I think that Hoosiers are smart people for this reason alone: They don't need to have the county printed on their license plates in order to know exactly where in Indiana a particular driver is from.
Did you know that?
It's a bit of trivia that has always impressed my husband (who is not from Indiana; I am), so I figured it might interest some others too...
Jim was always fascinated that we could be in Florida, driving past a car with Indiana tags, and yet I could remark with confidence, "Oh, they're from Fort Wayne!" or "They're from Wabash!" just by looking at their license plate.
You see, I used to live in Indiana. I was born in "71", but grew up in "52". I hung with all the military brats who lived on the base in "9". I shopped in "34" (or drove an hour-and-a-half to "2" if I wanted a "real mall"). I went to college in "53".
How Indiana's Numbering System Works
It's based on an alphabetical listing of all 92 counties within the state of Indiana. For example, license plates issued in Miami County start with the prefix "52" because it's the fifty-second county in the alphabetical listing.
If you're wondering which number represents which county, check out this alphabetical list of all 92 Indiana counties. (Click on a county to see which cities are located in that particular county.)
If you're wondering where a particular county in Indiana is, check out this state map with all Indiana counties. (Click on a county to view the demographics and key facts about that particular county.)
Here are some interesting facts about Indiana license plates and their changes through the years.
Florida tried to incorporate a similar numbering strategy, but ended up ditching the idea. Here's how Florida used numbers on their license plates to depict different counties from 1938 to 1975.
So there you have it!... A way to impress your friends the next time you pass a car with Indiana tags on it.
UPDATE 7/31/08
From my friend Suz:
It's the end of an era with Indiana license plates. No longer do they have the county number in the license plate number! It's 3 numbers and 3 letters -- all the same size -- with no spaces. The county is on a sticker above that (number and name) but too small to see. You can't read it from another car. Who made that decision? I already hate it. I see lots of Indiana cars of people who work around here and I ALWAYS look for the county number to see where they're from. Bummer."
18 Comments
Leave a comment
- Not Your Average Green Bean Casserole: Try These Interesting Recipe Variations
- How To Receive Faxes Online (...Plus Other Free Business Services)
- RV Christmas Decorating Tips
- Building Or Remodeling A Kitchen: What Does It Cost?
- Going Off-Road? Be Prepared, Use These Offroad Checklists
- 9 Easy Tips For Planning A Dog Birthday Party
- 5 Ways To Make Money Scrapbooking Or Stamping
- How To Remain A Triathlete Over The Long Haul
- Lightning Strikes: How To Stay Safe During An Electrical Storm
- Lincoln Memorial Pennies Valued From 1 Cent To $50,000 And Up
you have been able to go to any bmv for years and not be in your county and get tags for all countys tags have for years
to the person saying that we do not have the county number on the plates is wrong we have 2 plates to choose from ones with the county number and then 3 numbers and 3 letters we
have a choice
Quoted from above "You can't read it from another car. Who made that decision?"
#1: If you can't read that sticker you shouldn't be driving! I need glasses and can read it from 4 car lengths away.
#2: you, the taxpayer and Dear Mitch decided that...... we can however Ditch Mitch in a few weeks....
Part of the reason for the change was to make it easier for people to go to a different branch to get their plates, the only way to do it was switch to this method.
Just stumbled across this website when I was trying to figure out why a particular address in Converse, Indiana was in the format: 1234 N 800W -27. I remembered that Converse sits on the Miami/Grant county line & thought, "I wonder if the 27 in the address means it's on the Grant County side?" Sure thing. 27 is the Grant County plate prefix... Strange they'd put it in the postal address, though. Anyway, I grew up in the "34" & lived in both the "48" and "49" (though I had a "93" plate at that time!) I haven't lived in the Hoosier state for many years but I understand this quirky Indiana thing is ending with the newest license plates being issued. Across the top, there's a white strip with the county number AND name. The game of "guess where they're from" was fun while it lasted!
Counties with larger populations required additional prefixes to accomodate all the licensed vehicles. The particular county license branch dispenses the plates according to their own plan, so in some cases the different prefixes maybe by location or district or some other totally different method. In my county for example they issue plates by request in the following groups P-police, F-fireman, D-democrat, R-republican. The normal issues for our county are A, C, and Q. Since truck plates do not follow this convention and the county population is less than 30,000 this is sufficeint for our needs.
can you tell me what the pre fix on the tags in posey co. was in 1954? was it HH or HD or what. I am wanting a posey plate for that year for my father.thanks Scott.
Now that we've cleared up that Lake county has a couple different numbers, I was curious how the areas for each number are chosen. Last year I was a 96 and this year they switched me to a 45 and I live at the same address....I'm confused :)