# Why are all streets in ATL named "Peachtree" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2008, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276 "2008-05-22T18:59:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![racer72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/racer72/32/3075_2.png) [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/21 "2008-05-23T11:28:57Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] OK, the numbering I could maybe justify as that being the order that the streets were built. Every time you pave a new road, you give it the next available number. But take a look at the quadrant designations: If you keep going _south_ on 75th ave. SE, you end up on 156th ave. NE. [/QUOTE] Very good reason for that. 75th Ave SE is in the south part of Snohomish County. When it crosses into the north part of King County, it becomes 156th Ave NE. After looking at Woodinville, it looks pretty much like any place that borders a county where the neighboring county has a different street grid numbering system. ---
**Author:** ![muttrox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a8b319/32.png) [@muttrox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muttrox)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/22 "2008-05-23T14:46:37Z")
[QUOTE=Labrador Deceiver] There are other words besides “Peachtree” in the various street names, making it quite simple to understand. No two are alike. [/QUOTE] I don’t think that’s true. Sure, there are many roads like Peachtree Dunwoody or Peachtree Battle. Those are simple. But there are also a large number of roads that are referred to as simply “Peachtree”. And many of them intersect each other. No two are identical, but many are alike. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/23 "2008-05-23T15:51:27Z")
[QUOTE=muttrox] I don’t think that’s true. Sure, there are many roads like Peachtree Dunwoody or Peachtree Battle. Those are simple. But there are also a large number of roads that are referred to as simply “Peachtree”. And many of them intersect each other. [/QUOTE] Example, please? There is only one street that I am aware of in this town that is referred to as “Peachtree”. It is originally Peachtree Street, then its name changes to Peachtree Road, then to Peachtree Industrial Boulevard once it exits the city limits. This is hardly unusual. The only other streets that may be similar (i.e. Peachtree Ave, Peachtree Way, Peachtree Drive, or some such) are so small as to be almost unheard of. They would never, ever be referred to as simply “Peachtree”. That just is not true. There certainly are not “major thoroughfares” with non-unique names in the city of Atlanta. ---
**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:** [May 23, 2008, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/24 "2008-05-23T16:19:51Z")
[QUOTE=postcards] **elmwood** ’s reply was most interesting, but I wonder if they could elaborate on what the ‘meridian system’ is. [/QUOTE] Basically, lines of latitude and longitude are given a name or ordinal number. Any street that is built along or close to one of those lines has to be named after the designation for the line. For instance, when I lived in Denver, I lived on the 4000 North block of Quitman Street. According to the Denver grid, any street in Adams, Denver, Arapahoe or Jefferson Counties that fall on or near a path along 102 degrees 5 minutes 26 seconds west MUST be named “Quitman”. Streets following the next designated meridian to the west MUST be named “Raleigh”. The next meridan is “Stuart”, and the one after that “Tennyson”. See a pattern? if you live in Denver for a while, it becomes instinctual. You know that streets named “Quitman” will all be north-south roads running more-or-less along the same grid line. All you need to know is an address number, and someone with average navigational skills should be able to guesstimate where an address is located, without having to flip pages through an index of a map guide. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/25 "2008-05-23T19:24:17Z")
> [@Labrador Deceiver](#): > > There certainly are not “major thoroughfares” with non-unique names in the city of Atlanta. I’m happy that you find the existence of Peachtree Street, Peachtree Creek Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Drive, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Way, Peachtree Memorial Drive, New Peachtree Road, Peachtree Walk, Peachtree Valley Road, West Peachtree Street, Peachtree Battle Avenue, Peachtree-Dunwoody Road and Old Peachtree Road within a single metropolitan area to be unexceptional. Those of us not from Atlanta **do** find it exceptional and thus inquire as to the cause. ---
**Author:** ![Necros](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/necros/32/11086_2.png) [@Necros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Necros)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/26 "2008-05-23T19:41:46Z")
Just to reinforce **elmwood** ’s point, I had to travel to an address near Gun Club and Jewell, out in eastern Aurora. I knew exactly where it was, because Jewell is always Jewell at that latitude, regardless of whether it is in eastern Aurora or far western Lakewood, despite the two locations being many miles apart. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/27 "2008-05-23T19:45:46Z")
