What are Five Mile Road and Ten Mile Road 5 miles and 10 miles from?
-Kevin W. via Twitter
While doing research, I asked lots of people if they knew what Five Mile Road was five miles from.
Guesses ranged from the Capitol, to the depot, to Boise's one-time city limits to a survey marker and more.
The most common (usually in jest) answer? Ten Mile Road.
That isn't the real answer of course, and in turns out the joking answer isn't even true. The two similarly named roads are actually six miles apart.
Confused? It gets more complicated.
Not only are Five Mile and Ten Mile six miles apart - they aren't truly five or ten miles from anything significant.
It turns out the roads get their names - indirectly - from two creeks that run through Ada County. Five Mile Creek begins about five miles due south of the Boise River near the airport - and Ten Mile Creek is another five miles south of that, according to an Ada County Highway District publication.
But if the roads run north-south and the creeks run east-west how did the streets get their names?
The 2003 ACHD publication says a school was plopped down near Five Mile Creek - and got its name from the stream. A voting district was named for the school - and the road was named for the voting district.
Confused still? Five Mile Creek led to Five Mile School which led to the Five Mile voting district, and finally Five Mile Road.
Ten Mile Road was named for Ten Mile Heights School near the creek, then the voting district followed - and then the street.