# Rural Ohio community with all African street names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2022, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868 "2022-10-07T05:03:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/81 "2023-08-09T18:11:52Z")
Streets on the submarine base here are named after WWII boats – Shark Blvd, Tang Ave, Grayback Ave, &c. If the boat was lost during the war, in addition to the street name the signs have the date the boat was sunk and how many people were lost with it. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/82 "2023-08-09T18:13:26Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I have a great-uncle who lives in a rural area, and whose sparsely-populated street got named after him when the county upgraded 911 service. And that’s how a VT town my friends live in got a Four Wheel Drive and Skid Row. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/83 "2023-08-09T18:14:06Z")
There’s one near me with a “Wild West” theme. Its so out of place, it always cracks me up. It’s right next to the busiest intersection in the Western Hemisphere ferchrissakes. https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=38.783533,-77.1735915&z=17&output=embed&dg=ntvb ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/84 "2023-08-09T18:34:29Z")
In arriving at a (ex-army) friend’s house, I joked about getting lost in the nearby Larkspur Drive, Clansman Crescent, and No.19 Wireless Set Avenue (only one of these is real and for the joke to work you must have some familiarity with army radios). ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/85 "2023-08-09T18:37:46Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Lexington MA has a Lois Lane. No Della Street, though. Ha! Stockton has a Della Street. We also have a subdivision with musician names for streets. Maintenance had to relocate the street name signs for Hendrix Drive to streetlights, to lift them up higher. They were being stolen too often from the regular poles. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/86 "2023-08-09T18:49:00Z")
Wow. They give names to streets? 😊 I live on a county numbered road(road is a optimistic assessment) Formally a rural route. But the folks around call it “Mr.Wrekkers sawmill road” He’s never had a commercial sawmill, though he’s milled some for himself. That has never been explained. ---
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/87 "2023-08-09T19:48:18Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I live on a county numbered road(road is a optimistic assessment) Formally a rural route. We used to live on just a county road known by number. And we used to have address that were “68 rural route 1” or maybe “rural route 2 box 54” followed by the city and zip. But then we got “911 addresses” in the late '90s or very early 2000s (still can’t bring myself to use '00s) and the “county road 4” and “county road 9” and such got actual names. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/88 "2023-08-09T21:25:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Several of the major streets in downtown Cleveland have lake names: The heart of the city is the intersection of Superior Avenue and Ontario Boulevard, and Huron and St. Claire are nearby. I’m told that East 9th used to be named Erie, but I’ve never found where Michigan is or was. Ontario has a road named for two of the Great Lakes at once. And, in fact, it runs from one lake to the other. > **[Hurontario Street](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurontario_Street)** > > Hurontario StreetMain StreetCentre Road ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/89 "2023-08-09T22:27:17Z")
The original streets in my fine old (established 1853) suburb include Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2023, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/90 "2023-08-09T23:05:27Z")
Funny - we were established July 23, 1850 and also have those street names. North, South, East, and West Streets were renamed as the city grew far enough beyond the original city limits to make those names embarrassing. We’ve still got a Center Street, and it’s still largely central. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/91 "2023-08-10T12:55:16Z")
In Chicago, North Avenue (1600 N.) and Western Avenue (2400 W.) were city limits when they were named. They’re **far** from the city limits now\* but didn’t get renamed. \*Western Ave. is the western city limit from 87th to 99th Streets, but that’s still far from the original plat of the city. For the bulk of Chicago, Western Ave. is miles from the western city limits. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/92 "2023-08-10T13:07:54Z")
In the next town over are a group of streets with the following names: Bates, Tufts, Amherst, Bowdoin, Cornell, Dartmouth, Exeter, Wellesley, Regis, Univeristy, Yale, Fordham. There is an Oxford St nearby but I don’t think it’s related. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/93 "2023-08-10T13:11:37Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Several of the major streets in downtown Cleveland have lake names: The heart of the city is the intersection of Superior Avenue and Ontario Boulevard, and Huron and St. Claire are nearby. I’m told that East 9th used to be named Erie, but I’ve never found where Michigan is or was. E. 9th was indeed named Erie St. Michigan St. used to connect Canal Rd to Prospect, it’s gone now (roughly where the landmark Office Towers are now). There was also a Champlain St. one block to the north of Michigan St., also gone now. ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/94 "2023-08-10T13:17:54Z")
Also in Cleveland there are a cluster of streets in the Tremont neighborhood that used to be the site of Cleveland’s first institution of higher learning - Cleveland University, est. 1851. It only lasted a couple of years, but the surrounding streets were given (and still have) the academic names of College St. Literary Rd., and Professor St. There was also a University St., but that was renamed to W. 7th. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/95 "2023-08-10T13:29:22Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > Michigan St. used to connect Canal Rd to Prospect, it’s gone now (roughly where the landmark Office Towers are now). Ah, thanks, that’s one mystery settled! Did the Georgian Bay ever get a street (yeah, it’s part of Huron, but it’s practically another lake)? Cleveland also has a West Boulevard and an East Boulevard (always referred to by their full names, never just “West” or “East”), both major and prestigious streets, roughly 100 blocks to either side of downtown. I don’t think either was ever the city limit, but they’re at least close to it. There’s also a South Boulevard, but it’s just a perfectly ordinary street that you’d never notice, that I think some developer was trying to cash in on the prestige of the other Boulevards. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/96 "2023-08-10T16:52:46Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > In Chicago, North Avenue (1600 N.) and Western Avenue (2400 W.) were city limits when they were named. They’re **far** from the city limits now\* but didn’t get renamed. Rather than the old West Street, we now have West Lane. It’s a newer street and it’s on the east side of town. Maybe it was named after someone named West. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/97 "2023-08-10T17:49:24Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > In the next town over are a group of streets with the following names: Bates, Tufts, Amherst, Bowdoin, Cornell, Dartmouth, Exeter, Wellesley, Regis, Univeristy, Yale, Fordham. There is an Oxford St nearby but I don’t think it’s related. There’s a neighborhood near me with a similar scheme: Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Cambridge…to name a few. In my neighborhood all of the streets are named after Italian cites and uses the Italian spelling (eg Firenze) except for one oddball that is named after a Spanish city. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2023, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/98 "2023-08-10T18:00:15Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > There’s a neighborhood near me with a similar scheme: Princeton, Harvard, Stanford, Berkeley, Cambridge…to name a few. Right by SMU in Dallas, the residential streets are Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell, Harvard, etc. I always joked that this way, students could at least live on a street named for the school where they _didn’t_ get accepted. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/99 "2023-08-11T01:11:20Z")
In the novel _Goodbye, Columbus_ by Philip Roth, there is a passage where the main character refers to a neighborhood where “the streets whose names were those of Eastern colleges, as though the township, years ago, when things were named, had planned the destinies of the sons of its citizens”, which is on page 5 in the edition I have. ---
**Author:** ![Bookkeeper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bookkeeper/32/281_2.png) [@Bookkeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bookkeeper)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868/100 "2023-08-11T03:00:16Z")
> [@Mk\_VII](#): > > In arriving at a (ex-army) friend’s house, I joked about getting lost in the nearby Larkspur Drive, Clansman Crescent, and No.19 Wireless Set Avenue (only one of these is real and for the joke to work you must have some familiarity with army radios). British Army, to be specific. I trained on the C42 set in the 70s - the Canadian version of Larkspur. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rural-ohio-community-with-all-african-street-names/972868.md?page=6)