I wrote a book on the street names of St. Paul, Minnesota in 1975 which I am in the process of updating and expanding. I have a good introduction on how streets are named (at least in the midwest) which I will share as my time allows. don@empson.com. BTW, my perceptions of the different stages of street names do not agree with those of Lawrence. For example, I find lots of English names in the 1880's.

Does anyone know the story behind how "Wall Street" (New York) got its name? More detail than there are walls located on the street..........Why were there walls there? Did it have to do with hearding livestock?

I'm pretty sure it was because because there was once a wall
there to keep the Indians out. Only the south part of Manhattan
was inhabited by the Dutch at that time. The Bowery, which was
north of the wall, had some farmers, and got its name from the
Dutch/German word "Bauer," which means "farmer."

QT - JR <qtopic+16-neCV4PDKqpD@quicktopic.com> wrote:

  
---------------------------------
Do you Yahoo!?
 Yahoo! Small Business - Try our new resources site!
< replied-to message removed by QT >

In NYC - Is Houston Street named after Sam Houston? And why is it pronounced House-ton?

Does anyone know the origins of Werris Creek Lane in San Diego

Does anyone know the origins of "Main" street and "State" street?

Thanks!

What's the history behind "Christiana Avenue" in Chicago? I've been named after it and am really curious about what my name means..

If I remember right, in the 19th Century Christiania was the name of the city in Norway which is now named "Oslo"
and is now Norway's capital. I'll ask my friend Phil Froiland about it, because he knows a lot of Norwegian history.

My friend Phil Froiland, who is somewhat an authority on the subject of things Norwegian, says this:

I have no idea as to the exact history of Christiana Avenue in Chicago but I can take a guess at it. Oslo, Norway used to be called Christiana and it is quite possible that immigrants from that area who settled in Chicago brought the name with them and applied it to one of the streets in their neighborhood. The root of the word is, of course, Christ.

Phil Froiland

Can anyone tell me how to look up a certain street name and how it got its name in a small community? I've heard hear say on how it got it but I can not prove it. Some members of the community are wanting to change the name of a street that means alot to me because of the hear say history I would like to pass down to my children that are only 1 AND 4. Before I take a stand on this I would like to know the truth on how this street got its name.

Im looking for a list of cities that have a residential street named PARK AVENUE ? Doesnt matter what size the city/town might be.

Or, if anyone has a suggestion as to how I could find such a list, Id appreciate it. Thanks.

I would like to find out the names of the streets that divide north and south east and west in Chicago. I know that state street is the line between east and west but I'm not too sure about nrth and south.

The street that divides north and south in Chicago is Madison. East West, as you correctly stated is State St.

The address for a house is determined by which street the front door faces, correct? If this is true, what happens if a corner house is demolished and rebuilt with the front door facing the street opposite the one it used to face?

That really depends on local practice and local house numbering rules.

I know of many corner houses with the front door on one street, and the house number on the other. I have also seen cases where the owner of the property chooses to change the address to the other street.

For example, in East Lansing, Michigan, there's a small apartment building situated at the corner of Abbott Road (a major street leading from the middle of town) and Northlawn (a small residential street). The front door faces Northlawn; no doors at all face Abbott. But a few years ago, a new owner got the address changed from Northlawn to Abbott Road. I believe his reasoning was that its location would be more obvious to potential tenants.

That's very helpful. Thank you Mr. Kestenbaum!