“A History of Your City Streets” City of Worcester, Massachusetts FOREWARD The story of street names, covering as it does the entire city of Worcester, is really a history of the community and a compendium of biography of its leading citizens. It brings into view a vast assemblage of details, many of which can be found in no historical book of reference. There is also much of romance connected with the subject. Many donors of street names bestowed the appellations for sentimental reasons now long forgotten. For example, turn to the explanation of why Schussler road was so named. The whole story has a fascination, as well as a historical value. I have long wanted someone to write a history of Worcester street names. Ivan Sandrof has done so by gathering material about most of the important streets, explaining the origin of the names and narrating much of interest regarding the history of the thoroughfares and the biographies of the persons for whom the streets were named. This has meant countless hours of research in histories of the town, directories, maps and personal reminiscences. Almost all of the older streets are included in the survey. A very few are omitted because their origins defy interpretation. No one has ever found, for instance, an explanation of why Pearl street was so named, although, of course, it may have been a fanciful name, but bestowed by whom and why? Mr. Sandrof, starting as he did practically from scratch, has absorbed a vast amount of historical knowledge, and with a trained and orderly mind has portrayed his subject clearly and accurately for the benefit of his many readers, to whom much of his material will be a new revelation of the city’s history. CLARENCE S. BRIGHAM PREFACE This is the story of the streets of Worcester; how, why and when they were named. It is also a history of Worcester – with a new presentation of significant events and important citizens, now dead, who made a great city. Because theses people were human, an attempt has been made to keep them so. History has a tendency to freeze individuals into the granite statues that they were not. There are approximately 2296 streets in Worcester today. Most of them are relatively new. Many were named with easy familiarity for the first name of a wife of the contractor who developed the street – or with due regard to the Post Office for speeding up delivery of mail. Such streets have no history and are omitted. Still others, which qualify, do not appear because their naming cannot be verified. The list, therefore, is by no means complete. Whenever possible, information was obtained from descendants of individuals who named streets, or had them named for them. Grateful acknowledgment is made to George F. Booth, publisher of the Worcester Telegram and the Evening Gazette, for permission to use most of this material which first appeared as a daily column in the Telegram. For encouragement and direction, I am grateful to Clarence S. Brigham, director of the American Antiquarian society; to Dorothy M. Gleason of Worcester Public Library, for her enthusiasm in research and assistance with the index; and to my wife, Nancy. Without the vast treasure of local history in the Antiquarian Society and Public Library, this book could not have been written. Worcester Mass. IVAN SANDROF “A HISTORY OF YOUR CITY STREETS” ......................................................................................................................... 2 AITCHISON STREET............................................................................. 1 Also SCHOOL ST. ........................................................................................... 1 ASYLUM STREET .................................................................................. 2 AUSTIN STREET..................................................................................... 4 ALBERT STREET ................................................................................... 5 ARARAT STREET................................................................................... 7 Also Noah ST. ................................................................................................ 7 BALLARD STREET ................................................................................ 8 BANCROFT STREET ............................................................................. 9 Also BANCROFT TOWER .................................................................................. 9 BELMONT STREET ............................................................................. 11 Also WORCESTER TURNPIKE CORPORATION...................................................... 11 BENEFIT STREET ................................................................................ 13 Also LAGRANGE and HAMMOND STS................................................................. 13 BIGELOW STREET.............................................................................. 14 BLACKSTONE STREET...................................................................... 16 Also CENTRAL and UNION STS. & BLACKSTONE CANAL......................................... 16 BLAKE STREET.................................................................................... 18 Also WEBSTER SQ., and NOBILITY HILL.............................................................. 18 BOYNTON STREET ............................................................................. 20 Also Worcester Plytechnical.............................................................................. 20 BURNCOAT STREET........................................................................... 22 Also BURNCOAT PLAIN and BURNT SHIRT HILL................................................... 22 BYRON STREET ................................................................................... 23 Also WILLIAM AND BOWDOIN STS. AND RURAL CEMETERY ................................... 23 Also MILTON, DRYDEN, BRYANT, WILLIS, WHITTIER & EDGEWORTH STS................... 23 Also BREMER, HEMANS, WAVERLY, LAMARTINE & PALFEY & PIERPOINT STS............. 23 Also LOWELL, MELVILLE AND TENNYSON ST. & WHITMAN RD. ............................... 23 CAMP STREET...................................................................................... 24 Also CAMP SCOTT AND COL. CHARLES DEVENS, JR. ............................................ 24 CENTRAL STREET .............................................................................. 26 CHANDLER STREET........................................................................... 27 Also LOYALISTS........................................................................................... 27 CHANNING STREET ........................................................................... 29 CHEEVER STREET.............................................................................. 31 CIRCUIT AVENUE ............................................................................... 33 Also COLUMBUS PARK, GENOA, and LIBSON STS ................................................. 33 Also ISABELLA, FERDINAND, COLUMBUS & CABOT STS. ....................................... 33 CLARK STREET ................................................................................... 34 Also CLARK UNIVERSITY ............................................................................... 34 COAL MINE ROAD .............................................................................. 36 Also NACKOR’S MINE and WORCESTER COAL COMPANY ....................................... 36 COBURN AVENUE ............................................................................... 38 Also LAKE QUINSIGAMOND, LINCOLN PARK, LAKE WHALOM, ALVARADO AVE. .......... 38 COES STREET....................................................................................... 39 COLLEGE STREET.............................................................................. 41 Also HOLY CROSS COLLEGE, FATHER JAMES FITTON & PAKACHOAG, ..................... 41 Also HILL OF PLEASANT SPRINGS & MT. ST. JAMES ............................................. 41 CROMPTON STREET.......................................................................... 43 Also MARIEMONT ........................................................................................ 43 CRYSTAL STREET............................................................................... 45 CURTIS STREET................................................................................... 46 DAVIS STREET ..................................................................................... 47 Also WORCESTER COAL MINE......................................................................... 47 DEVENS ROAD ..................................................................................... 49 Also AMERICAN LEGION ............................................................................... 49 DEWEY STREET................................................................................... 51 DIX STREET .......................................................................................... 53 DODGE AVENUE.................................................................................. 54 DOUGLAS STREET.............................................................................. 56 Also WILLIAM G. MAYNARD............................................................................ 56 DOWNING STREET ............................................................................. 57 ELLSWORTH STREET........................................................................ 59 ELM