By Cathy Gregorski
Prior to 1956, Town residents and visitors alike found their way through Erin via landmarks and a good sense of direction.
According to life-long Town resident Rosemary Burg, “If you were from the area, you just knew which way to go.” Beverly Schroeder moved to Erin in 1954. Asked how she found her way around the Town, Beverly replied, “Well, I followed directions that went something like ‘go north, pass two streets, turn right at the big barn, and we'll be the second farm on the left.’ ” In the 1950’s the Town population was approximately 1,000 with more people per household than today.
Before they were officially named, roads were often referred to by where they led or by who lived along them. According to Beverly Schroeder, Donegal Road east of Highway K was referred to as the “back road to Holy Hill.” Rosemary Burg said Shamrock Road was called Whelan’s Road for the Whelan family. Nancy Henke added that Galway Road was called Garvey’s Road.
Residents received mail through a box number on a rural postal route. Since rural routes wound through the town and box numbers were prone to change, they were not a practical means for locating a home. Beverly Schroeder said her box changed three times, which made friends and relatives often wonder if she had moved.
The Hartford Times Press, when reporting about the people and
events in Erin, used rural route numbers, nearby family farms, or sometimes just “happened on a town road” to describe a location.
In 1956 a committee was formed to name the town roads. County and state roads had already been named for several years. Dodge County had recently passed a county-wide Rural Building Identification and Road Naming Project. An April 1956 article in the Times Press encouraged residents to “learn their numbers” and explained how to use the new system to report an emergency.
Life-long area resident Emmett Burg recalled that his mother, Mrs. Anne Burg, was a member of the committee. Other members included Agnes Whelan and Carolyn Kraft. Emmett Burg and Beverly Schroeder said the decision to name the roads was made to help emergency service providers more quickly locate residents who needed help. One can only hope those emergency responders were also “from the area” and “just knew which way to go.” According to a story in the Times Press, the committee chose to name the roads “mostly after Irish localities.”
Town Board meeting minutes show that existing roads were still being named in the 1960’s and into the 1970’s. Log House Road became official in May of 1967. Also in 1967, the town voted to adopt a house-numbering system. Interestingly, the town tax rolls show tax bills were sent to rural route addresses until 1978.
2006 marks the 50th anniversary of the naming of our town roads. Over the years our roads have been paved and widened, and street signs have been added. Ironically, as the author was gathering information for this story, more than once she was referred to a person she did not know, but was told where to find. “You know, you go south on ‘K’, turn left past the little cemetery. You know, it’s the road that takes you out to St. Augustine Road. . .”
