Giving Directions in Rural Areas

Governments give cities names and they also give the streets names. Developers divide streets into blocks. Interstates have mile markers. How do people in rural areas give directions? Even though they may not seem standardized, rural people have ways of marking locations and giving directions. Usually a rural marker or landmark is an identifying feature about a certain area that makes it different from other areas.

The Sun, the Stars, and Maps

Often rural people know the direction to particular places because rural people have lived in the same location for a long time. The sun has been at their backs or in their eyes many times. Rural people often see maps and know landmarks of the area very well. Less likely now, but once upon a time rural people could probably read the stars very well.

Geographic Landmarks

The geographic features of a certain area might help determine its location. An example of someone using geographic features when giving directions might be - take the big lake road. If the road is mostly flat, the geographic directions might include - after topping a hill. Waterfalls, streams, rivers, mountains, ponds, lakes, oceans, rock outcroppings, canyons, deserts and valleys are all geographic landmarks that help people identify where they are in a certain geographic area or terrain.

Plants as Landmarks

Plants make good landmarks when giving directions. If there are vast stretches of farmland, a person might pass a landmark known as the tree in the middle of the field or a tree at the edge of the road. Someone might go through a tunnel of trees. Rural people often know their plant varieties; particular trees used in directions may be - oak, poplar, maple, cedar, red bud, dogwood, cypress, elm and others. A rural person might come to a cornfield or pass by a pasture. A rural person's flower or vegetable garden may mark a spot along the road. Sometimes wildflowers grow in patches and may identify a location.

Early Manmade Landmarks

Manmade landmarks work their way into rural directions. At first, anything manmade is a very prominent landmark on the landscape. (Follow the blacktop road. Turn on the gravel road. Cross a wooden bridge on the dirt road.) These are examples of early development and manmade landmarks that someone giving directions in a rural area might use.

Advanced Manmade Landmarks

Tall, large or unusual structures make good landmarks for people giving directions. Bridges are usually quite noticeable. Who can miss a tunnel if they have to go through it? People may build a water tower early in a rural area's development. Churches or community centers are often larger than other buildings and they have signs that clearly mark them. Graveyards are good landmarks. Retail businesses often display their names prominently even in rural areas. Other businesses may have unusual features - hog farms, grain elevators, saw mills, factories, etc. All of these landmarks become useful when giving directions.

Street Name Problem

Once people officially begin to name streets, the names are still not always dependable. Governments have the authority to change street names and may do so many times when a town is small. They may not have the resources to mark the official names on all the streets immediately. Local people tend to create their own names. Many roads do not have official names or signs at all. A road or a section of a road may get a nickname - lover's lane, the fun road, the roller coaster, or dead man's curve. Groups of people that travel the road are familiar with a road's nickname/nicknames. The nickname becomes a sort of street name or mile marker.

Settlement Name Problem

Even unincorporated areas have names. Settlements (towns, villages, farming communities, fishing communities, etc.) are another useful landmark when giving directions in rural areas. The settlements may or may not have a name posted along the road. Early settlers named many settlements long ago. Settlers sometimes named their settlements after Native Americans, the people who founded the settlements, elected officials or war heroes. They named settlements many things for many reasons. Settlers also used geography, plants, and manmade landmarks to name settlements. Sometimes a business will display the name of a settlement. Otherwise, a person may never know that they passed through a settlement like Cedar Grove USA or any of the many other special places in the USA.