Addressing

In October 1987, the Kosciusko County Board of Commissioners adopted a baseline numbering system for houses and businesses in the unincorporated areas of Kosciusko County. In May 1988, the Kosciusko County Area Plan Commission established the Rural Numbering project to design and implement this system as provided under I.C. 36-7-4-405(b).

The purpose of this rural location address system is to assist the fire departments, emergency medical service units and the county/local police in locating houses and businesses during emergencies. This is why house numbers that have been assigned should be placed on the structure in such a way that can further assist these emergency groups locate a person or persons in need. Furthermore, rural addressing is a necessary precondition for county implementation of Enhanced 9-1-1 emergency dispatching, which has greatly improve the ability of fire, police and medical services to respond to emergencies.

Kosciusko County's baseline numbering method was compatible with the existing County Highway system. House and business numbers are related to a given structure's direction and distance from a particular county baseline road. The address number consists of the actual number itself and directional prefix to the road name. The number is expressed as the distance between the structure and the baseline road as measured in miles rounded to the nearest thousandth mile. The directional prefix indicates the direction the structure is located from the baseline road. For example, the address 4995 S 900 W, indicates that the structure is located on county road 900 West, 4.995 miles south of the county baseline ( when presented, the address number omits the decimal).

Kosciusko County has designated a north/south baseline and an east/west baseline. The north/south baseline consists of Old State Road 15, north of Warsaw and county Farm Road at a point south of Warsaw, just north of county road 400 S. These roads are also known as 'Meridian' roads. The east/west baseline consists of Old Road 30 east of Warsaw and Crystal lake Rd west of Warsaw. These roads are also known as the 'Division' roads.

The baseline that the county selects to determine a particular number address depends on the direction of the road on which the structure is located. If the house or business is located on a predominantly east/west running road, the county measures its distance from the north/south baseline to determine the address number. Likewise to obtain the location address for a house or business that is located on a predominantly north/south running road, the county measurers the distance from the east/west baseline to determine the address number. Even and odd numbers will indicate the sides of the road on which the structure is located. Even numbers appear on the north and east sides of the road and odd numbers appear on the south and west sides of a road.

Furthermore, the baseline system assigns a number approximately every five feet. If, for example a particular house number is 3525 and a neighboring house is located approximately fifty feet away the number of the neighboring house is either 3515 or 3535, depending on its direction from the relevant baseline.

However this works best if you the home, business owner takes the time to post the assigned location address on the structures in such a way that directs the emergency responders to you. Help them out by making sure your area has the correct numbers posted on structures.

EMS LANES

In 1988 the Kosciusko County Commissioners also signed a resolution stating that they would adopt the existing EMS lanes. Therefore, the lane's number is used in place of a road name. The first letter indicates the lake where you will locate the EMS Lane. (B - Barbee Chain, C - Chapman Lake, D -Dewart Lake, W - Webster Lake & Back Water, T - Tippecanoe, R - Ridinger Lake). Houses are measured from the beginning of the lane in feet less the last digit. For example 25 EMS T1 Lane indicates that there should be a structure on the south side of EMS T1Ln approximately 250 feet from the county road. When there are letters in the EMS Lane you will find that this indicates a new leg.

NEED AN ADDRESS ASSIGNED?

How does a new house number get established? Addresses are either assigned by our office at the time that an Improvement Location Permit is issued, if the property is in one of our non-participating incorporated towns the Town forwards the property address to our office through a letter, or when the Town participates with the County Area Plan Commission, the address is assigned by the town and given to the County at the time of the issuance of the Improvement Location Permit. There are occasions when an existing structures need an assigned address for NIPSCO, insurance or alarms, a request may be made through our office to establish this address. This information is then shared with the United Postal Service and E911.