City Directory Abbreviations

Rebecca Barnet

What do "rt" and "bx" mean in city directories?

(e.g. Doe, John M h Cleveland blvd rt 4 bx 2734)

Alan E. Brown

The US Postal Service designates Rural Route Addresses for a city using a Route number and a Box number.

Katherine Huie

If it is used often, maybe those could be added to the list at the "What to Remember about this Project" in the Project Instructions? Learning something new every day.

Julia Szent-Györgyi

@Katherine Huie, given that addresses aren't indexed in this project, abbreviations used in addresses would just be a distraction in the instructions.

Rebecca Barnet

@Julia Szent-Györgyi I'd actually disagree here. Because I didn't know what those meant, I wasn't sure if they were a residence or a business abbreviation. The project instructions say not to index names associated with businesses but to do so for residences. Getting confirmation that it is a reference to a residence meant I was supposed to index it.

Rebecca Barnet

@Alan E. Brown Thank you! I had seen them on other city directories but couldn't figure out what they meant.