11th Street

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For other streets that have been named 11th Street, see 11th Street (disambiguation).
11th Street
Neighborhoods Central Business District, Strip District
Origin of name Sequential numbering up the Allegheny River
Washington Street (1784 – ca. 1830)
Origin of name George Washington
Canal Street (ca. 1865 – 1868)
Origin of name Pennsylvania Canal

The original name of 11th Street was Washington Street.[1][2][3][4] This was one of the first streets of Pittsburgh, dating back to George Woods' plan of 1784.[5] Washington Street was named, of course, for George Washington (1732–1799).[6] It formed part of the original eastern boundary of Pittsburgh,[7][4][5] and today it is still the northeastern boundary of the Central Business District. See also Washington Place, which may have received the name Washington because it nearly connected to Washington Street when it was extended to Liberty Street.

Washington Street is labeled Watt Street in the reproduction of Woods' 1784 plan in the 1872 Hopkins atlas.[5] This seems to be an error; no other sources call it Watt Street.

In 1827 the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was in the midst of building the Pennsylvania Canal, and the Board of Canal Commissioners, acting on a resolution by the Pittsburgh city councils, recommended that the western terminus be located on the north side of the Allegheny River opposite Washington Street. From there the canal was to be carried "by an aqueduct over the Allegheny river to the eastern line of the city of Pittsburgh, thence by a tunnel through Grant's hill, to terminate in the Monongahela, at the mouth of Suke's run . . . ."[8] The 1830 map of Jean Barbeau and Lewis Keyon shows the canal, aqueduct, and tunnel; Washington Street has been replaced by a segment of the canal.[9] The canal continues to appear on maps through the mid-19th century, as late as 1862.[10][11][12][13][14]

At some point in the mid-1860s the canal was filled in, and the street laid on top of the old canal from Liberty Avenue to Duquesne Way (today's Fort Duquesne Boulevard) was called Canal Street. In 1868, Pittsburgh's modern sequence of numbered streets was created by renaming all the streets perpendicular to the Allegheny River; 11th Street was created by renaming Canal Street.[15][16] The 1872 Hopkins atlas shows "Eleventh St. (formerly Canal St.)"[17]

See also

References

  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
  2. John Hills. Plan of the Lots Laid Out at Pittsburg and the Coal Hill. Philadelphia, 1787. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0464; LCCN 74692580. Reproduced in John W. Reps, The Making of Urban America: A History of City Planning in the United States, p. 205, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J., 1965 (LCCN 63023414); in Stefan Lorant, Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City, 5th (Millennium) ed., p. 53, Esselmont Books, Pittsburgh, 1999, ISBN 0-967-41030-4 (LCCN 99-066641); and in Emily M. Weaver, The Fort Pitt Block House, p. 40, History Press, Charleston, S. C., 2013, ISBN 978-1-60949-933-4. [view source]hills
  3. History of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: Including Its Early Settlement and Progress to the Present Time; a Description of Its Historic and Interesting Localities; Its Cities, Towns and Villages; Religious, Educational, Social and Military History; Mining, Manufacturing and Commercial Interests; Improvements, Resources, Statistics, Etc.: Also Portraits of Some of Its Prominent Men, and Biographies of Many of Its Representative Citizens, part I, p. 488. A. Warner & Co., Chicago, 1889. Google Books DwzYAAAAMAAJ; Internet Archive historyofalleghe1889cush. [view source]history-of-allegheny-county
  4. 4.0 4.1 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. 29. Internet Archive pittsburghdirect00murr. [view source]riddle-murray
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 George Woods. A Draught of the Town Plat of Pittsburgh, Surveyed for John Penn, Jr., and John Penn, by George Woods, May 31st 1784. 1784. Reproduced as "Original plan of Pittsburgh" in plate 19 of Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs, G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1872 (Historic Pittsburgh 1872p019). [view source]woods-plat
  6. Bruce S. Cridlebaugh. "Field notes: Changing Pittsburgh street names—from downtown to Lawrenceville." Pghbridges.com: Bridges & tunnels of Allegheny County & Pittsburgh, PA, Feb. 9, 2000. http://pghbridges.com/articles/fieldnote_pghstnames.htm. [view source]cridlebaugh
  7. S. Jones. Pittsburgh in the Year Eighteen Hundred and Twenty-Six: Containing sketches topographical, historical and statistical; together with a directory of the city, and a view of its various manufactures, population, improvements, &c. Johnston & Stockton, Pittsburgh, 1826. DonsList.net PGH_ALLEGH1826_CDM; Historic Pittsburgh 31735056290285; Internet Archive Pgh1826. [view source]jones
  8. By-Laws and Ordinances of the City of Pittsburgh, and the Acts of Assembly Relating Thereto: With Notes and References to Judicial Decisions Thereon, and an Appendix, Relating to Several Subjects Connected with the Laws and Police of the City Corporation, pp. 185–187. Johnston and Stockton, Pittsburgh, 1828. Google Books sfxOAAAAYAAJ, 3n9hAAAAcAAJ. [view source]by-laws
  9. 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
  10. S. N. & F. W. Beers. Map of Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Smith, Gallup & Hewitt, Philadelphia, 1862. LCCN 2012592151; https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/31783; 1862 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]beers
  11. The Cities of Pittsburgh and Allegheny, with Parts of Adjacent Boroughs, Pennsylvania. 1855. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0089; https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~1688~130047; https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/32240; 1855 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). In George W. Colton, Colton's Atlas of the World: Illustrating physical and political geography, J. H. Colton & Co., New York, 1856 (https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/view/search?q=Pub_List_No%3D0149.000). [view source]colton
  12. E. H. Heastings. Map of the County of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. 1850. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0090. [view source]heastings
  13. Lewis Keyon. Map of Pittsburgh and Its Environs. Johnston & Stockton, Pittsburgh, 1835. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0577; 1835 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]keyon
  14. R. E. McGowin. Pittsburgh: Engraved from R. E. McGowin's map for Geo. H. Thurston. Wm. Schuchman & Bro., Pittsburgh, 1856. Historic Pittsburgh DARMAP0091. [view source]mcgowin-1856
  15. Sarah H. Killikelly. The History of Pittsburgh: Its Rise and Progress, p. 534. B. C. & Gordon Montgomery Co., Pittsburgh, 1906. DonsList.net HistPgh1909M; Google Books kXmloex-vr8C, poRU0YjqrzsC; HathiTrust 100122020; Historic Pittsburgh 00adc8925m; Internet Archive historyofpittsbu00kill, historypittsbur00killgoog. [view source]killikelly
  16. "An ordinance changing the names of streets." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1868. Passed Aug. 31, 1868. In The Municipal Record: Containing the Proceedings of the Select and Common Councils of the City of Pittsburgh: 1868, Pittsburgh Daily Commercial, Pittsburgh (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1868_20200904_2014). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Gazette, Sept. 2, 1868, p. 5 (Newspapers.com 86347563), Sept. 3, p. 3 (Newspapers.com 86347623), and Sept. 4, p. 3 (Newspapers.com 86347714). [view source]ordinance-1868-name-changes
  17. Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs. 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