# Longest street in the world? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2004, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790 "2004-07-12T22:36:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/21 "2004-07-14T01:00:19Z")
Short Street - Ankh-Morpork. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/22 "2004-07-14T02:13:44Z")
> [@](#): > > The highest numbered house in the world is number 81,590 on M-19 in the village of Memphis near Richmond, Michigan. > > Even this seems a bit suspicious. Would this person list their address as > 81,590 M-19 Street > Memphis, Michigan ? Why not? I have friends whose address is of the form “72222 Highway 76, Small Town, Ontario”. The number is the 911 locator address number, or whatever it’s called, and I don’t think it’s continuous along the highway, but is rather township or topographically related. I’ve seen plenty of six-digit 911-locator addresses. Presumably those would be used as part of the address as well? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/23 "2004-07-14T04:07:27Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > Short Street - Ankh-Morpork. I read The Thief of Time awhile back and I’ve been trying to keep an eye out for you making Pratchett references ever since :). Great book and namesake by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/24 "2004-07-14T04:13:44Z")
Thanks. Though it was a good book, my choice of namesake was premature. As I read more books I found a new favourite - Sam Vimes. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/25 "2004-07-14T04:19:42Z")
Yonge St. does not run from Toronto to Rainy River. Highway 11 does. In the northeast, huge sections of the road now known as Hiighway 11 did not exist, even as game trails, until the 20s through the 40s, when it first connected many northeastern towns. In the northwest, the final Rainy River section was completed in 1965. Highway 11 is not the longest road in Ontario. Highway 17 is. In public school in southern Ontario, I was taught that Yonge St. was the longest street in the world, reaching from Toronto to the western border of Ontario. Could have been worse. At least I was not taught creationism. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/26 "2004-07-14T04:23:29Z")
> [@](#): > > thus removing Colombia from the select list of bi-continental countries Of course nowadays Columbia’s pretending it never had a serious relationship with Panama and was just “experimenting”. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/27 "2004-07-14T04:32:07Z")
[QUOTE=wolf\_meister] If we are to consider a thoroughfare as a street, shouldn’t this rule out roads that go across provinces, states, other countries? **World Eater** raises an interesting point. Shouldn’t a street be numbered beginning to end? The Guiness Book of World Records _used to_ publish the highest street address number which is why I am quoting from their 1974 edition: _ **The highest numbered house in the world is number 81,590 on M-19 in the village of Memphis near Richmond, Michigan.** _ Even this seems a bit suspicious. Would this person list their address as 81,590 M-19 Street Memphis, Michigan ? M-19 sure sounds like a highway doesn’t it? Any “Wolverine Staters” familiar with any of this? QUOTE] Rural dwellings these days have addresses in many localities. This is done so that fire and other emergency crews can get to them quickly without running up and down the back roads looking for “Joe Miller’s farm.” The addresses are plotted on a map at the fire, sheriff and other places. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/28 "2004-07-14T16:47:00Z")
> [@David Simmons](#): > > [Even this seems a bit suspicious. Would this person list their address as > 81,590 M-19 Street > Memphis, Michigan ? > > M-19 sure sounds like a highway doesn’t it? > > Any “Wolverine Staters” familiar with any of this? M-19 is a state road. Some of them are highways, but others are just normal roads. Offhand, M-39 (the Southfield Freeway) and M-14 are highways, while M-1 (Woodward Avenue) and M-5 (Grand River Avenue) are normal streets. I’m not familiar with Memphis, MI, but if it’s out in the boonies somewhere, then M-19 is probably a normal street. Most people would write their addresses as 12345 M-19, Memphis, MI. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/29 "2004-07-14T16:50:15Z")
I forgot to add that M-19 might have a “normal” name, in which case everybody except the Dept. of Transportation would use that name. Nobody refers to Woodward Avenue as M-1 in casual conversation. ---
