Bingham Street

From Pittsburgh Streets
Not to be confused with Bigham Street.
Bingham Street
Neighborhood South Side Flats
Origin of name Martha Bingham

Bingham Street was named by Dr. Nathaniel Bedford, who laid out the town of Birmingham (today part of the South Side) in 1811.[1] The street appears in William Darby's 1815 map of Pittsburgh and vicinity.[2] Bingham Street was named for Bedford's sister, Martha Bingham, who lived in Bedford's native city of Birmingham, England (for which Bedford named the town he laid out).[3][4]

Pittsburgh once had a mayor named Bingham: William Bingham (1808–1873), mayor from 1856 to 1857. It has been claimed that Bingham Street is named for this man,[5] but this cannot be correct, as the street was named when the future mayor was only three years old.

References

  1. "Plan of the town of Birmingham." Recorded in Plan Book 1, p. 3. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3778176. [view source]birmingham-town-plan
  2. 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
  3. E. W. Hassler. "Dr. Bedford's gift: The site of the Southside market house came from the old settler: He was prominent and wealthy: Owned much land south of the Monongahela river: His grave on Mount Oliver." Pittsburgh Post, June 18, 1893, p. 9. Newspapers.com 87578785. Cut and pasted in [Pennsylvania county histories], vol. 3 (Allegheny County), pp. 118–121 (Internet Archive pennsylvaniacoun03unse_0), an untitled scrapbook of newspaper clippings from the State Library of Pennsylvania, call number 974.8 P38611. [view source]bedfords-gift
  4. "Birmingham borough: How it was founded—interesting historical incidents recalled." Pittsburg Press, Mar. 22, 1896, p. 14. Newspapers.com 141573294. [view source]birmingham-borough
  5. Bill Toland. The Morning File. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 15, 2007, p. A-2. Newspapers.com 96650982. [view source]toland