House numbering
system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area
House numbering is the system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area, with the intention of making it easier to locate a particular building. The house number is often part of a postal address. The term describes the number of any building (residential or commercial) with a letterbox, or even a vacant lot. House numbering also serves a public safety function; visible house numbers allow emergency services to locate properties more quickly, and both the International Fire Code and National Fire Protection Association fire codes require buildings to display address numbers that are legible and visible from the street.
House numbering schemes vary by location, and in many cases even within cities. In some areas of the world, including many remote areas, houses are named but are not assigned numbers.
In many countries, the house number follows the name of the street; but in anglophone and francophone countries, the house number normally precedes the name of the street.
History
A house-numbering scheme was in use on the Pont Notre-Dame in Paris in 1463, covering 68 houses. However, it is unclear whether these numbers served as an addressing system or as a way of cataloguing property. A numbering system was adopted in the Fuggerei in Augsburg in 1519, but its original purpose is also unclear.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “House numbering” as system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as system of giving a unique number to each building in a street or area. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q125246381. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1463 and 1519.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “House numbering”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow House numbering primary sources, House numbering archive and House research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “House numbering”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “House numbering” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.