 2008 covering the full list of Post Offices showed we were far short at 7 or 8. We think we have figured out that we are on our eleventh (and possibly twelfth) one if you count Idelwild, but can you think of any others?

  1. Floral Bluff also reportedly had a post office: (Ref: Brief History), possibly at 1711 Almira Street. Ref: Steeves Interview “Albert Frieseke ran a store and post office (until 1895) by the boat landing at the end of Floral Bluff Avenue.” Communities, Eggleston Floral Bluff
  2. Eggleston Heights also had a post office in 1895 that was finally merged into the Floral Bluffs post office. Ref: Communities, Eggleston Floral Bluff
  3. Per John Ross, long-time resident of Gilmore 90 years young, Gilmore had a post office on the river serviced by river boats before Arlington had one. Ref: Gilmore Community History
  4. The first Arlington post office (in 1912) was in Bradshaws store down at the Arlington Ferry landing but possibly up on the hill even before that.* Ref: Steeves Interview. Mr. Bradshaw was the postmaster. Ref: The Alderman Realty Company
  5. Next, an official post office was built (in 1933) near the ferry landing on the southwest corner of the intersection of River Bluff Road and Arlington Road (then known as SaintXJohns Street).* Ref: The Alderman Realty Company
  6. Chaseville also had a post office. Ref: Communities, Eggleston Floral Bluff
  7. Next, the post office at the ferry landing moved up to the “Crossroads” area, a half-block west of the Crossroads facing south towards Arlington Road. Ref: Steeves Interview
  8. Next, a new post office was built at the Crossroads corner facing Arlington Road to the south. Ref: Steeves Interview.
  9. Next, it seems that there was a post office in the southernmost building of the Town and Country Shopping Center. Per a Steve Matchett – John Cresembini discussion.
  10. Today, the post office serving the Old Arlington community is on Merrill Road (at 7707 Merrill Road).