MAGNOLIA SPRINGS, Ala. – Neither rain, nor snow, nor the occasional alligator keeps Mark Lipscomb from completing his U.S. Postal Service rounds.

But the the odd hurricane may delay delivery for a day or two.

Lipscomb has been delivering mail to people who live along Week’s Bay and the Magnolia and Fish rivers here for nine years . His mode of transportation isn’t the usual, white U.S. Postal Service vehicle. It’s a 15-foot-long Alumacraft boat with a semi-V hull.

“It’s a unique job. It’s a very special job,” Lipscomb says. “It has it’s share of challenges.”

Lipscomb works the only water delivery mail route in the country, said Debbie Fetterly , spokeswoman in Alabama for the U.S Postal Service. The route started in 1915. While budget troubles have forced the closure of several post offices the last couple of years, there are no plans to close this route, which serves about 180 homes along its 31 mile length , Fetterly said.

In Alabama town, snail mail comes by boat