Today I learned Thomas Jefferson might be the reason why we have the same names for different streets and roads in Rockford.

Browsing the Rockford subreddit I saw this question:

What's with the street names around here?

As a longtime Rockford resident, I never understood why either and was immediately intrigued and now needed answers.

For example: Why does the road mostly referred to as "Fairview" change names 4 times over the 2.3 miles long it stretches? From 31st St to Fairview Ave to Fairview Blvd to Chelsea Ave. And its basically all one straight road.

The answer for the different street names might have to do with one of America's founding fathers Thomas Jefferson.

Karl1940 on Reddit explains why:

"In 1795, Thomas Jefferson implemented a way of surveying the territories west of the Appalachians, dividing the land into square mile plots. These square plots had to fit on a spherical planet, which meant that every so often there had to be “grid corrections.”
Country roads followed the edges of these square plots which means that every so often the roads jog. When Guilford Road was first laid out it was a county road. That's why, when you travel west on Guilford and hit Alpine, you have to drive a few blocks south to pick up Guilford again."

While I tend to believe this as fact, what I can't get over is why was the streets and roads that start back up aren't named something else?

That's one Rockford mystery that will never get solved.

Sweet Lenny is the brand manager of 97ZOK and Operations Manager for Townsquare Media Rockford. Catch him afternoons 3 to 7 on 97ZOK. Follow him on TwitterInstagram and like his page on Facebook.

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