New Hampshire is chock full of small towns which have a long history as small farming communities, and if they're in the southern third or so of the state, they are likely growing in population. This has become a problem because, well, farmers weren't meticulous about their naming conventions, and over time, a lot of strange road names came into being. This in itself was not really a problem as all the locals knew what was where, but over the past few decades as New Hampshire has experienced a surge in population growth in the form of immigration from other states, navigating the back roads has become particularly challenging for the newcomers.
Case in point, as reported by local news WMUR: Barrington, NH -- about 30 miles east of state capital Concord, along the Maine border -- undertook this past week a comprehensive overhaul of its road names to end years of historical confusion. The changes were not just because of fussy newcomers tired of getting lost on the way to the local food store; police and fire services have experienced numerous problems with confused calls into the 911 emergency phone service, leaving rescuers to try to figure out whether the emergency is on Canaan Road, Canaan Back Road, or Old Canaan Road, for instance. It took Barrington 5 years to plan and implement this huge re-naming of many town streets -- keeping in mind that thousands of people and businesses in Barrington, NH got a new address last week, though they hadn't moved anywhere -- and all indications so far are that things have rolled out smoothly. While the state 911 service has applauded Barrington's efforts, they also threw out the heavy hint that this sort of thing has to be done in many other New Hampshire towns as well. So if you're driving in some small New Hampshire town -- and odds are, if you're driving in New Hampshire, you're in a small town -- and some local tells you that what you're looking for is on some Canaan Road, beware........
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