The Address America Story
Our Story
Every Great Story Must Start Somewhere
America’s Deep South: a cultural melting pot of Musical and storytelling genius. In Jackson, Mississippi, with the Blues Highway running west of the city like a cool black ribbon, Address America is open for business. We are more than a custom address sign shop serving clients across our nation. We are a family business with a story of our own that spans three generations.
Beneath the aluminum, steel, and polypropylene found in our workshop daily, Address America’s history snakes its way through the Delta, filled with more stories than the Pearl River. Ours is a humble and folksy narrative that home state heroes would be proud to tell — those Mississippi writers and bluesmen whose stories changed not just America, but also the world.
Tennessee Williams famously said, “In memory everything seems to happen to music.” Our family's milestone events are marked by beautiful address signs and the most loyal and happy customers.
Humble, Down-Home Beginnings
Where does our story begin? In Jackson, Mississippi — a city built on the banks of 444 miles of spiritual water known as the Pearl River. Our hometown’s slogan is ‘The City with Soul’, which perfectly mirrors the core of our business, a family shop born from vision and necessity nearly 30 years ago.
In October 1991, our founder David Ashley was out delivering firewood to help support his family. He’d been doing this as a side business since he was a freshman in college. This wasn’t easy money either; it was labor intensive. David would drag logs out of the swamps and hand-split the timber.
With just a beat up old truck and a helper, he’d transport firewood around Jackson’s neighborhoods, delivering to homes well past dark. But in winter, when the sun set just after 5, finding addresses in the dark was a near impossible task. Creole cottages, Federal-style mansions, and Greek-revival dwellings littered the landscape, but down avenues and streets arched with live oak trees, there was no visible signage.
Night after night, David or his helper would walk up to houses and shine a flashlight on mailboxes, walls, posts, and doors. Often, they would go so far as knocking to ask residents what their address number was. David knew police, ambulance and fire services faced the very same predicament. He questioned how they would find those houses during emergencies.
To help alleviate this issue, David launched a new business that would grow from grassroots to greatness. It started as a simple curb painting service but would transform into something truly remarkable.
The Birth of a Business
Renting time on a computer at a nearby Kinkos, David designed and printed flyers that he delivered around the neighborhoods. His curb painting initiative was no longer just a seed of an idea, it was a promising entrepreneurial business. On March 19, 1992, he hand-painted his very first house number on a Jackson, Mississippi curb, marking the official birth date of Address America.
Little Victories
Business was booming! Address America was a hit around Jackson. With masking tape and brush in hand, David Ashley painted curb numbers for anyone who called him. But a monumental event would soon test his business model, leading him to reconsider his idea. A near-tragic accident involving his family proved both wake-up call and catalyst.
Inspiration Born from Adversity
On a peaceful fall night in September 1992, David Ashley’s father-in-law Hilton suffered an embolism at home, a potentially fatal blood clot that can kill without warning. Hilton’s wife Lina dialed 911 and anxiously waited for the medics but the ambulance passed their house many times, unable to find them.
Lina grew fearful at Hilton’s side and wondered what was taking so long. She could hear sirens drawing near before rapidly fading out. As the flashing lights approached again, Lina flagged the ambulance down. By the grace of God Hilton survived and a major lesson presented itself.
The next day, as David drove around the neighborhood, his business’ major flaw became apparent. Leaves, snow, trash, and parked cars sometimes hid the curb numbers, preventing people from seeing them. Despite his method being better than nothing, David knew he had to do better. Jackson, Mississippi required something radical and innovative that would change the face of home identity.
The Start of Something Truly Special
On a cool October evening in 1992, David Ashley drafted the blueprint for a cutting-edge solution. He wanted to prevent what had happened to Hilton and Lina from happening to others in the community. Something exceptional materialized on the page: an address sign that could be viewed from both sides day or night, from hundreds of feet, in all kinds of weather.
In the following months, he dreamt up a collection of products that would revolutionize the home address market — preventing unnecessary deaths, aiding emergency services, and beautifying front yards.
