Road Addresses

[Janet Harrington]

When establishing 911 addresses, governments work with the United States Post Office.  They have regulations and they were extremely helpful when it came to doing this.  We also used information from FEMA, I think.  I know there was a federal agency involved or at least their literature.

We chose to go with north/south roads being numbers and east/west roads being names.  We were going to use the alphabet, but Greenwood County was doing that and we didn't want to get the two counties confused.  We were also going to use counties of Kansas in alpha order, but Wilson County and Neosho County were using those and their radio system was close to ours, so we nixed that.

About 5 of us sat in the appraiser's office one day and came up with the names for our roads.  I wanted to use names of things that would reflect Elk County.  We started naming the south road that we share with Chautauqua County, the EK/CQ Road.  The road we share with Greenwood County was named EK/GW Road.  Then the first road north of EK/CQ Road started our alphabet.  Angus, Antler, Blackjack, Cyclone, Dove, Evergreen, Flint, Grain, Harvest, Indigo, Junebug, Killdeer, Limestone, Mule, Native, Oxen, Pioneer, Quail, Rock, Settler, Turkey, and then the county line road at the north end is EK/GW Road.

We tried to use words that sounded clear on the radio.  That was my main focus was to make it clear and easy for citizens and law enforcement/emergency services alike.

The north/south roads were numbers starting with Road 1 at the Cowley County Line and ending with Road 32 at the Montgomery County line.

We used Road 1, 2, 3, etc., and tried to match up to Chautauqua County as their north/South roads are Road 1, 2, 3, etc.  However; our roads don't match up because Chautauqua County started with Road 1 at the southwest corner and that name stayed with that road even though the road would travel 5 miles to the northeast before it became Elk County.  We chose to change the road number to the next one when the road would move more than 1/2 mile.  For instance, at Elk Falls, what we call the River Road to come north to Howard is Road 19, but as it travels north and west it turns into Road 18 before it goes by Gene Perkins house.  When you go by Perkins house, the road goes west and is Killdeer until it reaches the highway.  While this road is meandering around, if it goes east/west for at least 1/2 mile it takes on the name of the east/west road for that area.

The numbered roads were started at the southwest corner and went east across the county and the named roads started at the south county line and went north through the alphabet.

Now, how did we get the numbers?  We chose to 4 digits in the number, so that if Elk County grew, the 911 numbering could grow also.  We did like Diane says their system is, every 1/10th of a mile the number changes.  Where ever your driveway was is what your number would be.  The cartographer for the county, Connie Hey, measured on her maps that pinpointed what your number would be.  If she questioned her measuring, she would send Kenny Hughes, field appraiser, out and he would double check it for her.  Connie Hey did a wonderful job with the 911 addressing and she is the one who gives out the addresses when someone wants to move in a new home or whatever. 

Now, how did we get the 911 system changed from the old post office addresses?  We worked with the Wichita post office who has charge of our little post offices out here.  I put the addresses in a database and e-mailed them to Wichita and they took it from there.  When they were ready, I then mailed letters to every address in the county and told them what their new address would be.  A date was given to them when the post office would no longer accept their old addresses as their mailing address.  I can't remember how long they were given, but it seemed to me that it went really smooth.  Our postmasters and carriers worked very hard with us to make this changeover work and I truly think we did a good job.

We had the road department put up the sign posts after I called Dig Safe about once a week.  Then, we, the sheriff's office, went out and put most of the signs up.  When it got to where we could not do it, the county hired a couple to finish the job and they did great work.

Now, the unfortunate thing that is going on now is when a sign disappears or is criminally damaged, the road department does not repair that sign.  Out in the western part of the county, there are several signs missing and my husband has talked to the road supervisor about gettng them put back up.  That was this spring.  The signs are still not up and his oil field contractors have a heck of a time finding the oil leases that they need to go to.  I think he will be paying another visit soon, but right now the county is trying to redo roads from the heavy flooding that we had.

I hope, Waldo, that this explains how we did our system and it is a system that works for Elk County.  We also have Enhanced 911 which is a blessing for the dispatchers and emergency services.  I wouldn't have it any other way now.

[W. Gray]

Good show, Janet, thank you for the information.

You will have to excuse people like me who are always wondering about something or other.

I was going to mention those missing road signs. South of Howard, Junebug seems to be one that is popular. I have also seen intersections that did not even have poles.

[Rudy Taylor]

Very informative, Janet.  Thanks!

[sixdogsmom]

Thanks to all! It is amazing how much information we exchange about one another but very little about our surroundings, and how they got that way!

[emptynest]

I am not too well versed in the country roads and always knew them as something else because of incidents that happened on them long ago.  My dad (retired game warden)  told many a story about some of the roads back in the day.  However, I can appreciate the hard work that went into naming them and keeping everything straight in our county as to not confuse from one county line to the next.  

However, I still would like to see a sign north of Howard and south of Howard as you are entering our city limits that says, "Howard----next 7 exits".     I just think that would enlighten so many people in our area and beyond.  What'd'ya think, Janet?

[kfclark]

Janet,
Thank you for that very informative article.  I remember the first time I came to Elk Co after the new signs went up and while I quickly figured out the alphabetical/numerical aspect, I did not understand why exceptions weren't made for the Busby Road etc.

Now it makes perfect sense. GOOD JOB.

[flo]

speaking of UPS, Sally, got to tell this story.  I was ordering something from somewhere, don't remember now, but the gal on the other end needed a "street address" because it would be coming via UPS and they needed an address to deliver to and I told her I didn't have one.  She wouldn't except route 1 box 51 and it was pre-E911.  I told her didn't make any difference what my address was, cause the UPS driver knew where I worked and if I wasn't home he'd just bring it to the co-op.  This she didn't understand either.  I had to explain to her that Severy was, and this is just what I told her, a town of 350 population and that included people, cats, dogs, and Jimmy Erwin's goats.  She accepted my then address.

[Jody]

What is the address for Buttermiilk HILL?  Or is it still  there?

[Wilma]

Where is Buttermilk Hill?  My husband used to speak of it but I don't remember where, now.

[Jo McDonald]

The history of Buttermilk Hill would be interesting to know.  I hope someone posts that info.