Moved by a poem that appeared in The Star, the City Council formally renamed the stretch in 1952. The poem tells of the hustle and bustle of traffic on the street, a time when skirts were voluminous and petticoats numerous. And when the wind would blow, too much of a shapely leg was exposed. It is said that many a romance budded on 11th Street. And so in the vernacular of these young swain, the street became Petticoat Lane.
Presidents also provide favorite street monikers.
Kansas City's Kansas City has a Washington Street and a Jefferson Street, named for the first and third presidents. It's Pennsylvania Avenue. Washington Street, named for the first president, is two blocks from Jefferson Street, named for the third. It follows then, that Adams Street, named for the second president, should fall in the middle. Alas, real estate investor Kersey Coates of Philadelphia, who helped bring the railroad to Kansas City, named it Pennsylvania Avenue.