22 SEPTEMBER 14, 2017 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
OUR NEIGHBORHOOD: THE WAY IT WAS
What’s in a name? Plenty of neighborhood history
Over the years, the “Our Neighborhood”
column has presented
in formation regarding the
city’s adoption of “the Philadelphia
system” in establishing street addresses,
which resulted in changes to street
names.
The method of numbering houses
(100 numbers to a block) was one way
of resolving the problem of duplication.
In the introduction of a 1934 reference
book, Queens House Numbers
in Health Areas, it is noted that Queens
“is really made up of the consolidation
of a number of incorporated villages,
self communities, each attached to its
own street and number system.”
As a result, it was common for
neighborhoods in diff erent parts of
the borough to have a street by the
same name.
According to a 1921 book published
by the Queens Chamber of Commerce,
there were 23 streets named “Washington”
and the same number of others
named “Lincoln” within the borough.
Some readers might be surprised to
know that there once was a Wyckoff
Avenue in the Ozone Park/Richmond
Hill area (it subsequently became
104th Street).
Some names may have been changed
for other reasons (such as World War I
and feelings toward Germany, which
led to changing Hamburg Avenue to
Wilson Avenue).
The Philadelphia system also determined
whether a roadway should
be called a street or an avenue. The
terms avenue, road and drive would
be used for roadways that run east/
west; street, place and lane would be
used for roadways that north/south.
Under the system, boulevards could
run in any direction.
It is not lost on The Old Timer that
Fresh Pond Road in Ridgewood runs
north/south, contrary to the system.
Perhaps readers can point out some
exceptions of their own.
Here are some examples from several
diff erent local neighborhoods
that, we hope, will prove interesting
to readers.
GLENDALE
Alpha Place became 67th Place.
Backus Street became 65th Place.
Barbara Place became 82nd Street.
Broad Street became 65th Street.
Brush Street became 79th Street.
Clinton Avenue became 73rd Place.
DeBoo Place became 68th Street.
Dill Place became 61st Street
Dry Harbor Road became 81st Street.
Edison Place became 71st Place.
Ella Place/Street became 85th Street.
Fremont Place became 64th Place.
Ford Avenue became 79th Place.
Fosdick Avenue became 69th Street.
Gamma Place became 66th Place.
Hanna Street became 88th Street.
Haverkamp Place/Street became 71st
Street.
Henrietta Street became Doran
Avenue.
Howard Place became 64th Place.
Katie Place became 73rd Avenue.
Lafayette Avenue/Street became 69th
Place.
Tilden Place/Street became 75th
Avenue.
Tompkins Avenue became 70th Street.
Walnut Street became 69th Street.
Webster Avenue became 71st Street.
MASPETH
Baltic Street became 60th Road.
Berlin Avenue/Street became 50th
Street.
Bittman Street became 69th Lane.
Broad Street became 59th Street.
Bullock Place became 63rd Place.
Catherine Avenue/Street became 71st
Street.
Church Street became 57th Drive.
Clinton Place became 56th Avenue.
Columbine Avenue became 55th
Avenue.
Dorothy Place became 59th Road.
Edward Street became 58th Drive.
Elsie Place became 51st Road.
Emma Street became 54th Street.
Eva Place became 60th Place/Street.
Faulkner Street became 54th Avenue.
Fremont Street became 73rd Place.
Funston Place became 65th Place.
Gilbert Street became 48th Street.
Hawthorne Avenue became 53rd
Avenue.
Hebberd place became 59th Avenue.
Hedwig Place/Street became 63rd
Street.
Henry Street became 66th Road.
High Street became 58th Street.
Irene Place became 61st Drive.
James Street became 59th Avenue.
Jasmine Street became 62nd Street.
John Street became 60th Street.
Tratwine Street became 52nd Drive.
Willow Avenue became 64th Street.
Zeidler Avenue/Street became 55th
Street.
RIDGEWOOD
Anthon Avenue/Street became 60th
Street.
Buchman Avenue became 60th Lane.
Duryea’s Street became Hancock
Street.
Elm Avenue became Catalpa Avenue.
Foxall Street became 69th Avenue.
Fremont Street became 65th Street.
Halsey Street became Silver Street,
now 68th Road.
Halleck Avenue became 70th Avenue.
Howard Street became 65th Street.
Hancock Street became Hughes Street,
now 68th Avenue.
Ivy Street became Madison Avenue/
Street.
Jefferson Avenue became Cornelia
Street, now 67th Avenue.
Kossuth Place became Cypress Hills
Street.
Slocum Street became 64th Place.
Van Cortlandt Avenue became 71st
Avenue.
Voorhis Street became Decatur Street.
WOODHAVEN
Clinton Place became 90th Avenue.
Diamond Avenue/Street became 98th
Street.
Elmwood Avenue/Street became 86th
Avenue.
Emma Place became 86th Avenue.
Howard Avenue/Street became
86th Road.
Johnson Avenue/Street became 77th
Street.
Truant Avenue/Street became 74th
Street.
Yaphank Avenue/Street became
88th Road.
We owe a word of thanks to George
Miller, historian of the Greater Ridgewood
Historical Society, for his assistance
in making the above list possible.
It is by no means complete, but we
thought that readers might enjoy seeing
some of the names formerly used
for a sampling of local streets.
Reprinted from the Oct. 8, 2009
issue of the Ridgewood Times. If you
have any remembrances, comments
or historic photos that you would
like to share with our readers, write
to editorial@qns.com (Subject: Our
Neighborhood-The Way it Was) or send
a letter to The Old Timer, c/o Ridgewood
Times, 38-15 Bell Blvd., Bayside,
NY 11361. All mailed pictures will be
carefully returned to you.
This postcard shows the scene on Bittman Street in Maspeth, L.I., which
is now 69th Street in Maspeth, Queens.
This undated photo shows
Parkview Avenue looking north in
Glendale, which is now known as
80th Street.
