How Roads are named in St. Joseph County

Several generations ago, St. Joseph County developed a system for naming its roads.

Roads are in alphabetical order on a one-mile grid.

The east-west roads are named for prominent people, while the north-south roads are named for trees and plants.

For example, the east-west roads start with Adams Road, named for Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. They progress through the alphabet - Brick, Cleveland, Douglas, Edison, Fillmore, Grant, Harrison, Inwood, Jackson, Kern, Roosevelt, Madison, New, Osborne, Pierce, Quinn, Riley, Shively and Tyler.

The alphabetical plant names start with Ash Road at the Elkhart County line and progress through Beech, Cedar, Dogwood, Elm, Fir, Gumwood, Hickory, Ironwood, Juniper, Linden, Maple, Mulberry, Oak, Pine, Primrose, Redwood, Sycamore, Tamarack, Smilax, Spruce, Willow and Timothy.

The numbering system for addresses on east-west roads start with 10000 at the Elkhart County line and runs through 34000 at the west county line. The numbers for north-south roads start with 50500 at the Michigan state line and run through 70000 at the Marshall County line.

For more on the county road system, including an explanation of the prominent people immortalized in east-west road names, go to the county Web site: www.stjosephcountyindiana.com. Put your cursor on Dept. Web Pages, then click on county surveyor and look for the "Road Names" category.

Article published in the South Bend Tribune.