The Town of Potomac Still Exists!

For reasons I cannot fully articulate, the U.S. Postal Service still manages to carry some intrigue. The sending and receiving of letters with the help of a carrying service remains a bit mystical, even if I see postal workers nearly every day.

It’s also nice to see your name written in someone else’s handwriting arrive at your doorstep every now and again—if only for the accompanying tug of nostalgia for a time when email didn’t exist and long-distance calls could run a decent charge from Ma Bell.

While researching the Town of Potomac, Va., for a recent story, I stumbled upon a suggestion that the postal service still honors the municipality as an alternate address for Del Ray’s 22301 ZIP code.

Potomac was an incorporated town from 1908 to 1929 that existed within the general boundaries of modern-day Del Ray.

The area developed beginning in 1894 as the communities of Del Ray, St. Elmo, Mt. Ida, Hume and others popped up following a grid plan independent of that of Old Town Alexandria.

Close to Washington, D.C., and located adjacent to the massive Potomac Yard of the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad, the area became home to federal employees and railroad workers.

In 1908, the subdivisions united to form the Town of Potomac. Alexandria’s current Fire Station 202 on E. Windsor Avenue served as Potomac’s town hall, firehouse and jail. The town had its own mayor, council and public-safety services. By 1924, Potomac had grown to roughly 2,700 residents.

A well-run and desirable hamlet that was one of the first in the region to offer sanitary sewer service to all its residents, Potomac was annexed by Alexandria on New Year’s Day 1930. Residents were not pleased to watch the town disappear.

Potomac’s town records do not exist anymore. At November's Del Ray Citizens Association’s Historical Preservation Conference, local historian Lee Ness suggested they were likely destroyed around the time of annexation. A Town of Potomac Historic District was created in 1992.

Curious to see if the extinct town was still recognized by USPS and eager to receive something interesting outside of Sports Illustrated, I posted a short message on my Facebook page asking friends to send postcards and letters to my home located near Potomac's Town Hall.

Those willing to lend me a hand—including some I haven’t seen or spoken to in years—were instructed to send mail listing “Potomac, VA” in the address and not to include a ZIP code.

Without a delay, mail arrived from Utah, California, Tennessee, Wisconsin and downstate Virginia. Postcards depicting the Tornado Steak House in Madison (Go Badgers!), Arches National Park and a weird portrait of former California governor Jerry Brown made me smile. Some friends even included artwork from their children. Another sent me a card congratulating me on my first communion (Thanks, Ziemer, you weirdo.).

Every letter sent arrived in less than a week. 

As one friend put it: “That’s a pretty good success rate for an obsolete address.”

There’s also some success in knowing you have friends willing to help you prove a long-lost town still gets a hat tip from the postal service.

Sure, auto-fill or other digital assistance may have helped these letters and postcards reach their destination without utilizing the town name, but that's no fun to think about. 

I’m told a few pieces of mail remain en route, including one from the Cayman Islands. I’m excited to see if they arrive at their destination—a place that hasn’t existed in more than 83 years.

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