Morrowfield Avenue

From Pittsburgh Streets
(Redirected from Midway Avenue)
Morrowfield Avenue
Neighborhood Squirrel Hill South
Origin of name Morrowfield plan of lots, named for Dr. John R. Morrow
➤
Midway Avenue (until 1910)
Portion West of Shady Avenue
Origin of name Perhaps the Midway Plaisance
➤
McClure Avenue (until 1910)
Portion East of Shady Avenue

The part of this avenue from Murray Avenue to Shady Avenue was laid out as Midway Avenue in December 1893 in the Midway plan.[1] The plan and the avenue may have been named for the Midway Plaisance, a park in Chicago, which had become famous for hosting amusements during the World's Columbian Exposition (the World's Fair) that summer;[2]:137–138 one of its attractions was the world's first Ferris wheel.[2]:70–71 (Incidentally, the inventor of the Ferris wheel, George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., was a resident of Pittsburgh.)[2]:48 The Midway Plaisance is the source of the word midway for the amusement area of a fair.[3]

The portion from Shady Avenue to Beechwood Boulevard was originally named McClure Avenue. City ordinances in 1896 established its location and grade and authorized its opening.[4][5][6] McClure Avenue was the northern boundary of the 1901 Squirrel Hill plan[7] and, significantly, part of the northern boundary of the 1909 Morrowfield plan.[8]

The Morrowfield plan was named in honor of Dr. John Riddle Morrow, who lived at the corner of McClure Avenue and Beechwood Boulevard.[8] Morrow organized the Continental Trust Company in 1903 and served as its president until 1927, when it was purchased by the Peoples Savings and Trust Company.[9] The Continental Trust Company sold the lots in the Morrowfield plan.[10][11] Nearby Sandels Way is named for Morrow's wife, Gertrude Sandels Morrow.[9]

After Allegheny City was annexed by Pittsburgh in 1907,[12] over 900 streets were renamed to fix duplicates. There was another McClure Avenue in Brighton Heights, so it was decided to rename McClure Avenue in Squirrel Hill. Assistant city clerk Robert Clark originally proposed the name McComber Avenue,[13] but the new name was changed to Morrowfield Avenue (and Midway Avenue was included in this renaming) by a City Council subcommittee in response to a request by "a resident of that thoroughfare"[14] (perhaps Dr. Morrow himself). The renaming ordinances were passed in 1910.[15][16]

References

  1. ↑ "Midway plan lots: Situate in the 22nd. Ward, Pg'h, Pa.: Laid out by J. C. Aufhammer & S. J. Macfarren." Laid out Dec. 1893; recorded Mar. 24, 1894, Plan Book 14, pp. 170–171. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3781048. [view source] midway-plan
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Zachary L. Brodt. From the Steel City to the White City: Western Pennsylvania & the World's Columbian Exposition. University of Pittsburgh Press, Pittsburgh, 2023, ISBN 978-0-8229-4791-2. [view source] brodt
  3. ↑ Philip Babcock Gove, ed. Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged, p. 1431. Merriam-Webster, Springfield, Mass., 1993, ISBN 0-87779-201-1. [view source] mw3
  4. ↑ "An ordinance establishing the grade of McClure avenue from Beechwood avenue to Shady avenue." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1895–1896, no. 815. Passed Mar. 9, 1896; approved Mar. 13, 1896. Ordinance Book 11, p. 18. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh, for the Year 1895–6, appendix, p. 153, H. W. Juergen & Co., Pittsburgh (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1895). [view source] ordinance-1895-1896-815
  5. ↑ "An ordinance locating McClure avenue from Beechwood avenue to Shady avenue." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1895–1896, no. 816. Passed Mar. 9, 1896; approved Mar. 13, 1896. Ordinance Book 11, p. 18. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh, for the Year 1895–6, appendix, p. 153, H. W. Juergen & Co., Pittsburgh (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1895). [view source] ordinance-1895-1896-816
  6. ↑ "An ordinance authorizing the opening of McClure avenue from Beechwood avenue to Shady avenue, and the assessment of damages caused by the grade of the same." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1896–1897, no. 77. Passed July 7, 1896; approved July 13, 1896. Ordinance Book 11, p. 152. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh, for the Year 1896–97, appendix, p. 24, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1896–1897 (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1896). [view source] ordinance-1896-1897-77
  7. ↑ "Squirrel Hill plan of lots: Laid out by the Beechwood Improvement Co. Ltd.: 22nd Ward Pittsburg Pa." Laid out Aug. 1901; recorded July 3, 1902, Plan Book 19, pp. 166–167. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3781883. [view source] squirrel-hill-plan
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Shadyside Land Co's. plan of Morrowfield: Situate in 14th Ward Pittsburg Pa." Laid out June 1909. In "Morrowfield on Beechwood Boulevard: Exclusive beautiful home sites," Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 3, 1910, sec. 4, p. 5 (Newspapers.com 87166004). [view source] morrowfield-plan
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Dr. J. R. Morrow dies of stroke." Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, June 28, 1934, p. 16. Newspapers.com 523843689. [view source] jr-morrow-dies
  10. ↑ "Morrowfield on Beechwood Boulevard: Exclusive beautiful home sites." Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 3, 1910, sec. 4, p. 5. Newspapers.com 87166004. [view source] morrowfield-on-beechwood
  11. ↑ "J. S. Morrow, banker, rites held tomorrow." Obituaries. Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Dec. 6, 1954, p. 10. Newspapers.com 524619462. [view source] js-morrow-obit
  12. ↑ Mark A. Connelly. "Allegheny City–Pittsburgh City 1907 Consolidation." Local Geohistory Project. https://www.localgeohistory.pro/en/pa/event/allegheny-city-pittsburgh-city-1907-consolidation/. [view source] lgeo-allegheny-annexation
  13. ↑ "Citizens will be strangers: Hard to locate homes after city streets are renamed." Pittsburgh Post, July 28, 1909, pp. 1–2. Newspapers.com 86422549, 86422563. [view source] citizens-will-be-strangers
  14. ↑ "Fifth avenue's name will not be changed: Beechwood boulevard is to be called William Pitt boulevard." Pittsburgh Post, Jan. 22, 1910, p. 14. Newspapers.com 93557559. [view source] fifth-avenues-name
  15. ↑ "An ordinance changing the names of certain avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1909–1910, 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-1909-1910-715
  16. ↑ "An ordinance establishing the names of the avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1909–1910, no. 716. Passed Mar. 31, 1910; approved Apr. 5, 1910. Ordinance Book 21, p. 359. 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. 328–381, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1910 (Google Books doQzAQAAMAAJ; HathiTrust uiug.30112108223832; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1909). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 29, 1910, pp. 12–16 (Newspapers.com 86616256, 86616285, 86616314, 86616333, 86616343), and Apr. 30, pp. 12–16 (Newspapers.com 86616643, 86616672, 86616694, 86616726, 86616748). [view source] ordinance-1909-1910-716
Retrieved from "https://www.zifyoip.com/pgh/index.php?title=Morrowfield_Avenue&oldid=23909"