Riffle Way
| Riffle Way | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhood | California-Kirkbride |
| Origin of name | Modification of Relief, its original name |
| Relief Alley (until 1910) | |
| Riffle Alley (1910–1914) | |
| Origin of name | Modification of Relief |
This alley was originally named Relief Alley.[1]
The 1872 and 1882 Hopkins atlases labeled it Riley Alley,[2][3] but this was probably an error for Relief. The name Relief Alley was in use by 1873,[4][5] and it is listed as "Relief" in the 1876 street directory of Thurston and Diffenbacher.[6]
In 1910, three years after the annexation of Allegheny into the city of Pittsburgh, over 900 streets were renamed to fix duplicates, and Relief Alley was changed to Riffle Alley.[7] The name is probably just a modification of Relief—the two words are almost anagrams.
It became Riffle Way in 1914 when another ordinance changed all alleys in Pittsburgh to ways.[8]
In a 1937 newspaper column about Pittsburgh street names, Charles F. Danver quipped, "There's a Card lane and an Ace way, a King avenue, a Queen street and a Jack way. (Oh, yes—and Riffle way.) Your correspondent looked hopefully for a Deuces Wild way, but with his usual luck. It's too bad when a guy can't even find a deuce on the map!"[9] Pittsburgh still has no Deuces Wild Way, but it does have One Wild Place.
See also
- Relief Alley, for other alleys that have had that name
References
- ↑ Real Estate Plat-Book of the City of Allegheny, vol. 1, plate 7. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1890. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1890-volume-1-plat-book-allegheny; included in the 1890 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] hopkins-1890-allegheny-1
- ↑ Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs, pp. 76–77. 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
- ↑ Atlas of the Cities Pittsburgh and Allegheny, plate 34. 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
- ↑ "Streets in Allegheny." Daily Post (Pittsburgh), May 3, 1873, [p. 4]. Newspapers.com 87616143. [view source] streets-in-allegheny
- ↑ "An ordinance authorizing the grading of Relief Alley." Allegheny city ordinance, 1873. Enacted June 19, 1873. Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Daily Gazette, July 1, 1873, [p. 4] (Newspapers.com 86342104). [view source] ordinance-1873-relief
- ↑ George H. Thurston and J. F. Diffenbacher. Directory of Pittsburgh and Allegheny for 1876–7: Embracing a general directory of the residences of citizens, full classified business directory, register of public institutions, benevolent societies and city governments, directory of the streets, secret societies, schools and churches. Thurston & Diffenbacher, Pittsburgh, 1876, p. 14. Google Books 8dkCAAAAYAAJ; Historic Pittsburgh 31735038288480. [view source] thurston-diffenbacher-1876
- ↑ "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; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_0e903fff-f7d8-4eb5-9d15-f91b56e69396/; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_ef39b3f8-fdd8-4ad7-a239-10b67a3c2bff/; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_b7df2ed5-228d-4c8e-8d80-77fa7b457528/). 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
- ↑ "An ordinance changing the name 'alley' on every thoroughfare in the City of Pittsburgh to 'way.'" Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1914, no. 402. Passed Nov. 10, 1914; approved Nov. 16, 1914. Ordinance Book 26, p. 360. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh for the Year 1914, appendix, p. 226, McClung Printing Co., Pittsburgh (HathiTrust uiug.30112108223899; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1914; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_a82f1363-0512-40c8-b4e5-f02b090b761d/; https://pittsburgharchives.access.preservica.com/uncategorized/IO_bf8a4f10-7526-4a96-8943-6a220d361293/). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Nov. 23, 1914, p. 11 (Newspapers.com 86505785), and Nov. 24, p. 12 (Newspapers.com 86505809). [view source] ordinance-1914-402
- ↑ Charles F. Danver. Pittsburghesque. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 12, 1937, p. 8. Newspapers.com 90316941. [view source] danver-1937
