Taft Avenue

From Pittsburgh Streets
Taft Avenue
Neighborhood Beltzhoover
Origin of name William Howard Taft
Lincoln Avenue (until 1907)
Origin of name Abraham Lincoln

This street appears as Lincoln Avenue in the 1896 Hopkins atlas.[1] This name conflicted with Lincoln Avenue in the East End, so it was renamed Taft Avenue in 1907.[2]

Bob Regan includes "Taft" in a list of streets named for noted historical people;[3] the implied eponym seems to be William Howard Taft (1857–1930), the 27th President of the United States (1909–1913) and later chief justice on the Supreme Court (1921–1930). However, the street was named before he attained either of those offices. In 1907, Taft was serving as Secretary of War under Theodore Roosevelt.

See also

References

  1. Real Estate Plat-Book of the Southern Vicinity of Pittsburgh, Penna., plate 9. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1896. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1896%E2%80%93plat-book-southern-pittsburgh; included in the 1890 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1896
  2. "An ordinance changing and establishing the names of avenues, streets and alleys in the Forty-second ward of the city of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1907, no. 174. Passed July 22, 1907; approved Aug. 1, 1907. Ordinance Book 18, p. 510. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh for the Year 1907, appendix, p. 80, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1908 (HathiTrust chi.096598952). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Gazette Times, Aug. 8, 1907, p. 7 (Newspapers.com 85923150), and Aug. 10, p. 3 (Newspapers.com 85923350). [view source]ordinance-1907-174
  3. Bob Regan. The Names of Pittsburgh: How the City, Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks and More Got Their Names, p. 63. The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9770429-7-5. [view source]regan