**Author:** ![ZebraShaSha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/eada6e/32.png) [@ZebraShaSha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZebraShaSha)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/30 "2004-07-14T17:04:12Z")
The Silk Road of China is 7,000 kilometers (4,349.59835 miles) long. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2004, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/31 "2004-07-14T17:22:40Z")
> [@Diceman](#): > > I forgot to add that M-19 might have a “normal” name, in which case everybody except the Dept. of Transportation would use that name. Nobody refers to Woodward Avenue as M-1 in casual conversation. Whereas the opposite seems to hold true here, where US Highway 80 runs through the old downtown areas of city after city after city. While technically 80 is known as Marshall Avenue while you’re in Longview, and is designated such on street signs and written addresses, it is rarer to hear a person say that a place is on “west Marshall” than “on 80 just past the intersection with Pine Tree Road.” This is probably because nobody’s quite sure where Marshall Avenue becomes Gladewater Highway and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/32 "2004-07-15T18:55:02Z")
> [@UncleBill](#): > > [This site](http://www.city.toronto.on.ca/toronto_history/history_yongest.htm) says it is almost 1900km long. Perhaps because the name is “street” and not “road” or “highway” (like the Siberian Highway), it carries that nickname. Also, folks are well known to embellish little details when naming things like this. In some cases, “Highway” is a misnomer. When construction for the [Lincoln Highway](http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/info/) was begun in 1913, it was a simple little two-lane road. The orignal route from New York to San Francisco is about 3400 miles (5483 km) long. How about [Old Route 66](http://www.historic66.com/facts/)? 2448 miles (3948 km) long. Even if Guinness was going by the length of the trail that Yonge Street was built on, it still loses out. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/33 "2004-07-15T22:00:59Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > In some cases, “Highway” is a misnomer. Hershey, for example. > [@](#): > > When construction for the [Lincoln Highway](http://www.lincolnhighwayassoc.org/info/) was begun in 1913, it was a simple little two-lane road. The orignal route from New York to San Francisco is about 3400 miles (5483 km) long. That’s how Highway 11/Yonge St. came to be. It started as a road in Toronto that made it’s way a few villages north of Toronto a couple of hundred years ago. Elsewhere in the province, communities began to build roads to each other, more or less in hubs. For example, there were roads connecting towns in the Temiskaming area, the Thunder Bay area, and in the Rainy River area, but there were no roads connecting these hubs to the rest of Ontario. Eventually North Bay was connected to the Temiskaming area (by the Ferguson Highway), then Nipigon connected to Geraldon on one side and Thunder Bay on the other, then Temiskaming was connected to Geraldton, and finally Thunder Bay was connected to Rainy River in 1965. One of the more interesting roads is the Dawson Trail heading west out of Thunder Bay, which still exists in many places. It was not an uninterrupted road, but rather was a combination of roads and water ferries. There are still many communities in Northern Ontario that cannot be reached by road. Over a couple of dozen can be reached by road only in the winter, when trucks drive over frozen lakes. [http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndm/nordev/PDFs/winterroads0304eng.pdf](http://www.mndm.gov.on.ca/mndm/nordev/PDFs/winterroads0304eng.pdf) Even the combined 11/17 is tenuous, for if there are problems at the bridge in Nipigon, there is no road connecting one half of the country to the other – not even a logging trail. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/34 "2004-07-15T22:57:48Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Imagine the address at the end of that street. > > “My address? Sure, it’s 982342353434593845034953 Yonge St…” Nah… there’s an east/west zero point in the middle… The biggest numbers are 49117117671729692251746 West Yonge St. and 491171176717296922517476 East Yonge St. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/35 "2004-07-16T02:36:50Z")
Er, there is no zero point in the middle. Yonge Street starts at the shore of Lake Ontario, with the building numbered One Yonge Street, as I mentioned above. If Yonge Street really was continuously-named and numbered from Toronto to Rainy River, the highest address would be in Rainy River. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790/36 "2004-07-16T14:01:06Z")
Besides that, in Rainy River it is called Atwood Ave., not Yonge St. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/longest-street-in-the-world/254790.md?page=1)