In the 1800s, barefoot mailmen often carried mail between the coastal communities of South Florida, walking most of the route barefoot on the firm sand near the water's edge. In the 1880s, the U.S. government established regular mail service from the Palm Beach area to Miami. The usual route ran from Hypoluxo Island past the Orange Grove and Ft. Lauderdale Houses of Refuge and Baker's Haulover, then to Miami by small boat, and back again, a distance of over 120 miles that the barefoot mailmen covered in six days. In the 1890s, a new county road to Lemon City ended the barefoot route.