By Ken Brafman, Image from ROWHS Collection

TITLE: CRESTLINE’S UNLIKELY FIRST POSTMASTER: The stern-looking gentleman, this week’s image, is former Keystone Cops scriptwriter Samuel W. Dillin. He had heard about John Baylis’ Pinecrest resort, about the Rim of the World Drive, and all the other wonders and potential of the mountains, so when he was misdiagnosed in Chicago with a terminal illness, in 1917 he decided he had to see it all for himself and headed west to die, with nothing more than $2.50 in his pocket, a bit of camping gear and his camera equipment. As soon as he arrived, he got a photography assignment and decided that the mountains would be where he’d spend his final days. He considered the trees and the woods to offer all the elements for good health and he believed that the water from the springs was the ‘elixir of life.’ A large empty building located at present-day Hwy. 138 and Crest Forest Drive that had been used to store cement bags for building the Little Bear Dam became the base of operations for his photography business. By 1919 Dillin felt we was completely cured and in May he became postmaster of the Skyland Heights Post Office. He soon opened a store at the cement shed, and because of the central location and less snowfall, he moved the post office to his new location. In 1906 Dr. Wesley Thompson had won a contest with the name ‘Crestline’ and Dillin successfully petitioned to have his post office carry that name. Besides Dillin’s Store and Crestline Post Office, ‘Tavern’ was another part of his small empire. His tavern in the back boasted a long, rustic porch along with a 36-foot-long dance floor. There was a huge fireplace and Dillin advertised that visitors could ‘pass an evening in leisure.’ He remained postmaster until 1929, watching the town of Crestline grow and develop around him.