House Numbers on (Rural) Mail Box

[larryinnewyork]

This is just a Public Service Announcement.

I was at my Aunt/Uncle house (they just turned 80 years old).
They live on a rural road and their mail-box is at the street on a post.
Uncle asks me to put up a "new" mail-box.
Rusty old box did not have numbers that could be seen by Ambulance/Police.
New box now has 3" Reflective Numbers on BOTH SIDES and red Reflective Tape.

My other Aunt/Uncle live 1/2 mile away, same situation (their 85 years old).
I applied 3" Reflective Numbers and "red" Reflective Tape.
I also put a Reflective Plate (4x12) on their front tree (bought at Home Depot).

Another Aunt/Uncle - same situation.

So, if you have any elderly relatives, make sure their house can be found quickly by Ambulance/Police.
The numbers should be on BOTH SIDES of the mail-box and be Reflective.

If you live up North and get a lot of snow, (which can bury the mail-box) besides the number on mail-box, have a Reflective Number near front of house.

 

[Al]

Almost not necessary. Everyone is GPS dispatched. But still a good plan. Just as important to put it on the house.

 

[bubbatime]

Originally Posted By: Al
Almost not necessary. Everyone is GPS dispatched. But still a good plan. Just as important to put it on the house.


The OPs PSA is 100% valid. Most agencies in the country are not GPS dispatched at this time. Big agencies with money, sure, but not BFE County.

As a cop there were times when I spent 10 to 20 minutes or longer just looking for an address because the mailbox wasn't marked and the house wasn't marked. And all the neighbors house were the same too. I actually wish the postal service would notify people on their routes that their house and/or mail box is not marked correctly and needs to be rectified.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I'm surprised that when they converted the addresses to the 911 addresses they didn't put address markers in place. Every rural home here has 911 address markers. You can pick up the HIP address markers for around $20.

Originally Posted By: Al
Just as important to put it on the house.


Which doesn't do much good in a rural area-many of the houses aren't visible from the road.

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Your address markers are at road intersections, the usually green signs. You find a intersection, it will give you the North-South coordinate, and you go by that.

1750N and 550E intersection means you are 5.5 miles East of western county line, and 17.5 miles North of southern county line, SIMPLE math. Then you live .5miles East of 550E, on road 1750N, so you would get the address; "600 County Road 1750N"

Some counties give names for roads, they overpaid for the "deluxe" 911 system. Also house signs are incredibly stupid, because it's your mailbox that gets located.... your mailbox can be anywhere, but your 911 dispatch sign needs to be 30 feet from your driveway, which is stupid if your mailbox is at another location, like 5 miles at other families home, or a long dead end road.

 

[Neely97]

Nice thing you did for the old folks ,can't do enough of that.

30 years working for rural telco , so much time is wasted looking for locations without any markings.

GPS might or might not put you to the exact house number or country lane that leads to a house.

 

[RedOakRanch]

GPS at my ranch puts you a mile up the road and a half mile inland. It doesn't locate the house but the center of the property. 3 other houses are closer to the GPS point than the correct house. I have big numbers in front of the house.

 

[UncleS2]

Larry, you're a good man & a fine nephew.

Those of you who trust in GPS- please don't. A clear, easily read address, along with attention-getting reflectors or tape, can be a lifesaver when minutes & seconds count. Small towns & rural areas aren't guaranteed to have perfectly accurate GPS available.

 

[eljefino]

My parents have a "mileage based" house numbering in their rural vermont road. Their number is up in the 1000s but it's cool because they go up/down linearly as you drive.

In many places where there are volunteer firemen someone might respond in their private car and not have all the cool tech gear the ambulance has, so it never hurts to be over-numbered.

And if you leave the Xmas lights up year round, you can flick those on as well.

 

[Eddie]

Probably good to put your house number and names on the roof also. Ed

 

[tom slick]

Cal Fire has regulations requiring street signs and address at all driveways in rural areas.

 

[djb]

Many of the databases used by mapping program have only the street numbers at the intersections. They interpolate to guess where a specific street number might be. This works great in cities, but not so well for a rural address a few miles from the nearest intersection.

 

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm surprised that when they converted the addresses to the 911 addresses they didn't put address markers in place. Every rural home here has 911 address markers. You can pick up the HIP address markers for around $20.

Originally Posted By: Al
Just as important to put it on the house.


Which doesn't do much good in a rural area-many of the houses aren't visible from the road.


They did at our mountain house. Now everybody has an ugly green number at the end of the driveway...

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm surprised that when they converted the addresses to the 911 addresses they didn't put address markers in place. Every rural home here has 911 address markers. You can pick up the HIP address markers for around $20.

Originally Posted By: Al
Just as important to put it on the house.


Which doesn't do much good in a rural area-many of the houses aren't visible from the road.


They did at our mountain house. Now everybody has an ugly green number at the end of the driveway...

I suppose you could take it down and put up something nice to look at during the day, but I'd rather have the reflective sign incase you need help at night...

 

[04SE]

Originally Posted By: Vern_in_IL
Your address markers are at road intersections, the usually green signs. You find a intersection, it will give you the North-South coordinate, and you go by that.

1750N and 550E intersection means you are 5.5 miles East of western county line, and 17.5 miles North of southern county line, SIMPLE math. Then you live .5miles East of 550E, on road 1750N, so you would get the address; "600 County Road 1750N"



Not in the county I live in... The system is based on a central location in the county and fans out from there.

 

[Garak]

In a related note, many years back, our city put numbers on everyone's garage or fence in the back alley to similarly aid emergency services personnel who would not have the benefit of seeing the numbers up front.

 

[Oldmoparguy1]

I did my mailbox 10 years ago when I was only 77.

 

[SHOZ]

Originally Posted By: Pop_Rivit
I'm surprised that when they converted the addresses to the 911 addresses they didn't put address markers in place. Every rural home here has 911 address markers. You can pick up the HIP address markers for around $20.

Originally Posted By: Al
Just as important to put it on the house.


Which doesn't do much good in a rural area-many of the houses aren't visible from the road.


That's what they did here at my rural house in Illinois. County paid for the address plate and came and installed it.

 

[SHOZ]

Originally Posted By: djb
Many of the databases used by mapping program have only the street numbers at the intersections. They interpolate to guess where a specific street number might be. This works great in cities, but not so well for a rural address a few miles from the nearest intersection.



I can go to any map program and enter my rural address that are the road coordinates and it finds it to the foot. Same with my Garmin.

 

[SHOZ]

Each county is different in Illinois. My county starts at the SW corner, the county north of me starts at the center of the county.