Carmel, California (aka “Camel-By-The-Sea”) does not use street addresses. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/28 "2008-05-23T20:13:43Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] I’m happy that you find the existence of Peachtree Street, Peachtree Creek Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Drive, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Way, Peachtree Memorial Drive, New Peachtree Road, Peachtree Walk, Peachtree Valley Road, West Peachtree Street, Peachtree Battle Avenue, Peachtree-Dunwoody Road and Old Peachtree Road within a single metropolitan area to be unexceptional. Those of us not from Atlanta **do** find it exceptional and thus inquire as to the cause. [/QUOTE] A quick count shows that the vast majority of your list is not comprised of “major thoroughfares”. Like I said before, it is no more confusing than all those pesky street names that end in “Road” or “Avenue”. I didn’t find it confusing when I moved here, nor do I know of anyone else who did. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/29 "2008-05-23T21:27:51Z")
[QUOTE=Labrador Deceiver] Like I said before, it is no more confusing than all those pesky street names that end in “Road” or “Avenue”. I didn’t find it confusing when I moved here, nor do I know of anyone else who did. [/QUOTE] 😕 That’s precisely what makes it confusing. Typically, street names are \ Place, or Way, or Road, or Street, or whatever. It’s the \ part that matters. I might direct somebody to University, or King, or Weber where I live, and dispense with the Avenue/Road/whatever part because it imparts no useful information. But this Peachtree business inverts that: now the name of the street imparts limited useful information, and instead the Road/Avenue/whatever part is the important bit. Going contrary to people’s expectations is pretty much the definition of confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/30 "2008-05-23T22:14:52Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] 😕 That’s precisely what makes it confusing. Typically, street names are \ Place, or Way, or Road, or Street, or whatever. It’s the \ part that matters. I might direct somebody to University, or King, or Weber where I live, and dispense with the Avenue/Road/whatever part because it imparts no useful information. But this Peachtree business inverts that: now the name of the street imparts limited useful information, and instead the Road/Avenue/whatever part is the important bit. Going contrary to people’s expectations is pretty much the definition of confusing. [/QUOTE] No, that isn’t the case. The vast majority of Atlanta roads, and almost all “major thoroughfares”, that include the word “Peachtree” are not differentiated by “way”, “road”, “street”, etc. That is what I’ve been saying since the second post in this thread. They’re named “Peachtree-something” Rd. , Or “Peachtree-something entirely different” Rd. It isn’t much different than saying 13th and 19th street are confusing because they both start with 1. ---
**Author:** ![amarone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@amarone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarone)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/31 "2008-05-23T22:49:52Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] I’m happy that you find the existence of Peachtree Street, Peachtree Creek Road, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Avenue, Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Drive, Peachtree Plaza, Peachtree Way, Peachtree Memorial Drive, New Peachtree Road, Peachtree Walk, Peachtree Valley Road, West Peachtree Street, Peachtree Battle Avenue, Peachtree-Dunwoody Road and Old Peachtree Road within a single metropolitan area to be unexceptional. Those of us not from Atlanta **do** find it exceptional and thus inquire as to the cause. [/QUOTE] As a non-native who moved to Atlanta, I support those who say it is easy to get used to. “Peachtree” with no qualifiers means Peachtree Street. Everything else is qualified uniquely. One visitor did have problems - he rented a car with a GPS back in the days when they were fairly uncommon. On being told that the restaurant was on Peachtree, he said he didn’t need directions because he had his NeverLost system. I noticed him sitting in his car for several minutes, not moving. Then he got out and said that the little screen on his GPS was just showing page after page of “Peachtrees” and could he have those directions after all. BTW, there is also Peachtree Corners Circle, which sounds geometrically dubious to me, but not as bad as Peachtree Circle Corners would be, if it existed. ---
**Author:** ![Amblydoper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@Amblydoper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amblydoper)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/32 "2008-05-24T13:47:21Z")
[QUOTE=RickJay] Another hilarious one, though for different reasons, is Woodinville, Washington. For fun, Google it, and when the map comes up, zoom in and scroll around a little. Then try to make sense of their numbering system. It might help to fire up a big spliff, because no sane or sober person can grasp it. [/QUOTE] That is a little odd, but it makes some sense. The town looks like it overlaps the boundary between two separate street numbering systems. Some “named” streets could ease the confusion. I guess I was lucky to grow up in a small town, where if you just said a place was on “10th,” everyone know what street you were talking about. ---
**Author:** ![jasonh300](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/46a35a/32.png) [@jasonh300](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasonh300)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/33 "2008-05-24T23:12:53Z")
[QUOTE=garygnu] Carmel, California (aka “Camel-By-The-Sea”) does not use street addresses. [/QUOTE] Ok, I’ll bite. Can you elaborate on this??? ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/34 "2008-05-24T23:44:13Z")
