8.14.2006

the alphabet streets

  • Ankeny--Alexander P. Ankeny...unsurprisingly a guy who owned a chunk of land at what is now Ash & Ankeny (then "A" street...serendipity? maybe). created a space for a public outdoor market, really not that far from the current saturday market.
  • Burnside--David W. Burnside...business partner of Savier, son-in-law to Davis, and local flour miller and merchant
  • Couch--not pronounced "cooch," no matter what anybody says, and named for Captain Couch, who participated in voyages of "discovery" in the north pacific, owned the 'alphabet district' and made it alphabetical, got famous for his ability to navigate the columbia, and was involved in the notorious shanghai-ings from northwest pdx
  • Davis--probably some relative of ted's
  • Everett
  • Flanders--another sea-farer who worked under Couch
  • Glisan
  • Hoyt
  • Irving
  • Johnson
  • Kearney
  • Lovejoy--Asa Lovejoy, with Overton and Pettygrove, one of the original settlers (1843) and founders (1845) of Portland (and loser of the coin-toss)
  • Marshall
  • Northrup
  • Overton--William Overton, one of the original setttlers of Portland...he sold his claim to Pettygrove
  • Pettygrove--winner of the coin-toss and co-founder of Portland (named for his hometown of Portland, Maine)
  • Quimby
  • Raliegh
  • Savier
  • Thurman
  • Upshur
  • Vaughn
  • Wilson
  • Yeon


sidebar: originally named in the much less interesting and far more common "a, b, c,..." configuration, the streets were renamed in homage to the early bright lights of portland in the "great renaming of 1891"

2 comments:

Unknown said...

It counts for nothing that every single person actually from Portland pronounces Couch "cooch"? Down with populism? Learn to spell Raleigh and maybe I'll listen? Either to you ro to EVERYBODY else. That may not make it right but it makes it tradition. I mean do you rail on about how Santa came from a Coca-Cola ad as he is represented everywhere now?

Unknown said...

Or. Or to everybody else. Or.

Powered By Blogger