Numbers were assigned so-many-feet apart and kept going, no matter what block you were in. So, one block could start with numbers in the ‘30s, and then after 38 the next houses would be 40, 42, 44, etc., all in the same block. It was somewhat confusing. Battle Creek, by the way, is still numbered that way today.
The man responsible for renumbering and establishing Albion’s present-day address system was Frederick Warren Turner Peabody (1862-1934), who served as Fire Chief in our community for many years. In 1889, the U.S. Post Office wanted to begin the free delivery of mail in our community. In order to do so, they required that our local address system be renumbered and standardized for the proper delivery of mail. Chief Peabody chose the Philadelphia system of numbering, and the change took effect here on October 1, 1889.
The 1895 Albion City Directory gives us the details (Pg. 11): “It is after the idea known as the Philadelphia system. The streets are divided into a north and south and an east and west portion. The numbering begins at the intersection of Cass and Superior Streets so that all that portion of all streets running north and south which lie south of Cass St. have the prefix “south,” as for instance, South Clinton St. That portion of all north and south streets lying north of Cass St. have the word “north” as a prefix.”
“Likewise, that portion of all streets running east and west lying east of Superior St. have the prefix “east,” as for instance, East Erie St. That portion of the streets lying west of Superior have the prefix “west.”
“All even numbers are on one side of the street and odd ones on the opposite. In the business portion each business place is allotted a number; in the residence section, 33 feet constitutes a number. A block is numbered by the hundred so that in going to an adjacent block the number of the houses increases one hundred.”
“Therefore, the third block south of Cass St. will be in the “three hundreds,” the fifth block in the “five hundreds.” For instance, the fifth block on Clinton south of Cass will be 500 S. Clinton, and the houses will be numbered 501, 503, etc., on the one side and 500, 502, etc. on the opposite. These numbers increase until the next block is reached when the numbering changes to 600. The advantage of the system is that a person can tell how many blocks away a certain house is by knowing its number. It is a perfect system of numbering and great credit is due Chief Peabody of the Fire Department for his exactness in numbering the houses in the city.”
Part of the numbering process required that every house should have an address number posted on the structure identifying the location. Here in town, some 134 years later, there are still houses that do not have their address numerals posted on their structure. I once heard of a delivery person (I won’t say a postal carrier) who went around marking in the numerals by the front door with a black felt pen if the house didn’t have a number posted. Years ago, the city allowed a home’s address number to also be painted on the curb in front of the house. You would pay a fee, and workers with some non-profit organization would do the painting. There may be a few of these “curb numbers” left in town.
From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of Chief Frederick Peabody, the author of our street numbering system here in Albion. Does your house have your house number painted on or attached to it?
