What's in a name: The streets edition

[elSicomoro]

Some street names are common from city to city or town to town: Broadway, Front Street, Main Street, Dr. Martin Luther King Drive/Boulevard, etc.

But then you have street names that you don't see beyond your own town or don't see very often. And then you have the names that, while they may seem common, just sound cool or funny.

You know the drill...post away.

In Philadelphia:
--Shackamaxon Street
--Ionic Street
--69th Street
--Trotters Alley
--Elfreth's Alley
--Moyamensing Avenue
--Passyunk Avenue
--Black Horse Alley
--Wissahickon Avenue
--Wingohocking Street
--Iseminger Street

In St. Louis:
--Hemp Avenue (the shortest street in the city)
--Loughborough Avenue (LAUFF-burr-oh)
--Chouteau Avenue (SHOW-tow)
--DeBalivere Avenue
--Gay Street
--Josephine Baker Place
--James "Cool Papa" Bell Place
--Dianthan Lane
--Vulcan Street
--Espenchied Street (ES-pen-SHYD)
--Pestalozzi Street (officially PES-ta-LO-zee, but pronounced by many South St. Louisans as PET-sa-LO-zee...neither version is actually proper)

In Washington, DC:
--Malcolm X Boulevard

In Mount Rainier, MD:
--Chillum Road
--Chauncey Place (my former street)

In Takoma Park, MD:
--Sligo Creek Parkway

In Chicago:
--Wacker Drive
--Jonquil Terrace
--Touhy Avenue (TOO-ee)

In Baltimore:
--Holabird Avenue
--Eutaw Street (pronounced like Utah)

More as they come to me...

[elSicomoro]

Another St. Louis one: Gravois Avenue (officially GRA-voy, short "a" sound; pronounced by many St. Louisans as GRA-voys...but neither version is actually correct)

[xoxoxoBruce]

Is it GRAV-WA ?

[elSicomoro]

Technically, yes. It's apparently French for "gravel," though Google translates "gravel" into "gravier."

[elSicomoro]

Some more St. Louis ones:

--Fauquier Drive
--Koeln Avenue
--Hill Street (2 blocks long, and no hills)
--Soper Street
--Ulena Avenue
--Kosciuzko Street
--Cave Avenue (one block long, no cave)
--Dorcas Street
--Eichelberger Street
--Osceola Street


A few more Chicago ones:

--Pope John Paul II Drive
--Van Vlissingen Road

[richlevy]

Do you mean 69th street is an uncommon name?

Here's some trivia.

In Philadelphia, Race Street was named because they used to have horse races there. Market was High Street and Arch was Mulberry. The names we know them by now were like the situation with the Blue Route today in Philadelphia or the Loop in St Louis, names people gave to streets or areas that pushed aside the official names.

Theres a good list of these at Late and Former Names of Streets of the Old Districts of Northern Liberties, Kensington, Port Richmond and Spring Garden


If you feel like paying for the information, I just found a book listed called Mermaids, Monasteries, Cherokees and Custer: The Stories Behind Philadelphia Street Names Late and Former Names of Streets of the Old Districts of Northern Liberties, Kensington, Port Richmond and Spring Garden

[elSicomoro]

I like this part, from your first link, Rich:

After 170 years of attempt to bring the legal titles into common use, Councils abandoned the contest and gave to those streets their popular names.

So, will it take 170 years for Columbus Boulevard to revert back to Delaware Avenue?

69th Street is just funny to me for its sexual connotation...even more funnier when you see the big "6" and "9" at 69th Street Terminal.

[kerosene]

We've got Purgatory Drive, here in Colorado Springs.

[kerosene]

As I passed that one, I expected the next one to be Hell Lane or something like that.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Montana has "Going To The Sun Highway".

[russotto]

Isn't there a Malcom X street in Philadelphia as well, up by Temple?

I think there's a Mario Lanza Place in South Philly somewhere (but might not be the official name).

Berlin has "Strasse des 17. Jun", a street named after a date.

[elSicomoro]

I couldn't find a street named after Malcolm X here in Philadelphia...quite possible though. But if there is a Malcolm X street here in the city, there should certainly be a street named after Dr. King.

Mario Lanza Boulevard (the official name) is located off Island Avenue, in SW Philadelphia, near the Airport.

I found a great resource, courtesy of the St. Louis Public Library: An index of just about every street in the City of St. Louis, including a brief history of each one. I just spent two hours browsing it. Fascinating.

[99 44/100% pure]

The developers north of the suburb where I currently reside apparently wanted to set the tone of the neighborhood when they centered it around "Anglo Road" and "Saxon Drive." We didn't move there.

[Bitman]

Rockford, IL (where I grew up) has both Church and State. They intersect. And on the corner .. is the courthouse.

[99 44/100% pure]

I love that! Radar could move there, just to put up a fence between Church and State!