44th Street

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See also 43rd Street, which was named 44th Street for less than a month in 1868.
44th Street
Neighborhood Central Lawrenceville
Origin of name Sequential numbering up the Allegheny River
Chislett Street (1850s)
Origin of name John Chislett
Bellefontaine Street (until 1868)
Origin of name Estate of Samuel Ewalt
45th Street (1868)
Origin of name Sequential numbering up the Allegheny River, including Fisk Street

R. E. McGowin's maps of 1852 and 1856 show this street as Chislett Street[1] or Chislet Street[2] (not to be confused with modern Chislett Street in Morningside). It took its name from John Chislett, who owned land on the east side of the street.[1]

Other sources, including S. N. and F. W. Beers' map of 1862 and the Hopkins atlas of 1872, call it Bellefontaine Street.[3][4][5][6][7] The 1876 Hopkins atlas names it Bellefonte Street, which Bruce S. Cridlebaugh gives as an alternative spelling.[4][8] This name probably comes from the estate of Samuel Ewalt, an early landowner, who patented 263⅛ acres plus allowance on April 20, 1787, and named it Belle Fontaine, meaning 'beautiful fountain.'[9][10] See also 43rd Street, which was originally Ewalt Street, for Samuel Ewalt.

In 1868, Pittsburgh's modern sequence of numbered streets was created by renaming all the streets perpendicular to the Allegheny River; Bellefontaine Street became 44th Street.[4] The original renaming ordinance included Fisk Street in the list of streets to be renamed, which made Bellefontaine Street 45th,[6][7] but this was apparently a mistake. Less than a month later, a supplementary ordinance repealed all of the name changes east of 40th Street and redid the numbering with Fisk Street omitted, which put Bellefontaine Street at 44th.[11]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 R. E. McGowin. Map of the Cities of Pittsburgh and Allegheny and of the Boroughs of South-Pittsburgh, Birmingham, East-Birmingham, Lawrenceville, Duquesne & Manchester etc. Schuchman & Haunlein, Pittsburgh, 1852. https://collections.lib.uwm.edu/digital/collection/agdm/id/32269. [view source]mcgowin-1852
  2. 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
  3. 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
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 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
  5. 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
  6. 6.0 6.1 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
  7. 7.0 7.1 "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
  8. Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1876. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1876-atlas-pittsburgh-allegheny; included in the 1872 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1876
  9. Edward M. McKeever. "Earlier Lawrenceville." Western Pennsylvania Historical Magazine, vol. 5, no. 4, Oct. 1922, pp. 277–286. https://journals.psu.edu/wph/article/view/1301. [view source]mckeever
  10. Pennsylvania Department of Internal Affairs. Warrantee Atlas of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania: Constructed from the records on file in the Department of Internal Affairs, and surveys made on the ground during 1909, 1910, 1912 under the direction of Henry Houck. 1914. https://historicpittsburgh.org/collection/warrantee-atlas-allegheny-county-pennsylvania. [view source]warrantee
  11. "An ordinance supplementary to an ordinance changing the names of streets." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1868. Passed Sept. 28, 1868. Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Gazette, Oct. 1, 1868, p. 7 (Newspapers.com 86349783), and Oct. 2, p. 7 (Newspapers.com 86349850). [view source]ordinance-1868-name-changes-supplement