Etymologies of place names in Chicago, Illinois
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Source of the place names in the city of Chicago, Illinois.
| Place Name | Source |
|---|---|
| Adams Street | John Adams, second president of the United States |
| Addison Street | Thomas Addison, English doctor, discoverer of Addison's disease |
| Archer Avenue | Col. William Archer |
| Artesian Avenue | A productive artesian well on the corner of Chicago Avenue and Western Avenue |
| Ashland Avenue | The Ashland estate of Kentucky statesman Henry Clay |
| Beach Avenue | E.A. Beach, a real estate developer |
| Belmont Avenue | Battle of Belmont |
| Blue Island Avenue | Led to Blue Island, a ridge of land that appeared to be an island to pioneers |
| Bowmanville | Early settler Jessie Bowman sold lots that he did not own, then fled |
| Bucktown | Residents kept goats in their yards |
| Calhoun Place | U.S. Vice President and South Carolina statesman, John C. Calhoun |
| Calumet River | Calumet means "peace pipe" in Illiniwek |
| Canaryville | When the Irishmen worked in the stockyards they left when it was dark and came home when it was dark,so their wives and girlfriends put canaries in cages in the trees so they could hear the birds singing on their way to work.[citation needed] |
| Cermak Road | Slain Chicago mayor Anton Cermak (formerly 22nd Street) |
| Chicago River | A French rendering of the Miami-Illinois name shikaakwa, meaning wild leek.[1][2][3] |
| Clark Street | George Rogers Clark |
| Clinton Street | DeWitt Clinton |
| Clybourn Avenue | Archibald Clybourn, the first policeman of Chicago |
| Congress Parkway | U.S. Congress, notable because formerly Tyler Street after the tenth President of the United States but changed by the Chicago city council due to his unpopularity during the American Civil War |
| Constance Avenue | Konstanz, Germany |
| Cook County | The county in which Chicago is situated was named after Daniel Pope Cook, who served as the second U.S. Representative from Illinois and the first Attorney General of the State of Illinois |
| Cottage Grove Avenue | A small cottage in a charming grove.[4] |
| Damen Avenue | Father Arnold Damen, founder of St. Ignatius College Preparatory School |
| Dearborn Street | named for Fort Dearborn which was built on the present day site of Chicago, which in turn was named for General Henry Dearborn, American Revolutionary War veteran and Secretary of War under Thomas Jefferson. |
| DeKoven Street | John DeKoven (founder of Northern Trust) |
| Devon Avenue | Devonshire, England by John Lewis Cochran |
| Diversey Parkway | Beer brewer Michael Diversey |
| Englewood | Englewood, New Jersey |
| Fillmore Street | Millard Fillmore, thirteenth President of the United States |
| Fuller Park | Melville Fuller, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court |
| Fulton Street | Robert Fulton |
| Franklin Street | Benjamin Franklin |
| Garfield Park | The centerpiece of a three park and interlinking boulevard system, the 185-acre (0.75 km2) park (formerly Central Park)
was renamed to honor twentieth President of the United States James A. Garfield after his assassination in 1881. Garfield Boulevard and the Garfield Park Conservatory are also named for him. |
| George Street | Settler Sam George sighted the last bear in Chicago at the corner of Adams and LaSalle Streets in 1834. The bear was promptly killed by another settler, John Sweeney. |
| Gladys Avenue | Gladys Gunderson, a member of the Norwegian-American family that formed a successful 19th-century Chicago real estate firm, S.T. Gunderson & Sons. Gladys Park is also named for her. Another city street, Langley Avenue, and city park is named for another relative, Esther Gunderson Langley.[1] |
| Halsted Street | William Ogden named it for William and Caleb Halsted, brothers from New York who developed parts of the Loop |
| Harrison Street | William Henry Harrison, ninth President of the United States |
| Hegewisch | Adolph Hegewisch, who laid out the town of Hegewisch which is now part of the 10th Ward of Chicago |
| Hirsch Street | The street and a high school were named for Emil Gustav Hirsch, a rabbi and rabbinical scholar. [2] |
| Howard Street | Howard Uhr, who donated the Howard Street right-of-way to Chicago |
| Hubbard Street | Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard, who arrived in Chicago in 1818 |
| Humboldt Park | The park and a boulevard are named for Alexander von Humboldt, a German naturalist and explorer |
