Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-12-30
NAMES OF STREETS
The Proposed I" Eminent American
Plan Discussed.
ITS VARIOUS FEATURES EXAMINED
The Simple Scheme. of Letters and
Numbers Defended.
POSSIBLE PERPLEXITIES

The idea of giving the streets of WASH
| 'rgton names in lieu of letters is stirring
| UP discus sioo The following communica-
tions to The Star illustrates the various
ways In which the subject is considered:
| Great credit is due the members of the
| historical Society," writes Mr.. Lafayette
| Z. LOOMS, for their researches INTO the
| irregularities of the street nomenclature of
| the city and District, and also for their eff
| forts toward some reformation, as pub
lis he'd in The Star of December % In adj
| Cttion to the regular numbered and let
| tered, or as is proposed. initial streets they
| give US between fifty and sixty new names
| reedful to rectify existing errors, which,
| with all the others assumed TO be satisfac-
| ZION of street names in the not far distant
future. as the suburban subdivision shall
| proceed.
THE misfortune is. that this fearful ar
ray OF subsidiary and intermediate streets
| VIII not only be bewilderiny in effect but
| Will ultimately nullify the initial system
| altogether Aside from these secondary
| streets the original system of names and
| Numbers is such that an utter stranger i'm
| two minutes time is as much a master of
! the territory (barring the avenues) as is the
resident. He can find his way direct and
without inquiry to 1924 G street or 2IaD
10Th street as well as city coachman.
What Might Happen.
| But if he should chance to wish TO go
| TO Randolph street. on the new list and
| taking the initials, walk along past Polk
| Quincy. he finds Rutledge street but no
| Randolph +. q. R., the initials are cor
| rect, but where is Randolph? On inquiry
| no one knows of such e street in that Vi
entity. The directory in some convenient
| drug store informs him that Randolph
| street is in Tenleytown. And the stranger
concludes correctly enough that this initial
| system is no system at all. 1t is the old
game, Now you see it and now you don't
| 1t Is worse than that: it is positively mis-
| leading If there had been 10 initial system
| ne would have informed himself but trust
| ing to the initial he was led astray. If the
| initial system cannot be made truthful and
effective il has no sufficient reason for pre-
| tending 10 be- hundred streets outside
| that system will at once nullify the seven
| ty-hve within it; for no one will know
| which are and which are not to be followed
| and so the whole will be discredited until
at ;u iast the citizen alike with the stranger
| VIII be RELOCATED to the drug store to find
| Iighlman, or lizard. or Underwood and a
hundred ether streets
Earnest consideration of these unfortu-
| rate and unpromising conditions for sew
| eral years has disclosed no satisfactory
| solution. As the defect is radical. the rem
edy to be effective must be equally radical
and far reaching. 1t is manifest of
| all. or nothing. Heterodoxy and orr hodoyy
an no more harmonize in a street system
than in church. With hundred or two
| Heterogeneous names, it assuredly looks
| far more like chaos than system One or
| the other must be abolished. If the nom
| initial names remain, they will ultimately
| exting'lish all value in the initial system.
The vine will strangle the tree.
! After all. the remedy is reither so ve~~
| complicated Tor difficult. And. as :,
derstand it, the whole matte I'M
| within the present power of 81 Is lIlIy
d dii,aai system To- once 9e rmned MON .
| solve the whole ,,IN oiiiiilissioherS would
| the Distri- -,ature from the Capitol TO
| a nill~ t line, for all time, as plain as
PlA~ staff "' pam Is
Action Already Taken.
Indeed. the first step toward a rectifica-
ton of this unsatisfactory state of street
| nomenclature was taken. some time since
in the order of the Commissioners that no
public way of less than eighty feet in
| width should be denominated street :
that public ways of less width should be
designated places courts or ALLEYS ac-
| ccrding to width
This ruling reduces large percentage
| Oh the intermediate streets to the rank of
| places. Let now the order be extended
| TO say that the term street shall be re-
| stricted TO those main thoroughfares upon
winch the subdivision of the city and ter
1
| mediate streets or passages whether des-
| lsDated places courts or alleys shall
| take the name of the parallel street in
| front.
THE first effect of this regulation would
| be TO preserve the primitive dignity of the
! tEorcughfares as Streets in distinction
from the innumerable secondary passages
| ard ways But far more important ami
| practical result would ensue in the group
| ing together under definite and helpful re-
| lations, streets, places. courts and alleys.
| Under this regulation all the passages
| or ways between Adams and Buchanan
| streets, parallel thereto. would take the
name of Adams, as Adams place. Adams
| court. Adams alley, if existing And ali
passages between Buchanan and Cincin-
| natl streets would take the name of Bu-
! chanan place, or court or alley; and SINH
| larry Of every other street. Galveston al
| ley would lie directly in the rear of Gal
weston street; 18th court, in the rear of
| 18th street.
| But still further, as the house number
| ing is already uniform, this. conjoined to
| the uniformity of name, would insure the
| identification of every locality in the Dis
| trict to a most surprising extent What
| ever the location of building, whether on
| place, or court, or alley, it would be di-
| rectly in the rear of the same number of
| that same street. No. AZ Marshall court
| or alley would be in the rear of house No
| AZ Marshall street, and 2234 Goth place in
| the rear of No. 223i Goth street and so on
| to the District line.
| What the Future Promises.
| Furthermore, when it is considered that
in the coming twenty-five years . thousand
or more squares are likely to be plotted
| each of which, under existing rules, must
have an intermediate passageway, the i'm
portance and desirability of these reeula-
| lions can hardly be overestimated. The
| effect of neglect to anticipate and provide
| for coming conditions is seen i'm the
| Wretched state OF our street extension at
| the present moment-due solely to the
| neglect of proper provision twenty-five
| years ago.
1T is to be hoped that the Commission
ers will not allow this matter to drift fur
| ther into confusion, when, by a single
stroke, all this multiplicity of irregular and
ASSOCIATED names would be set aside and
every public way of whatever class would
| be brought into regularity, order and har-
monious relation to the city system re-
lieving the District from what now appears
little less than an impending public calam-
fty, an avalanche of bewilderiny hetero-