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1770 Beach Accomodation
Mailing code numbers are not just for zip codes anymore. Nowadays, they are used to name places.
In 1963, the US post office implemented the five-digit Zone Improvement Plan or ZIP codes, causing the entire nation to become very skeptical. A post office historian narrated the incident to Time and said, “People were concerned they were being turned into numbers. They thought it was depersonalizing them.”
Since World War II, mail volume had doubled, making it impossible to hand-sort all the addresses. However, with the help of an ad campaign and an adorable cartoon mascot named Mr. ZIP, America was eventually convinced that using numbers wasn’t really a problem. Later on, a small Australian town was inspired to use numbers for its name—and now it’s called 1770.
1770 may sound like a short name, but actually it is not just four characters long
Although locals write down the name of the town as 1770, the Australian government officially calls it Seventeen Seventy, apparently twelve characters longer than you think.
There are lots of towns today that are named after numbers, but it is by far the largest number. Fifty-Six, Arkansas, which is named after its school district number; Eighty Eight, Kentucky, which is an idea by a postmaster who wanted to easily write a numerical name because of his poor handwriting; and Hundred, West Virginia, which is named after the founders who lived past one hundred years, are just some of them.
In the year 1770, Seventeen Seventy was called Round Hill, the birthplace of Queensland
Established along the coast where Captain James Cook and his men on HM Bark Endeavor first landed on May 24, 1770, Seventeen Seventy was originally called Round Hill.
In 1970, the name was changed from Round Hill to 1770 to commemorate the bicentennial visit of James and his crew. Since then, the locals of the town reenacts the historic landing.
In 1770, the town still looks like 1770
Seventeen Seventy isn’t just an ordinary town you can locate in the map. It is also a great vacation destination for tourists. In fact, its coastline still looks like the way it did when Captain Cook and his crew first arrived.
Though it seems like a tiny town, it boasts a multitude of beautiful sights such as the Bustard Head Lighthouse, Agnes Water, and Lady Musgrave Island.
Six years before America had its bicentennial celebration, Australia already celebrated theirs
May 24, 1970, marked the 200th bicentennial anniversary of Captain Cook’s visit. During that day, not only did Australia issue a commemorative coin, the tiny town also changed its name to 1770 after its founding year.
Every May since 1993, Seventeen Seventy holds a festival, which starts with a colorful street parade and culminates with a spectacular display of lights over Bustard Bay.
