Evening star., 1901-06-13
NAMING H4ESTREETS
System Being Considered by the Dis
trict Commissioners.
fHE TENTATIVE PLAN IN VIEW
Thoroughfares Provided for Under
Act for Extensions.
THE SUGGESTIONS MADE

One of the most important questions with
which the District Commissioners will have
to deal in the near future is the nomen-
clature of the streets and avenues which
have been planned and are to be provided
under the act of Congress establishing a
permanent system of highways for the en-
tire District. Already the Commissioners
have In view tentative scheme for nam
ing the streets; plan which will conform
In principle to the system applied In the
city proper and which may in course OF
time extend to the city thoroughfares and
thus give complete uniformity In all re-
spects.
Under the highway act the District Com
missioners are given authority to name the
streets provided for under the enactment,
and in carrying out their general plan they
will thus be enabled to change the names
of thoroughfares beyond the city limits in
cases where 1t may be deemed necessary
ture, however, and the Commissioners will
apply themselves for the present to de-
Gliding upon plan FOR the new streets In
general.
Commissioners have been guided by the
system Of street names employed in Wash
ington city, and the idea Of alphabetical
succession will be strictly and uniquely
ters coming under the jurisdiction Of the
engineer department of the District gov
ernment, the question of nomenclature has
been almost entirely in the hands Of the
Beach, U. S. A., who has been assisted by
Mr. w. P. Richards. assistant engineer in
charge of street extension plans.
The Plan in View.
The plan which is in view by the District
authorities contemplates the employment of
the names Of great Americans in the nam
ing of all streets in the northeast and north
west sections, which are the most extensive
and important divisions. This plan will,
of course, only apply to the highways rum
ming east and west. the north and south
streets being numbered. 1t is Interesting
to note that the numbers will reach as high
as 63 in designating streets in the eastern
part of the District and SD street In the
western section.
The plan of naming, explained by Capt.
Beach, is to apply to those streets in the
northeast and northwest sections which
will be extensions or combinations or the
lettered streets names of Americans whose
cognomens contained but one syllable. The
second section of streets north of these
would be named for Americans with two
syllables in their cognomens and the third
section would have three syllable names,
distinguished Americans being still honor
ed. These three sections of alphabetical and
syllable progression names would extend al
most to the northernmost street in the Dis
trict.
Explaining the plan more explicitly 1t
may be stated that under the new system
OF names A street north, extended, would
be designated, for example, Ames street
The name thus given would apply to the
extension of the street beyond the city
limits proper, both to the east and to the
west in all cases. 1t may be possible in
time that Congress. if it approves the new
system, may for the sake Of uniformity
legislate to change the names Of the let
tered streets in the northern section of the
city, so that the distinguished American
designation may apply to the first section
of streets right through from District line
to District line. If such a plan We're fol-
lowed, II street, for instance, would ulti-
mately be known as either Hull or Hayes
street, as might be decided upon.