Washington Place
From Pittsburgh Streets
(Redirected from Watson Street (Washington Place))
See also Pressley Street, which was formerly named Washington Place.
| Washington Place | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | Central Business District |
| Origin of name | George Washington |
| Watson Street (1830s) | |
| Origin of name | Robert Watson |
| High Street (ca. 1836) | |
| Washington Street (ca. 1836 – 1910) | |
| Origin of name | George Washington |
| Epiphany Street (1910–1911) | |
| Origin of name | Epiphany Church |
This street first appears in an 1830 map by Jean Barbeau and Lewis Keyon, labeled Watson Street, named for Robert Watson, through whose land it ran. The Fort Pitt Glass Works was located on this street (see also Dithridge Street).[1] It is also called Watson Street in Keyon's 1835 map.[2]
Watson placed an advertisement in the Daily Pittsburgh Gazette in 1836 offering a portion of his land for sale. This advertisement names the street High Street or Washington Street.[3] It is labeled Washington Street in an 1845 map by R. E. M'Gowan.[4] The name may have been changed because, when the street was extended to Liberty Street (as had been done by that time),[4] it nearly met the line of today's 11th Street, which was originally named Washington Street.[5][6][7][8] Washington Street was, of course, named for George Washington (1732–1799).[9][10]
In 1910, a city ordinance renamed over 900 streets to eliminate duplicates. Washington Street was renamed Epiphany Street because Pittsburgh had four streets named Washington at the time (this ordinance renamed all four of them, and then created Washington Boulevard).[11] The name Epiphany came from Epiphany Church, which had been built on the former site of the Fort Pitt Glass Works.
This name did not last long. The next year, for whatever reason, city councils decided that the name Epiphany would be better applied to the street that ran along the other side of the church, so they passed two ordinances: one to rename Epiphany Street to Washington Place, and another to rename the cross street to Epiphany Street.[12][13][14]
See also
- High Street and Washington Street, for other streets that have had those names
References
- ↑ Jean Barbeau and Lewis Keyon. Map of Pittsburgh and Its Environs. N. B. Molineux, Pittsburgh, 1830. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0576; https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/36c3ab00-57aa-0136-8f4f-08990f217bc9. [view source] barbeau
- ↑ Lewis Keyon. Map of Pittsburgh and Its Environs. Johnston & Stockton, Pittsburgh, 1835. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0577; 1835 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] keyon
- ↑ Robert Watson. "Real estate for sale." Daily Pittsburgh Gazette, Jan. 13, 1836, [p. 2]. Newspapers.com 96046398. [view source] real-estate-for-sale
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 R. E. M'Gowan. Map of Pittsburgh & Vicinity: Designating the portion destroyed by fire, April 10, 1845. J. W. Cook, Pittsburgh, 1845. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pittsburgh_map_1845.jpg. Published in the front matter of J. Heron Foster, A Full Account of the Great Fire at Pittsburgh, on the Tenth Day of April, 1845: With the individual losses, and contributions for relief, J. W. Cook, Pittsburgh, 1845 (Internet Archive fullaccountofgre00fost) and of O. Ormsby Gregg, Isaac Gregg, and Moses F. Eaton, Pittsburgh, Her Advantageous Position and Great Resources, as a Manufacturing and Commercial City, Embraced in a Notice of Sale of Real Estate, Johnson & Stockton, Pittsburgh, 1845 (Google Books nrJs-DDEN1sC; Historic Pittsburgh 00afu7810m). [view source] mcgowin-1845
- ↑ Wm. Darby. Plan of Pittsburg and Adjacent Country. R. Patterson and W. Darby, Philadelphia, 1815. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0197, DARMAP0198. Reproduced in John W. Reps, The Making of Urban America: A history of city planning in the United States, p. 207, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J., 1965 (LCCN 63023414); and in Bruce J. Buvinger, The Origin, Development and Persistence of Street Patterns in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, p. 24. Also reproduced as "Plan von Pittsburg und Umgebungen" in Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Heinrich Luden, ed.), Reise Sr. Hoheit des Herzogs Bernhard zu Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach durch Nord-Amerika in den Jahren 1825 und 1826, vol. II, following p. 200, Wilhelm Hoffmann, Weimar, 1828 (Internet Archive reisesrhoheitdes00bern, reisesrhoheitdes00inbern). [view source] darby
- ↑ John Hills. Plan of the Lots Laid Out at Pittsburg and the Coal Hill. Philadelphia, 1787. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0464; LCCN 74692580. Reproduced in John W. Reps, The Making of Urban America: A history of city planning in the United States, p. 205, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J., 1965 (LCCN 63023414); in Stefan Lorant, Pittsburgh: The story of an American city, 5th (Millennium) ed., p. 53, Esselmont Books, Pittsburgh, 1999, ISBN 0-967-41030-4 (LCCN 99-066641); and in Emily M. Weaver, The Fort Pitt Block House, p. 40, History Press, Charleston, S. C., 2013, ISBN 978-1-60949-933-4. [view source] hills
- ↑ History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: Including its early settlement and progress to the present time; a description of its historic and interesting localities; its cities, towns and villages; religious, educational, social and military history; mining, manufacturing and commercial interests; improvements, resources, statistics, etc.: Also portraits of some of its prominent men, and biographies of many of its representative citizens, part I, p. 488. A. Warner & Co., Chicago, 1889. Google Books DwzYAAAAMAAJ; Internet Archive historyofalleghe1889cush. [view source] history-of-allegheny-county
- ↑ James M. Riddle and M. M. Murray. The Pittsburgh Directory for 1819: Containing the names, professons [sic], and residence of all the heads of families, and persons in business, in the city of Pittsburgh, and its suburbs; and a variety of other useful information. Butler & Lambdin, Pittsburgh, 1819, p. 29. Internet Archive pittsburghdirect00murr. [view source] riddle-murray
- ↑ George T. Fleming, ed. Pittsburgh: How to see it: A complete, reliable guide book with illustrations, the latest map and complete index, p. 45. William G. Johnston Co., Pittsburgh, 1916. Google Books 02NAAAAAYAAJ; Internet Archive bub_gb_02NAAAAAYAAJ, pittsburghhowtos01flem. [view source] how-to-see-it
- ↑ Gilbert Love. "What's in a name? A lot!: Titles of city streets recall persons famed in U. S. history: From Golden Triangle eastward, thoroughfares list great and near great of colonial and revolutionary days." Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 12, 1944, p. 9. Newspapers.com 147946752. [view source] love-titles
- ↑ "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
- ↑ "Park improvement bills recommended." Pittsburg Press, May 3, 1911, p. 13. Newspapers.com 142925567. [view source] park-improvement
- ↑ "An ordinance changing the name of Epiphany street, between Grant boulevard and Fifth avenue, to 'Washington place.'" Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1911, no. 144. Passed May 29, 1911; approved June 7, 1911. Ordinance Book 23, p. 166. Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, June 24, 1911, p. 12 (Newspapers.com 86506833), June 26, p. 3 (Newspapers.com 86506907), and June 27, [p. 9] (Newspapers.com 86506947). [view source] ordinance-1911-144
- ↑ "An ordinance changing the name of Foxhurst street, between Epiphany street and Fullerton street, to 'Epiphany street.'" Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1911, no. 145. Passed May 29, 1911; approved June 7, 1911. Ordinance Book 23, p. 167. Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, June 24, 1911, p. 12 (Newspapers.com 86506833), June 26, p. 3 (Newspapers.com 86506907), and June 27, [p. 9] (Newspapers.com 86506947). [view source] ordinance-1911-145
