House numbering -- minor detail

[Joel Berson]

>From Victor, more than a little while ago:

"Note that by December 1777, Queen Street had already had house numbers exceeding 200.

"There may be earlier references--I did not check other New York
newspapers. I found no similar ads with house numbers in Philadelphia
or Boston newspapers, but I did not look extensively. It does appear,
however, that New York may well have had house numbers on downtown
streets (including Wall Street!) at the time of the proclamation of
Independence."

The Declaration of Independence has little relevance, I think.  In 1777 New York was still under British control, and the war was not settled until the 1780s.

Joel

--- On Sat, 6/25/11, Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET> wrote:

> From: Joel Berson <berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject: [ADS-L] House numbering
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Date: Saturday, June 25, 2011, 10:37 AM
> Justin Winsor wrote "There is reason
> to believe that the stores and shops upon Long Wharf were
> designated by numbers before the system became general in
> the town. In some old advertisements letters were used
> instead of numbers.  (The Memorial History of Boston,
> 2:502.)
>
> Winsor's footnote for this is Drake, History of Boston, p.
> 537, note.
>
> I have not yet had the opportunity to follow this up.
> Long Wharf was built circa 1710, so such numbering/lettering
> could have arisen long before the Revolutionary period,
> which is, IIRC, when researchers on this list have first
> found it.
>
> Joel
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org