Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-01-19
THEY ARE NOT PRETTY
The Designations of the Lettered and
Numbered Streets of This City.
Suggestions NJ to How the System Can
BE Changed without Causing
Confusion or Complaint.

A well-known newspaper correspondent
who has made his Some in this city ra
several years. writes to The Star as fol-
lows:
What's in a namey' That depends on
conditions. The city that has become the
most beautiful capital in the world is named
after our most distinguished warrior and
patriot The federal district is named I'm
honor or the great navigator of the western
seas who discovered this new world The
federal Union itself borrowed a name al
ready rendered luminous with republican
glory by the heroic Dutch and became the
United States of America The great thor
oughfare. destined to be the finest in the
world, Is appropriately named after the
tnen greatest of the states All these names
are Doth historic and significant They
mean much. 1t might have answered n
more unitarian purpose IL the country had
been named A; the federal district b: the
capital city, c, and Pennsylvania avenue ID.
Even less strain on the memory would have
been occasioned by giving them desiena-
lions that limited at the apothecary shop,
like No. ], No. 2. No. 3 and No. T. In one
OF the speculative books that dream of
Utopia the author tells of a country where
every human being was known by a num-
ed on the forehead. But who would like a
civilization where individuality was so total
ly lest and the people were enumerated in
stead of named?
These reflections are occasioned by a con-
sideration of the homely street nomencla-
ture OF Washington. L'Enfant's dream OF
beauty has become a living reality. The
city has emerged from its morasses It's
shrines are built and it's temples born The
devoted French engineer was prophetic in
his plan of the capital city, and 10 him we
owe the original suggestion that either the
broad diagonal avenues or the great squares
and circles. which then existed in his inn
agination only. should be named for the
states in the Union. Thus we have these
beautiful broad thoroughfares named for
the commonwealths. We have the squares
and circles named after famous American
soldiers and statesmen, which certainly
gives us interesting and attractive local
geography. These names mean something.
They are historic. significant and peculiarly
appropriate for the national capital.
Who Named the Streets.
But who was ii that first suggested the
dismal idea OF labelling all the other streets
in Washington with the letters of the alpha
bet and the succession of Arabic numeralsr
No one remembers and no one regrets the
failure OF memory. L'Enfant's grass-grown
grave Is unmarked by memorial stone but
his name is enshrined in national affection
for his beaucifcation of the capital The in
ventor of the A. Il, and one, two. three
system has been forgotten, as ne deserves
to be. 1t is fortunate that he did not carry
his plan TO its logical conclusion and desig-
nate the great avenues by Roman numerals
L, III, III. ~, V. &c, and the squares and
circles after the twelve months of the year
The only argument that is heard for the
"a hal ef (xb iS
tran the numbers) is its alleged convenience.
Even were its convenience granted for the
sake OF argument, IL would not apply in a
city as distinctly monumental as WASH
ington. however appropriate IL might seem
to be Tor business metropolis. In some
OF the larger cities OF the country the plan
of numerical names has been adopted with
advantage, but the dismal alphabet has L
believe, not been recited in any other CITY
in the Union. Even Chicago named her
great central thoroughfares after the early
Presidents. and New York did not fall back
on numbers until her march up Manhattan
Island was well begun.
The original alphabet-street maker CON-
siderately left out j street (which would
have had wild. western meaning too per-
sonal to be enjoyed. But the growth OF
the city has rendered IL necessary to pro-
coed 1t is not difficult to predict the in
definite extension of the picturesque names.
even IL Washington should overflow into
Baltimore and Richmond. All that has to
be done is to begin over again with A No.
2; 3, No. .; e, No. - etc These names
are just as pretty as the first lot and the
scheme permits Of indefinite expansion.
Altered. IL Not Changed.
1t is. of course, not probable that these
absurd street names will ever be changed.
But it would be quite possible for them to
be altered without being very iconoclastic.
For instance, let the alphabet streets b
given significant revolutionary names, pre-
serving the succession of the letters of the
alphabet. There is not a street named
America in the capital My country 'tis
Of thee, sweet land 1 think for a name
to supersede A street would be a pretty fair
start How would such stirring names as
Bennington. Concord. Eutaw, Fort Moul-
trie, Independence. Lexington, Monmouth,
Princeton, Quebec, Saratoga, Ticonderoga,
Valley Forge. White Plains and Yorktown
sound! Each street could still have its
much-loved letter. but the letter would soon
grow to mean something.
There are no names more musical than
the Indian ones. To designate the alpha
bette streets after the dispossessed owners
of the soil of the republic would be a poetic
tribute by the despoilers. How music and
history would succeed our present primer
lesson recitation IL We had streets like Al
Kennebec. Monongahela. Narragansett OF
tawa, Powhatan, Quinnebaug, Roanoke,
Susquehanna, Tuscarora. Uintah, Vanita,
Wyandotte. Yuma and Zuni.
The alphabetical streets could be ramed
likewise, after great streams that course
through our mighty empire. or large cities
that dot its wide area, after great
statesmen, soldiers or poets who have hon.
ored the American name. But to the mind
of the writer the revolutionary battles
would furnish names with more facility
and felicity than any others.
Names of Presidents.
The numerical streets are not yet thor
oughly grated on the District map beyond
Rock creek. There have been twenty-three
different Presidents. These numbered streets
could each be made to represent the progress
Of the republic through one administra-
tion." There are just twenty-three numbered
streets northwest TO the borders OF ancient
Georgetown. In no other quarter do the
numbered streets run high. IL would be
a simple lesson in the presidential succession
IL LIST became Washington street. "a be-
came John Adams street and Sd jefferson
street, and SO on through Madison. Monroe.
John Quincy Adams. jackson, Van Buren,,
William Henry Harrison, Tyler. Polk. Tay-
lor, Fillmore, Pierce. Buchanan. Lincoln,
Johnson, Grant and all the other Presidents
to Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harri-
son. The occasional half streets might be
furnished names from the Vice Presidents
who served under the Presidents for whom
the preceding street was named.
This is far enough to carry speculation
about the matter. There could probably
be suggestions made that would furnish
more significant and appropriate names for