Theodolite Way

From Pittsburgh Streets
Theodolite Way
Neighborhood Greenfield
Origin of name Theodolite, a surveyor's instrument for measuring angles

Theodolite Alley appears in the 1904 Hopkins atlas.[1] It became Theodolite Way in 1914 when an ordinance changed all alleys in the city to ways.[2]

Frances Lester Warner, in a 1923 essay called "The Pittsburgh Owl," included Theodolite Way in a list of streets named for Pittsburgh's "scientific paraphernalia,"[3] and Bob Regan copied this list in his book.[4] A theodolite is a precision optical instrument used to measure angles, commonly used by surveyors.

References

  1. Real Estate Plat-Book of the City of Pittsburgh, vol. 1, plate 37. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1904. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1904-volume-1-plat-book-pittsburgh; included in the 1903–1906 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1904-vol-1
  2. "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). 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
  3. Frances Lester Warner. Groups and Couples, p. 228. Houghton Mifflin, Boston and New York, 1923. Google Books lub2z89YnoYC; Internet Archive groupscouples00warn. The essay "The Pittsburgh Owl" is available at http://www.info-ren.org/projects/btul/Pennsylvania/pghowl.html and http://www.info-ren.org/projects/btul/exhibit/pghowl.html. [view source]groups-and-couples
  4. Bob Regan. The Names of Pittsburgh: How the City, Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks and More Got Their Names, p. 61. The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9770429-7-5. [view source]regan