And far from being outlandish, the residents’ fears turn out to be justifiable, even reasonable. Addresses aren’t just for emergency services. They also exist so people can find you, police you, tax you, and try to sell you things you don’t need through the mail. West Virginians’ suspicions about the addressing project were remarkably similar to those of eighteenth-century Europeans who rebelled when governments slapped numbers on their doors—a story this book will tell.
