Etymologies of place names in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
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Source of the place names in the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Contents |
[edit] Streets
| Street Name | Source |
|---|---|
| Aramingo Avenue | Named for Aramingo Borough |
| Baltimore Avenue | Originally Baltimore Pike , named for the destination city of Baltimore, Maryland |
| Chew Avenue | Named after Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Province of Pennsylvania, Benjamin Chew |
| City Line Avenue | Originally Decker Avenue (after the co-founder of Black and Decker , name comes from U.S. Route 1 straddling both the Philadelphia city line and the Montgomery County line. |
| Christopher Columbus Boulevard | Formerly Delaware Ave, named in honor of the famous explorer. |
| Federal Street | The road between the Philadelphia Navy Yard and the Schuylkill Arsenal[1] |
| Benjamin Franklin Parkway | Named for Benjamin Franklin. |
| Girard Avenue, Girard Point, and Girard Point Bridge | Named for financier Stephen Girard. |
| Independence Mall East, Independence Mall West | Named for Independence Mall |
| Kelly Drive | Formerly East River Drive, named in honor of John B. Kelly, Jr.[2] |
| Lancaster Avenue | Originally Lancaster Pike, named for the destination city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania |
| Manayunk | The neighborhood's name comes from the word "manaiung," place where we go to drink, in the language of the Lenape[3] |
| Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive[4] | Formerly West River Drive, named in honor of the slain civil rights leader. |
| Mount Pleasant Drive | Mount Pleasant built in what was then the countryside outside of the city by a privateer.[5] It is now an off-premise gallery of the Philadelphia Museum of Art in Fairmount Park.[6] |
| Roosevelt Boulevard/Roosevelt Expressway | Named for President Theodore Roosevelt. |
| Sansom Street | Self-named street by developer William Sansom (See Jewelers' Row) |
| South Street | The original southern border of the city of Philadelphia, before the 1854 Act of Consolidation. |
[edit] Place names
| Place Name | Source |
|---|---|
| Franklin Square | Named for Benjamin Franklin. |
| Logan Circle (Philadelphia) | Named Logan Square after Philadelphia statesman James Logan[citation needed] |
| Independence Mall named for Independence Hall | |
| Rittenhouse Square | Named for David Rittenhouse.[citation needed] |
| Washington Square | Named for George Washington. |
[edit] See also
- List of Pennsylvania county name etymologies -- many Philadelphia streets, particularly east-west streets in North Philadelphia, are named for Pennsylvania counties.[citation needed]
- List of Governors of Pennsylvania -- many Philadelphia streets, particularly east-west streets in South Philadelphia, are named for Pennsylvania governors.[citation needed]
- Lombard Street (Philadelphia)
[edit] References
- ^ Schuylkill Arsenal « THE NECESSITY FOR RUINS
- ^ Kelly Drive : Photo Detail :: gophila.com - The Official Visitor Site for Greater Philadelphia
- ^ http://www.manayunk.com/abouthist.asp
- ^ Taussig, Doron (January 13-19, 2005). "Fit for a King?". Philadelphia Citypaper., p. 36. www.citypaper.net/articles/2005-01-13/cb.shtml
- ^ Mount Pleasant. (html). Independence Hall Association. “It was built in 1761-62 by Captain John Macpherson, a privateer who had had "an arm twice shot off" according to John Adams. The pirate called the house "Clunie" after the seat of his family's ancient clan in Scotland.”
- ^ Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Fairmount Park Houses: Mount Pleasant." (html). “Scottish ship captain John Macpherson (1726–1792) and his first wife, Margaret, built their grand country estate on this site—high atop cliffs overlooking the Schuylkill River—between 1762 and 1765. They employed as their builder-architect Thomas Nevell (1721–1797), an apprentice of Edmund Woolley, the builder of Independence Hall.”
