The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #113306   Message #2407985
Posted By: Jim Dixon
07-Aug-08 - 07:29 PM
Thread Name: Folklore: Street names
Subject: RE: Folklore: Street names
In the little town of Webster, Wisconsin, all the north-south streets are named for game fish: Crappie, Perch, Walleye, Trout—then Highway 35, also known as Lakeland Ave., breaks the pattern—then Muskey (people nowadays spell the fish name "muskie," which is short for muskellunge), Sturgeon, Pike, Minnow(!), Bluegill, and Bass.

The east-west streets are named for trees: Apple, Alder, Birch, Cedar, Main (The central commercial street breaks the pattern. I wonder if it once had a different name that started with a D?), Elm, Fir, (There is no G, but the double-length blocks here suggest that they left room for a G street but never built it.) Hickory, (no I either) Juniper, Kola (I bet there are no Kola trees in Wisconsin!), Locust, Maple, (from here on they are no longer in alphabetical order—I wonder why?) Poplar, Oak, Industrial (another pattern breaker), and Willow.

There is a residential neighborhood in Edinburgh, Scotland, where, in a small area, there is Stenhouse Avenue, Stenhouse Crescent, Stenhouse Drive, Stenhouse Gardens, Stenhouse Grove, Stenhouse Place, Stenhouse Street, Stenhouse Terrace, and Stenhouse Mill Wynd. Then, adjoining this district, there is Saughton Mains Street, Saughton Mains Gardens, Saughton Mains Drive, and Saughton Mains Place. Then, a little further, there is Carrick Knowe Road, Carrick Knowe Hill, Carrick Knowe Parkway, Carrick Knowe Gardens, Carrick Knowe Drive, Carrick Knowe Avenue—it keeps going like that.