A Fort Washington, Maryland, neighborhood has several streets with nearly identical names — leading to perpetual confusion, a lot of wrong deliveries and maybe some unexpected friendships.
Digges Lane and Digges Terrace, Reid Circle and Reid Lane, Washington Lane and Washington Terrace: They’re all next to each other in the Captain’s Cove community.
It’s not just the street names. The numbers on the houses are also repeated.
“With your mail here, you never know what you’re going to get,” resident Troy said. “We all get the chance to be post office officials.”
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Packages get delivered to the wrong address over and over again, residents say. It can be funny at times, but also frustrating.
Troy says his medications often end up at someone else’s doorstep.
“This little house gets all my medicine from the [Veterans Administration], so I go pick it up. I took them a nice pair of shoes one time because they left that at my house,” Troy said.
Transportation
Reporter Adam Tuss and the News4 team are covering you down on the roads and in transit.
“We have special guests… come up and knock on our door and just ask ‘did you get this package?’” Claude Stark said. “It’s laughable, but it’s frustrating.”
The misdelivers are a recipe for seeing your neighbors a lot.
Stark and his neighbor Bertha now have a special relationship due to all the mix-ups.
“Claude is my new best friend,” she told News4 through her Ring doorbell camera.
Stark has been trying to get the roads renamed but says there’s been pushback and concern for even more confusion.
But he has a very clear vision for a road rename.
“Clarity Avenue. How’s that?” He joked.
Captain’s Cove isn’t the only Fort Washington community with this problem. Near Fort Washington Forest Elementary School, you’ll find Buchanan Drive, Buchanan Court and Buchanan Place.
Even Wikipedia is aware of the drama over Fort Washington’s redundant roads, saying: “First-time visitors are often confused by the several ‘Livingston Roads’” and “two separate ‘Old Fort Roads.’”
News4 contacted the Prince George’s County fire department and asked if there had ever been a mistake responding to a call in these areas. They said they were not aware of any.
We have not heard back from the county or the U.S. Postal Service.
Do similar road names cause confusion in your neighborhood? Share your best stories by tagging @nbcwashington and @MelissaMollet on Twitter.
