The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-03-29

was North Forbes street is now
Thompson avenue, and the south por-
ton is now Smith avenue.
Only comparatively small proper
ton of the streets are named after
the old settlers, the hundreds of others
! having received a great variety Of mis-
| cellaneous designations. The christen-
ing Of the streets is governed by no
| rule, the selection of names being ar
bitrary. The official naming of streets
| rests with the assembly, and that body
has given most of the streets of the
city the titles by which they are dis
| tinguished. A large and picturesque
vocabulary is the list Of the names Of
| st. PauIs streets.
Some Picturesque Names.
Many of the names are fanciful. some
are adjectives descriptive of the re-
gion through which the street runs,
and some reflect, through their histori-
cal and literary associations the life
and times of earlier days of the world.
Some of the descriptive appellations
are apt, witness Arch, Summit, Mount
Airy, Valley, FairView, Prospect Ter
race and many others.
The naming of streets was not the
| least Of the troubles of the officials in
the days when large sections Of terri
tory were absorbed, plated and open
ed for development by the city. To
secure apt, euphonious and pleasing
words for hundreds of streets was nc
easy task. In many instances large
property owners came to the assistance
of the officials, and suggested their own
names as designations for the future
streets, and as a result many Of st.
PauPs streets are named after contem-
porary citizens who were interested in
the real estate abutting the thorough
fares.
A feature of the city which often
causes comment among strangers is
that there are only fifteen streets bear
ing numerical designations, together
with the fact that two of those are de-
funct. The reason that the numerical
system was not carried further proba-
bly, was that when Fifteenth street was
reached the gigantic hill was struck,
which defied further progress.
Few Presidents Honored.
But few of the presidents of the
United States are represented among
the streets of St. Paul. Many of the
states and cities of the country have
their names attached to st. Paul
streets. Many Of the streets are desig-
mated with terms culled from natural
history, probably suggested by the
vegetation found growing on the land
over which they were laid out, or the
animal that may have been rowing
there.
Feminine and masculine Christian
names are literally scattered about,
and many illustriOus names from the
annals of the old world are daily Oh
the lips Of the people of this city.
Names of geographical points of note
the world over are also used to desig-
nate streets, many of which are Insig-
nlf1eant, and whose Understanding ap-
peilations are in striking contrast to
their natural pecuHarities.
The original corporate limits of tho
town In 1S49 were the river on the
south Elm street on the southwest;
Wilkins, Walnut, Ninth street, Sew
enth Street.--JackSon street, Fourth
street and Wacouta street to the river
on the east. Within this area the prin--
cipal thoroughfares were Wabasha,
Cedar, Minnesota, Robert and Jack
son streets, running east and west, and
Bench street and the numerical streets
as far north as Ninth street. The town
was first surveyed and plated in 1S49,
though previous to that time streets
and roads had been laid out in old
lower town, which, a few years later
became the leading residence portion
Most of the streets within that part
of the city which was the territory of
the original town still bear the same
names with which they were christen-
ed. The names readily suggest the
sources from which they were de-
rived.