Coffey Way

From Pittsburgh Streets
Coffey Way
First Presbyterian Church seen from Coffey Way.
Neighborhood Central Business District
Origin of name John Arbuckle's coffee-roasting works
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Church Alley (until 1910)
Origin of name Probably the First Presbyterian Church
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Coffey Alley (1910–1914)
Origin of name John Arbuckle's coffee-roasting works

This alley was originally named Church Alley. It is mentioned in a notice of sheriff's sales in 1808,[1] it is listed in the 1819 directory of James M. Riddle and M. M. Murray,[2] and it appears, unlabeled, in the 1830 map of Jean Barbeau and Lewis Keyon.[3]

Church Alley was probably named for the First Presbyterian Church, which stands on Sixth Avenue opposite the south end of the alley. This church (though not the current building) appears in the 1815 map of William Darby and the Pittsburgh directory published that same year by James M. Riddle.[4][5] This is further supported by the name of Presbyterian Lane, which formerly extended eastward from the middle of Church Alley.

Darby's map and Riddle's directory also give a second plausible origin of the alley's name: the Protestant Episcopal Church in the triangular block bounded by Liberty, Sixth, and Wood Streets,[4][5] where the Wood Street Subway Station is today.

In 1910, three years after the city of Allegheny was annexed into the city of Pittsburgh, over 900 streets were renamed. Church Alley was renamed Coffey Alley,[6] possibly because it conflicted with Church Avenue on the North Side, though Church Avenue was also renamed (to North Canal Street).[6][7]

According to Franklin Toker, Coffey Alley was named for the 1865 coffee-roasting works of John Arbuckle,[8] which were located on this alley at the corner of Strawberry Alley.[9]

Coffey Alley became Coffey Way in 1914 when a city ordinance changed all alleys in Pittsburgh to ways.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Sheriff's sales." Pittsburgh Gazette, Dec. 28, 1808, [p. 3]. Newspapers.com 96060803. [view source] sheriffs-sales-1808-12-28
  2. ↑ James M. Riddle and M. M. Murray. The Pittsburgh Directory for 1819: Containing the names, professons [sic], and residence of all the heads of families, and persons in business, in the city of Pittsburgh, and its suburbs; and a variety of other useful information. Butler & Lambdin, Pittsburgh, 1819, p. 27. Internet Archive pittsburghdirect00murr. [view source] riddle-murray
  3. ↑ Jean Barbeau and Lewis Keyon. Map of Pittsburgh and Its Environs. N. B. Molineux, Pittsburgh, 1830. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0576; https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/36c3ab00-57aa-0136-8f4f-08990f217bc9. [view source] barbeau
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wm. Darby. Plan of Pittsburg and Adjacent Country. R. Patterson and W. Darby, Philadelphia, 1815. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0197, DARMAP0198. Reproduced in John W. Reps, The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States, p. 207, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J., 1965 (LCCN 63023414); and in Bruce J. Buvinger, The Origin, Development and Persistence of Street Patterns in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, p. 24. Also reproduced as "Plan von Pittsburg und Umgebungen" in Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach (Heinrich Luden, ed.), Reise Sr. Hoheit des Herzogs Bernhard zu Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach durch Nord-Amerika in den Jahren 1825 und 1826, vol. II, following p. 200, Wilhelm Hoffmann, Weimar, 1828 (Internet Archive reisesrhoheitdes00bern, reisesrhoheitdes00inbern). [view source] darby
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 James M. Riddle. The Pittsburgh Directory for 1815: Containing the names, professions and residence of the heads of families and persons in business, in the borough of Pittsburgh, with an appendix containing a variety of useful information. James M. Riddle, Pittsburgh, 1815, p. 129. Internet Archive pittsburghdirect00ridd. Republished by the Colonial Trust Co., Pittsburgh, 1905 (Google Books 9ihRAAAAYAAJ; Historic Pittsburgh 00ach3238m); and by Duquesne Smelting Corporation, Pittsburgh, 1940 (Internet Archive pittsburghdirect00repu). [view source] riddle
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "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
  7. ↑ "An ordinance establishing the names of the avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1910, no. 716. Passed Mar. 31, 1910; approved Apr. 5, 1910. Ordinance Book 21, p. 359. 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. 328–381, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1910 (Google Books doQzAQAAMAAJ; HathiTrust uiug.30112108223832; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1909). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 29, 1910, pp. 12–16 (Newspapers.com 86616256, 86616285, 86616314, 86616333, 86616343), and Apr. 30, pp. 12–16 (Newspapers.com 86616643, 86616672, 86616694, 86616726, 86616748). [view source] ordinance-1910-716
  8. ↑ Franklin Toker. Pittsburgh: An Urban Portrait, pp. 48–49. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park, Penna., 1986, ISBN 0-271-00415-0. LCCN 85-71786. [view source] toker
  9. ↑ Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs, p. 19. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1872. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1872-atlas-pittsburgh-allegheny; 1872 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source] hopkins-1872
  10. ↑ "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
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