Mercy Street

From Pittsburgh Streets
Mercy Street
Neighborhood Fineview
Morris Street (until 1910)
Origin of name Mrs. Morris

This street appears, unlabeled, in the 1882 Hopkins atlas,[1] near a property that had been labeled "Mrs. Morris" in the 1872 edition.[2] It is labeled Morris Street in the 1890 edition.[3] (See nearby Cemetery Street, which was also originally named Morris Street.)

In 1910, three years after the annexation of Allegheny into the city of Pittsburgh, over 900 streets were renamed to fix duplicates, and Morris Street was renamed Mercy Street.[4]

Bob Regan includes "Mercy" in his "Streets of Pittsburgh" crossword puzzle, clued as "The leniency or compassion shown by one person to another; also the name of Big Ben's favorite hospital."[5] Unfortunately this is just a dictionary definition of the word mercy (and a strange reference to Ben Roethlisberger's motorcycle accident) and gives no information about the origin of the street name.

See also

References

  1. Atlas of the Cities Pittsburgh and Allegheny, plate 33. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1882. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1882-atlas-pittsburgh-allegheny; 1882 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1882
  2. Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs, p. 92. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1872. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1872-atlas-pittsburgh-allegheny; 1872 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1872
  3. Real Estate Plat-Book of the City of Allegheny, vol. 2, plate 5. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1890. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1890-volume-2-plat-book-allegheny; included in the 1890 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1890-allegheny-vol-2
  4. "An ordinance changing the names of certain avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1910, no. 715. Passed Mar. 31, 1910; approved Apr. 5, 1910. Ordinance Book 21, p. 342. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh for the years 1909–1910, appendix, pp. 312–328, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1910 (Google Books doQzAQAAMAAJ; HathiTrust uiug.30112108223832; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1909). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 19, 1910, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86611990, 86612022), Apr. 20, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86612278, 86612297), and Apr. 21, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86612601, 86612625). [view source]ordinance-1910-715
  5. Bob Regan. The Names of Pittsburgh: How the city, neighborhoods, streets, parks and more got their names, pp. 183–186. The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9770429-7-5. [view source]regan