One of Open Street Map’s most elegant features, one which Google does not implement, is the inclusion of building street addresses. They appear on the roofs of most buildings, and for the most part seem accurate.

It was on account of this I discovered an address where one could send mail to Old Calvary. It is 34-02 Greenpoint Avenue.

Calvary Map With Street Address: 34-02 Greenpoint Avenue

Calvary Map With Street Address: 34-02 Greenpoint Avenue

The reason I thought the place had no official address is because all administrative offices are New Calvary, a mile or so up the road, and that is the address most GPS apps send people to when they’re looking for Calvary. On account of this I have frequently fielded questions from confused New Calvary visitors about where Section 4 is, for example, or Section 1, which are both at Old Calvary.

GPS devices constantly send anyone who wants to go to Old Calvary to New Calvary because their Laurel Hill address is what mapping apps think is the official address.

34-02 is the better address for Old Calvary but I guess most people just type in “Calvary Cemetery” and get sent to New Calvary. They are usually tourists who seem unaware that Old Calvary and New are physically separated by about a mile.

Another mystery of life resolved. I’m not in any kind of hurry to solve all my life’s tiny little mysteries, but it might seem as if I am.

I had imagined that a place like that would have no need for mailing address given that no one is able (living) to send or receive.  But obviously, the groundskeepers and such have to have equipment and supplies delivered somewhere.

The only other structure at Old Calvary that might have a street address would be the chapel, but it has none, I guess since no one lives there, and anything needed for that facility would probably go through the main administrative offices.

Having praise OSM for its street address numbers I wandered around other areas and spotted one mistake after another. This little map outtake shows a traffic signal at the entrance to the cemetery, where Gale Avenue merges with the cemetery roadway. There is none. It also shows a B67 bus toward the top right that should be a Q67.

I spent some time making fixes and reporting errors but it felt like the proverbial emptying the ocean with a teaspoon. I do like the way those maps look, though, compared to others.