The Fascinating History of What Happened to the Mail Sent to Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker Street

The wonderful online series Today I Found Out shared the absolutely fascinating history of what happened to the mail that was sent to Sherlock Holmes at 221B Baker Street in London, even though the actual address did not exist until the 1930s.

When Sir Arthur Conan Doyle first began writing Sherlock Holmes stories back in the late 19th century, 221B Baker Street didn’t exist. While Baker Street itself existed, and still exists today, the numbers on the street back when Doyle wrote the Sherlock Holmes novels and when Holmes was supposed to reside there (1881 to 1904 according to Doyle’s original stories) only went into the hundreds. It would seem that Doyle intentionally picked an address that didn’t exist.