Best-named Street Corner In Sioux Falls: Grinn And Barret
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — When Linnea Bodenhamer of Sioux Falls gives people her address, she pauses to see how long it takes before they get the joke. It usually doesn’t take long.
“Every time I give somebody instructions, I laugh, then I wait to see how long it takes them to figure it out,” said Bodenhamer, who has lived in a condo at Grinn and Barret for four years.
Grinn and Barret. Grin and bear it.
Get it?
Most people do, and quickly, said Bodenhamer.
“It really took off in my family,” she said. “It’s been super-fun to tell out-of-town friends how to find me.”
Bryan Wiseman of Wiseman Contracting came up with the street name in about 2006, the Argus Leader ( ) reported. He was the developer for the area southwest of West 26th Street and the Tea-Ellis Road.
“The city called up and asked what I wanted to name those streets, and it just popped in my head: Grin and bear it,” Wiseman said.
The area had six streets in total, and the others were given the names of Wiseman’s partners, such as Shaw, Laverne Wipf and Mary Beth. In fact, you have to drive down Mary Beth to Grinn and Barret, Bodenhamer pointed out.
When he was building it, he had several people specifically request living at that corner, Wiseman said. His company currently is working on several other developments in Sioux Falls, Brandon and Hartford, but nothing has topped Grinn and Barret.
West Grinn and South Barret — both are places, not streets, avenues, lanes or boulevards — are private streets that were approved in 2006, said Planning Director Mike Cooper.
“Street names for new development areas are typically provided by the developer and reviewed by city engineering to make sure there are no duplications or other conflicts with our street-naming policy,” he said.
“There is a street-naming committee that can review requests for changing a street name, which then go to the City Council for approval.”
So, if you have a yearning to live at Afool and Hismoney or Arock and Ahardplace, it’s still possible.
There is one other in-joke in the Grinn and Barret neighborhood. While St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Church technically is located on Katie Avenue, the street leading up to it originally was named Haraldson, Wiseman said.
He acceded to a priest’s request to swap street names, however. Haroldson Street became Haroldson Avenue, while the street approaching the street bears his name, one with religious and holiday connotations.
“He asked if we could swap streets so they could have Wiseman going into the church,” Wiseman said. “I don’t know if that will help me out in the future. I said I wasn’t Catholic, and he (joked) he won’t blame me for that.”
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Information from: Argus Leader,