| Jackson Street | Andrew Jackson, seventh President of the United States |
| Jefferson Street | Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United States |
| Kewanee Avenue | A lek for Prairie chickens called "Kewanee" in the Winnebago language was located there |
| King Drive | Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. Formerly South Park Drive, the first street in the nation to be named for King after his assassination |
| Kinzie Street | John Kinzie, who settled near the river in 1804 |
| Lake Shore Drive | A freeway running parallel with and alongside the shoreline of Lake Michigan. The downtown portion opened as Leif Ericson Drive in 1937 and was also called Field Boulevard but in 1946 was renamed Lake Shore Drive |
| LaSalle Street | Sieur de La Salle, an early explorer of Illinois |
| Lincoln Avenue | Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States. This is one of the few diagonal streets in Chicago. Prior to Lincoln's assassination the street was known as Little Fort Road as it led to the town of Little Fort, now Waukegan, Illinois |
| Logan Square | Gen. John A. Logan |
| Loomis Boulevard | Horatio G. Loomis, one of the organizers of the Chicago Board of Trade in 1848 |
| Madison Street | James Madison, fourth President of the United States |
| Maxwell Street | Dr. Philip Maxwell, one of Chicago's first surgeons |
| Midway Airport | Battle of Midway |
| Monroe Street | James Monroe, fifth President of the United States |
| Ogden Avenue | William Butler Ogden, first mayor of Chicago |
| O'Hare Airport | Edward "Butch" O'Hare, World War II flying ace and Medal of Honor recipient |
| Pershing Road | John J. Pershing (formerly 39th Street) |
| Pilsen | Plzeň, a city in the Czech Republic |
| Polk Street | James K. Polk, eleventh President of the United States |
| Pulaski Road | Casimir Pulaski |
| Quincy Street | John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the United States |
| Randolph Street | named for Randolph County, Illinois as was part of the original plot of Chicago. |
| Ridge Boulevard/Avenue | Runs along a ridge formed by Lake Michigan |
| Rogers Park | Pioneer settler Philip Rogers |
| Roosevelt Road | President Theodore Roosevelt (formerly 12th Street) |
| Rush Street | Named for Dr. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, Rush Street dates back to the 1830s incorporation of Chicago. |
| St. Louis Avenue | The street and St. Louis Park are named after Louis IX of France |
| Sauganash, and Caldwell Ave. | Half-Potawatomi Chief Sauganash, or Billy Caldwell |
| Sheffield Avenue | Subdivider Joseph Sheffield |
| Sheridan Road | Philip Henry Sheridan, Civil War general |
| Southport Avenue | Led to Kenosha, Wisconsin, which was formerly named Southport |
| State Street | Originally State Road, its intersection with Madison Street marks the base point for Chicago's address system. North of the Chicago River, this was formerly called Wolcott. |
| Streeterville | George "Cap" Streeter |
| Stony Island Avenue | Leads to Stony Island, a ridge of land that appeared to be an island to pioneers |
| Taylor Street | Zachary Taylor, twelfth President of the United States |
| Touhy Avenue | Local subdivider who is the son in law of Philip Rogers.[5] |
| Van Buren Street | Martin Van Buren, eighth President of the United States |
| Vincennes Avenue | Led to Fort Vincennes, Indiana |
| Wabash Avenue | Wabash Railroad |
| Wacker Drive | Charles H. Wacker, chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission, who pushed the idea of a double decked roadway along the Chicago River. |
| Warren Boulevard | General Joseph Warren, American Revolutionary war patriot and doctor. |
| Washington Street | George Washington, first President of the United States |
| Wells Street | William Wells, soldier |
| Wolcott Avenue | Dr. Alexander Wolcott, Jr. (1790-1830), first physician in Chicago, trader, served as Chicago's US Indian Agent from the late 1810s through the late 1820s. Until 1939 the road was Lincoln Street. |
[edit] References
- ^ Swenson, John F. “Chicagoua/Chicago: The Origin, Meaning, and Etymology of a Place Name.” Illinois Historical Journal 84.4 (Winter 1991): 235–248
- ^ McCafferty, Michael. Disc: "Chicago" Etymology. LINGUIST list posting, Dec. 21, 2001
- ^ McCafferty, Michael. A Fresh Look at the Place Name Chicago. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 95.2 (Summer 2003)
- ^ http://www.gapersblock.com/airbags/archives/charles_cleaver_and_the_cottage_in_the_grove/
- ^ http://www.chsmedia.org/househistory/nameChanges/start.pdf
