Aquatic Way

From Pittsburgh Streets
Aquatic Way
Neighborhood Brighton Heights
Rugby Alley (until 1910)
Origin of name Probably Rugby School or the sport of rugby
Aquatic Alley (1910–1914)

This alley appears as Rugby Alley in the 1910 Hopkins atlas as part of the Brighton Heights Plan, which was laid out on both sides of Davis Avenue. It was probably named for Rugby School or for the sport of rugby, with an academic connotation. All of the streets in this plan that were not extensions of existing streets were given academic names: Academy Lane (today Acacia Lane), Amherst Avenue, Bryn Mawr Avenue (today Diploma Street), College Avenue (today Campus Street and Purdue Street), Cornell Avenue (today Cornell Street), Harvard Circle, Princeton Road (today Pemberton Street), Stanford Road, Vassar Lane (today Lois Way), Wellesley Avenue (today Wickshire Street), and West Point Avenue.[1]

In 1910, over 900 streets were renamed to fix duplicates. Rugby Alley conflicted with Rugby Street in the East End, so it was renamed Aquatic Alley.[2] It became Aquatic Way in 1914 when an ordinance changed all alleys in the city to ways.[3]

In a 1937 column in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Charles F. Danver humorously paired Aquatic Way with Canoe Way in Bloomfield.[4]

References

  1. Atlas of Greater Pittsburgh, plate 41. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1910. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1910-atlas-greater-pittsburgh; 1910 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1910
  2. "An ordinance changing the names of certain avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1910, no. 715. Passed Mar. 31, 1910; approved Apr. 5, 1910. Ordinance Book 21, p. 342. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh for the Years 1909–1910, appendix, pp. 312–328, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1910 (Google Books doQzAQAAMAAJ; HathiTrust uiug.30112108223832; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1909). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 19, 1910, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86611990, 86612022), Apr. 20, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86612278, 86612297), and Apr. 21, pp. 10–11 (Newspapers.com 86612601, 86612625). [view source]ordinance-1910-715
  3. "An ordinance changing the name 'alley' on every thoroughfare in the City of Pittsburgh to 'way.'" Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1914, no. 402. Passed Nov. 10, 1914; approved Nov. 16, 1914. Ordinance Book 26, p. 360. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh for the Year 1914, appendix, p. 226, McClung Printing Co., Pittsburgh (HathiTrust uiug.30112108223899; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1914). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Nov. 23, 1914, p. 11 (Newspapers.com 86505785), and Nov. 24, p. 12 (Newspapers.com 86505809). [view source]ordinance-1914-402
  4. Charles F. Danver. Pittsburghesque. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Aug. 12, 1937, p. 8. Newspapers.com 90316941. [view source]danver-1937