Bethoven Street

From Pittsburgh Streets
Bethoven Street
Neighborhood Polish Hill
Origin of name Ludwig van Beethoven
Brereton Street (until 1910)
Origin of name T. J. Brereton

Bethoven Street seems to be named for Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827).[1][2][3] In 1991, WQED investigated the origins of the street name, failed to find anyone in the city's history named Bethoven, and concluded that the street was probably named for the composer but was misspelled.[1] The radio station launched an effort to correct the spelling of the name, offering to pay for new street signs, but residents of Polish Hill resisted the change, and the matter was dropped.[1][2]

Bethoven Street was formerly part of Brereton Street. It was changed to Bethoven Street by a city ordinance in 1910.[4]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Andrew Sheehan. "Name change in the key of e: Street honors Beethoven—almost." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Dec. 5, 1991, p. 6. Newspapers.com 89990366, 89991250. [view source]sheehan
  2. 2.0 2.1 Torsten Ove. "Site names here are out of sight: From Swamp Poodle Road to Grant Street, locales in the region bear names that are little understood or largely forgotten." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 8, 1998, pp. A-1, A-6. Newspapers.com 94754709, 94754864. [view source]ove
  3. Bob Regan. The Names of Pittsburgh: How the city, neighborhoods, streets, parks and more got their names, pp. 4, 62. The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9770429-7-5. [view source]regan
  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