SSI Archives

A Coastal Postal Story

On May 4, 1961, The Glynn Times included an article about the construction of the new St. Simons Post Office next to the Lighthouse. A spacious brick building with the “latest and most modern equipment” would replace the small wood frame post office in operation since 1912 near the pier in today’s Village area.

The slight change in location did not interrupt longterm management of island mail service by members of the same family: the Goulds. According to the article, James D. Gould, grandson of the builder and first keeper of the St. Simons Lighthouse, had been the first “Rural Carrier” of mail on the island. The post office was then located at the St. Simons lumber mills on Gascoigne Bluff, site of the major shipping docks for the island. The facility was moved to the pier area when the mills closed and the Village area became the center of island activity. James Gould’s daughter, Julia, was named first “postmaster.” She was succeeded in turn by two of her sisters, Berta and Mary. Mary Gould Everett began her tenure as postmaster in 1918 and became the first manager of the new brick facility, which was across the street from her home.

It was at this post office that Eugenia Price first became aware of the stories that would inspire her most popular historical novels, the St. Simons Trilogy. While visiting St. Simons Island during a book tour in the 1960s, she stopped at the post office, where she met and befriended Mary Gould Everett. In response to the author’s interest in island history, Everett made available to Price a history of the Gould family, written by her father. Through this resource, the Goulds of the nineteenth century became main characters in Price’s trilogy.

The U.S. Postal Service moved to its current Frederica Road location in 1998. The property next to the Lighthouse, which had been acquired by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society’s Endowment Trust, became the site of the Society’s headquarters. The A.W. Jones Heritage Center opened in 2008.

This month’s image of The Glynn Times is courtesy of Albert Fendig, a founding member of the Society. The weekly St. Simons newspaper was published by Ann Keeter Fowler in the early 1960s. An annual subscription cost $2.32.

Our monthly images on this page are from the vast archives of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society. The Society’s mission includes the “administration, restoration and maintenance of historic facilities and resources … preserved as a living part of the historical and cultural foundations of our coastal community.” Society facilities include the St. Simons Lighthouse and Museum, the A.W. Jones Heritage Center, and the Maritime Center (formerly the U.S. Coast Guard Station). To learn more about the Society, its diverse programs, and the benefits of Society membership, please call 912.638.4666, or visit saintsimonslighthouse.org.