# Can Brits give any house a name instead of a house number? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 18, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348 "2003-03-18T19:15:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jacquilynne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/67e7ee/32.png) [@jacquilynne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacquilynne)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348/21 "2003-03-21T03:07:31Z")
I realize this question has been asked in terms of mail, but allow me to thread hijack slightly. What do the ambulance drivers do? I mean, it’s not a huge problem if the postal carrier takes an extra five minutes to find Sutcliffe House when he’s new on the route, but it’s a rather different matter with a paramedic. ---
**Author:** ![expect\_the\_unexpecteb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@expect\_the\_unexpecteb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expect_the_unexpecteb)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348/22 "2003-03-21T03:28:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lumpy \* > **Who says it’s just in Britain? Here in Minneapolis many major buildings in the downtown area are referred to by a name …** And worse are the stores that list addresses as 100 So-and-so Mall. But smaller malls aren’t listed on the maps. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348/23 "2003-03-21T05:18:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by RedDawgEsq \* > \*\*So, who can tell us what and where is the highest (legit) street number in the USA? \*\* The highest _ordinal_ street number in the US is 579th Avenue, in Maricopa County, Arizona. The number is based off the Phoenix address grid, so it’s about 58 miles west of that city. Of course, this excludes the high cardinal numbers that result from the Lyman Plan coordinate grid systems used in Utah and other areas settled by Mormons. ---
**Author:** ![Pjen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Pjen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pjen)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348/24 "2003-03-21T08:03:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jacquilynne \* > \*\*I realize this question has been asked in terms of mail, but allow me to thread hijack slightly. What do the ambulance drivers do? I mean, it’s not a huge problem if the postal carrier takes an extra five minutes to find Sutcliffe House when he’s new on the route, but it’s a rather different matter with a paramedic. \*\* Where I worked (in urban and rural Devon) the ambulance service had excellent maps of every village with many house locations marked on it The city map was updated regularly by the city council informing them of every new road and address within the city limits. We had access to these as we did emergency response mental health call-outs and used them as part of the job. These maps are often ‘bootlegged’ and I have seen photocopies of them in use by several commercial delivery services! ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348/25 "2003-03-21T11:43:45Z")
To go back to the OP. THe sort of stories the poster was talking about are the Father Brown, Agagtha Christie type, which are set in an upper middle class environment. As such the houses that are featured in these books are bigger than normal and would be known by all and sundry. “The old rectory” etc. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348/26 "2003-03-21T19:10:54Z")
My grandmother lives in Lancashire. She has a named house. This has never caused problems, AFAIK. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348/27 "2003-03-21T19:48:54Z")
[aside] I’m looking at an address here in northern L.A. County: 36722 Can anybody beat that? [/aside] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-brits-give-any-house-a-name-instead-of-a-house-number/162348.md?page=1)