Twain Street

From Pittsburgh Streets
Twain Street
Neighborhood Perry South
Origin of name Mark Twain
Columbia Court (until 1896)
Towanda Street (1896–1910)

This street was originally named Columbia Court. It was renamed Towanda Street by an Allegheny city ordinance in 1896,[1] under which name it appears in the 1902 Hopkins atlas.[2]

In 1910, three years after Allegheny was annexed to the City of Pittsburgh, over 900 streets were renamed to fix duplicates, and Towanda Street was renamed Twain Street.[3] (Apparently it was thought to conflict with a street in the East End: the next ordinance, listing all streets in Pittsburgh, includes "Towanda, from Oakwood to prop. line, 13th wd."[4] I have been unable to corroborate the existence of this other Towanda Street.)

Bob Regan includes "Twain" in a list of streets named for noted historical people;[5] the implied eponym seems to be Mark Twain, the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835–1910), who died less than a month after the street was renamed.

See also

References

  1. "An ordinance changing and establishing the names of avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the city of Allegheny." Allegheny city ordinance, 1896, no. 166. Passed Mar. 19, 1896; approved Mar. 23, 1896. Reprinted in the Pittsburg Press, Mar. 31, 1896, p. 9 (Newspapers.com 141573537), and Apr. 1, [p. 6] (Newspapers.com 141573556). [view source]ordinance-1896-166
  2. Real Estate Plat-Book of the City of Allegheny, vol. 2, plates 2, 3. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1902. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1902-volume-2-plat-book-allegheny; included in the 1903–1906 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1902-allegheny-vol-2
  3. "An ordinance changing the names of certain avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 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-1910-715
  4. "An ordinance establishing the names of the avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 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-1910-716
  5. 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