Shady Avenue

From Pittsburgh Streets
See also Shadeland Avenue, which was originally named Shady Avenue.
Shady Avenue
Neighborhoods Point Breeze, Shadyside, Squirrel Hill North, Squirrel Hill South
Origin of name Descriptive of the tree-lined country road
➤
Shady Lane (until 1881)
Origin of name Descriptive of the tree-lined country road

A road in the location of modern Shady Avenue appears in Allegheny County maps from 1850 and 1851.[1][2] The original name was Shady Lane, a descriptive name for the tree-lined country road.[3][4] An early newspaper notice from 1866, advertising the auction of building lots on the lane, read, "No better or more desirable place for a home could be found than this same Shady Lane. Its very name has a pleasant quietness, indicative of the pleasantest possible hours."[5] In 1932, a person with the initials C. L. M. reminisced, "Coming down Shady lane was delightful; the tree branches were so close from opposite sides of the lane that they met and scraped your buggy or carriage tops. East Liberty then was a village out in the country."[6]

The name was officially established as Shady Avenue by a city ordinance in 1881.[7] The change of name was criticized by Annie Clark Miller: "City Council orders new street markers for a street whose old fashioned name is a neighborhood treasure. Lane is not appropriate for a city thoroughfare in its opinion—and so overnight, old residenters of Shady Lane found themselves living on Shady Avenue."[8] Pittsburgh poet Hervey Allen sentimentally recalled his boyhood days in a poem called "When Shady Avenue Was Shady Lane."[9]

The southernmost part of Shady Avenue, from just north of Crystal Way to Beechwood Boulevard, is sometimes called Shady Avenue Extension, but its official name has been simply Shady Avenue since it was laid out in two plans of lots in 1893 and 1900.[10][11] This name was confirmed in a 1910 ordinance that established the names of all thoroughfares in Pittsburgh.[12]

References

  1. ↑ E. H. Heastings. Map of the County of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. 1850. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0090. [view source] heastings
  2. ↑ Sidney & Neff and S. McRea. Map of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, with the Names of Property-Holders. Philadelphia, 1851. LCCN 2012592150. [view source] sidney-neff
  3. ↑ Joe Browne. "Streets are index of local history." Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Sept. 28, 1983, p. 37. Newspapers.com 89790718. [view source] browne-streets
  4. ↑ Bob Regan. The Names of Pittsburgh: How the City, Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks and More Got Their Names, p. 73. The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9770429-7-5. [view source] regan
  5. ↑ "The Shady Lane home chance." Daily Post (Pittsburgh), May 7, 1866, p. 1. Newspapers.com 91920255. [view source] shady-lane-home-chance
  6. ↑ Flashbacks. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Mar. 25, 1932, p. 8. Newspapers.com 90084354. [view source] flashbacks-1932-03-25
  7. ↑ "An ordinance establishing the names of avenues, streets, lanes and alleys of the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1880–1881, no. 33. Passed Feb. 28, 1881; approved Mar. 4, 1881. Ordinance Book 5, p. 212. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Select and Common Councils of the City of Pittsburgh, for the Year 1880, pp. 213–234, Herald Printing Company, Pittsburgh, 1881 (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1880). [view source] ordinance-1880-1881-33
  8. ↑ Annie Clark Miller. Early Land Marks and Names of Old Pittsburgh: An Address Delivered Before the Pittsburgh Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution at Carnegie Institute, Nov. 30, 1923, p. 39. Pittsburgh Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, 1924. Historic Pittsburgh 00awn8211m; Internet Archive earlylandmarksna00mill. [view source] miller
  9. ↑ Hervey Allen. Wampum and Old Gold, pp. 45–46. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn., 1921. Google Books hp0VAAAAYAAJ; HathiTrust 008916576; Internet Archive wampumoldgold00alle, wampumoldgold00alle_0; Project Gutenberg 66133. [view source] allen
  10. ↑ "Viewland plan of lots: 22nd Ward, Pgh., Pa.: Laid out by Jas. D. Callery." Recorded Feb. 13, 1893, Plan Book 13, p. 130. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3780872. [view source] viewland-plan
  11. ↑ "Harry H. Willock plan of Shady Avenue Heights: 22nd Ward, Pittsburg, Pa." Laid out Apr. 1900; recorded Feb. 21, 1901, Plan Book 18, p. 134. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3781668. [view source] shady-ave-heights-plan
  12. ↑ "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=Shady_Avenue&oldid=24247"