[QUOTE=amarone] As a non-native who moved to Atlanta, I support those who say it is easy to get used to. “Peachtree” with no qualifiers means Peachtree Street. Everything else is qualified uniquely. [/QUOTE] Humans have a remarkably ability to adapt. The people in Atlanta have apparently adapted sufficiently so that their insane Peachtree-obsessed street naming system appears normal to them. That doesn’t mean that it still isn’t insane. ---
**Author:** ![drewbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drewbert/32/15890_2.png) [@drewbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewbert)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2008, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/35 "2008-05-24T23:57:47Z")
[This little piece of Nashville](http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=36.146781,-86.779568&spn=0.008508,0.013926&z=16) is nicely representative. In this one frame, look for Vine Street, Vine Street, Bass Street, Bass Street, Archer Street, Archer Street, Archer Street, Olympic Street, Olympic Street, Southside Court, Southside Place, and Southside Avenue. Scroll just a little north to see a divided Division Street, and 12th avenue magically turn into 11th avenue if you don’t veer left. There literally is a streetsign at the “corner” of Fort Negley and Bass. ---
**Author:** ![Lionne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Lionne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lionne)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/36 "2008-05-25T01:41:49Z")
[QUOTE=SanibelMan] I think [Cape Coral. Florida](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Cape+Coral,+FL&ie=UTF8&ll=26.630619,-81.956291&spn=0.029117,0.029912&z=15) has some of the most confusing streets I’ve encountered. “Oh, you need directions? Sure. Just turn right on Southeast 40th Street, then right on Southeast 19th Place, then left on Southeast 39th Street, then right on Southeast 14th Avenue, then left on Southeast 13th Place, then right on Southeast 38th Street. Third house on the left.” [/QUOTE] Seconded. Parents of a friend live there and when I drove down to visit last year, I bought a GPS specifically to help me navigate the area. ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/37 "2008-05-25T06:21:50Z")
[QUOTE=elmwood] if you live in Denver for a while, it becomes instinctual. You know that streets named “Quitman” will all be north-south roads running more-or-less along the same grid line. All you need to know is an address number, and someone with average navigational skills should be able to guesstimate where an address is located, without having to flip pages through an index of a map guide. [/QUOTE] Fresno county, CA does a fabulous job on this as well. [example](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Fresno,+CA,+USA&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=image) If you look around a bit you will see consistent names all across town even into neighboring towns. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/38 "2008-05-25T18:11:22Z")
[QUOTE=drewbert] [This little piece of Nashville](http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=36.146781,-86.779568&spn=0.008508,0.013926&z=16) is nicely representative. In this one frame, look for Vine Street, Vine Street, Bass Street, Bass Street, Archer Street, Archer Street, Archer Street, Olympic Street, Olympic Street, Southside Court, Southside Place, and Southside Avenue. Scroll just a little north to see a divided Division Street, and 12th avenue magically turn into 11th avenue if you don’t veer left. There literally is a streetsign at the “corner” of Fort Negley and Bass. [/QUOTE] Seems pretty clear to me in this case that all the bits of each street you name were originally contiguous, and were later separated by various development projects. This isn’t all that strange…I can think of two big examples in MD–there are bits of Old Columbia Pike scattered all over the place in Howard and Montgomery Counties, and Jones Station Rd. does some weird things in Arnold and Severna Park (near Annapolis). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/39 "2008-05-25T19:38:30Z")
> [@](#): > > But this Peachtree business inverts that: now the name of the street imparts limited useful information, and instead the Road/Avenue/whatever part is the important bit. There’s a similar situation in Cleveland: One major residential street is named West Boulevard, and always refered to as exactly that. If you told someone “I live on West”, or “Turn left on West”, they’d just give you a blank look, until you added the “Boulevard” part. It’s still not quite as bad as the Peachtrees, though, because at least the blank look would tell you that communications had broken down: There aren’t any _other_ streets called West, that someone might think you’re referring to. ---
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2008, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276/40 "2008-05-26T02:00:07Z")
On Staten Island, New York everything is named “Richmond”, as that is the name of the county. There is Richmond Hill, Richmond Avenue, the Port Richmond section of the Island, and a Port Richmond Avenue that runs through it. Even more frustrating is the face that people in Port Richmond call “Port Richmond Ave” “Richmond Ave”, even though there is already a Richmond Ave. There is also a Richmond Terrace, a Richmondtown and a Richmond Valley. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-all-streets-in-atl-named-peachtree/450276.md?page=3)