I’ve been doing some research into old Chicago Hospitals and been looking through old Chicago newspapers.
A lot of times I will see addresses of hospitals and department stores and such given with two address such as
2418-2818 Grove Avenue Chicago
Or 51-57 LaSalle Street Chicago
or 243-245 Fullerton
Ok I’m willing to concede the first one might be a typo in the paper. Seems odd a building could occupy from 2418 to 2818. Maybe it should’ve been 2814?
But anyway the point is what is with the two address? What do they signify? Two entrances?
The time period is all from 1900 - 1910 in Chicago BTW
I lived in a dual address apartment building for a few years. Not a big complex, but a three story, 6 unit building, three on one side and three on the other. 1234 -1236 Example Lane. My mail came to 1234 Example Lane, Apt 1, and my neighbor across the hallway was at 1236 Example Lane, Apt 1.
My landlord said it was because the building technically occupies two lots, and that’s just the way they used to number them. The building was built in the early 1920’s.
ETA: Oh, and there was just one front entrance, and one stairwell going up all three flights. Front doors opened off each side of the landings. It was just one building with two numbers.
Every city in the U.S. (and many elsewhere, but I’m not as familiar with non-U.S. systems) is represented legally by a series of official plat maps.
Every piece of property is marked on these maps and every one is given an official city address.
The plats show the underlying land, not the buildings, so some expertise is needed in relating what you see on the surface to the land underneath. One building may cover any number of parcels of property. Property doesn’t have to touch the street, either.
Complicating everything is that the USPS allows building owners to decide which of the several available addresses they want to use if a building covers many parcels. Owners will often opt for a memorable address like 1 or 1000 or avoid an unlucky address like 666 or 1313.
I’m pretty sure that today regulations require owners to choose one address for mail, but older addresses may be grandfathered in. I’d go with the two entrances for two addresses hypothesis that WhyNot gave.
