- City:
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Site Type:
- Infrastructure and Utilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Works Progress Administration (WPA), Work Relief Programs
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1940
- Designers:
- George M. Haley, Salt Lake County surveyor
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Marked:
- No
- Site Survival:
- Unknown
Description
Richard R. Lyman was a civil engineer and the vice-chairman of the Utah State Road Commission from 1908-1919. During the 1930s he was a member of an American Society of Civil Engineers commission that developed a grid system for street numbering to make it possible for any traveler to find an address in any city without the help of a map.
In June 1936, Salt Lake County adopted the “Lyman System” of designating street names. Instead of the then-current system of designating a street with a name such as “Thirty-third South,” the new signs bore the inscription “3300 S”. The work to change the country street signs and sign posts themselves was done as a WPA project beginning in 1936 and wrapping up in 1940 after replacing over 300 signs.
Source notes
County adopts new setup for street naming (1936, Jun 12). Salt Lake Tribune.
Salt Lake City and County street names and numbers (2019, Nov 3). UtahRails.net. [Accessed on Feb 11, 2023 at https://utahrails.net/articles/sl-county-streets.php)
WPA crew nears completion of street numbering project (1940, Apr 17). Salt Lake Telegram.
Site originally submitted by Corrinne Fiedler on February 12, 2023.
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