The Shortest Road in the World

The coastal town of Wick is a former Viking village, which during the 19^th century had one of Europe’s busiest herring ports. It was brought to the world stage in 2006, when the Guinness World Records officially recognized the town’s Ebenezer Place as the shortest street in the world_[1]

Measuring a staggering 2.05 metres (6 ft 9 in), Ebenezer Place is one centimetre shorter than the American basketball star LeBron James. If you’re wondering how such an anomaly came into being, it’s all due to regulations.

Built in 1883 along the Wick River, Mackay’s Hotel had 4 exterior walls upon its completion, three of which faced the surrounding streets. As a result of the building’s sharp tip being trimmed, a ridiculously short façade was formed at the junction of Union and River Streets. Since every wall that had doors or windows had to be marked independently as a street, local authorities ordered the hotel’s owner to install the sign “Ebenezer Place” on its shortest side, which in 1887 was formally listed as a street.

Nowadays, the entrance at the building’s shorter-than-a-horse side leads to the only address on the street, the No. 1 Bistro restaurant, frequented by hotel guests and curious onlookers alike.