Wednesday, September 11, 2013

street signs - 4th St SW

These street signs were found in Chesley. I was curious enough to ask in the post office why they had two names. Seemed a logical place to ask. I can't quite remember the reasoning behind it, (and I gathered the woman in the PO wasn't entirely convinced it was necessary) but it seems to have had something to do with the absorbing of the town with 19 other towns and villages into the Regional Municipality of Arran-Elderslie. (What a mouthful!) Interestingly, I have driven through the two other towns, Paisley and Tara, and neither of them had to change their street names...

In my research, I found these directions to the Community Centre:
Chesley is located approx. 20 km south of Owen Sound and approx. 190 km northwest of Toronto.
From the South: North on Regional Road #10. Take the first exit to Chesley(Bruce Road 19) and left turn. Turn Right on Bruce Road 30 which becomes 1st Ave. (also called Main Street). Turn right on 4th Street SE (Davis St.) which is the second street past the St. Mark Evangelical Lutheran Church. Arena is at the end of the road (across 4th Ave. SE).
From the North: South on Regional Rd. #10. Turn right on Bruce Road 30 which becomes 1st Ave. (also called Main Street). Cross bridge and proceed through downtown. Turn left on 3rd Street SE (Adolph Street). Proceed through community park to north side of arena.


Now, numbered streets can be a godsend in certain places. Manhattan comes to mind. Even someone who cannot read a map should be able to easily navigate their way around most of the island from the East Village on up by counting the cross streets. Once you know that the avenues run north/south and start at the East River, with 5th Avenue as the main E-W dividing line, you're good to explore. (you just have to remember where the other main avenues are (Lexington, Park, Madison, Broadway, Amsterdam, etc) It all makes logical sense. I especially like the fact that each cross street is exactly 200 feet apart, making  20 blocks equal to one mile.

Here is a map of Chesley. I would be hard pressed to accurately find 9th St SE on my first try without a map. And where, pray tell, are 5th & 6th St SW? It all has a haphazard look to it. 
And why aren't all the streets renamed into numbers?

hmmm, I thought this would show up much smaller.
Anyway, from the above directions, we know that 3rd St was once called Adolph St (a publisher) and the sign tells us that 2nd Ave SW was once called McGaw St (he was a hotelier). I found this 1911 postcard from the Bruce County Museum archives showing a house at the corner of McGaw and Adolph. 




my photo of this house was the next one I took after the street signs. it is very similar to the one in the postcard.










sixth in a series of street signs for signs,signs (even though there is no F, or even a 6, in either sign. though 4+2=6)

13 comments:

  1. I like numbered streets too - like you, I find they appeal to my sense of logic and orderliness. However, in some suburbs of Vancouver, it can get a little confusing when you are told, for example, that someone lives at the corner of 6th and 10th. Which one is the avenue? Which one is the street? Where are you actually supposed to go? (And yes, this actually happened to me. Thanks, Porsche Guy, for the lousy directions. A house number would have been nice, too.)

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    1. the fact that we rarely say 'avenue' or 'street' or 'road', etc could cause lots of confusion.

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  2. How confusing! Reminds me of when we lived in Arizona. Streets had one name north of Baseline Road (city of Mesa), and a different name south of Baseline Road (city of Gilbert). I was forever getting them mixed up.

    Nice images, particularly of the house.

    ~Lindy

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  3. We don't have many numbered streets here in the Netherlands.
    Interesting post!

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  4. numbered streets are helpful to me who is direction-challenged.

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  5. I like these sorts of signs. We don't have them in Australia.

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  6. In the Netherlands, a street changes names at almost every intersection.

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    1. and in Brussels, the names aren't even the same in French and Flemish!

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  7. I agree this doesn't look very orderly on the map. Also the SW and SE are confusing!

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  8. That could be quite confusing if I was looking for McGaw or Long st!!!

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  9. Sounds like she was bitter that her town had to change and the others didn't...

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