Kearsarge Street

From Pittsburgh Streets
Kearsarge Street
Neighborhood Mount Washington
Origin of name USS Kearsarge
Kirkpatrick Street (until 1881)
Origin of name Abraham Kirkpatrick

This street was originally named Kirkpatrick Street,[1] for Major Abraham Kirkpatrick, because it passed through his farm.[2] Kirkpatrick was an officer in the Revolutionary War, Commissioner General of the Western Army during the Whiskey Rebellion, and one of the lay judges of the Court of Common Pleas from 1788 to 1791.[3] This is the same person for whom Kirkpatrick Street in the Hill District is named.

In 1881 the name was changed to Kearsarge Street because of the duplication with the other Kirkpatrick Street.[4][5] Bob Regan suggests it is named for the USS Kearsarge, a warship in the American Civil War.[6] The ship was named for Mount Kearsarge in New Hampshire, whose name comes from the Abenaki gôwizawajo, meaning "rough mountain."[7] Annie Clark Miller includes "Kearsarge" in a list of street names of Native American origin,[8] and George T. Fleming indicates that the street comes from a Native American name for a "locality," presumably meaning the mountain.[9]

References

  1. 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
  2. George T. Fleming. "History recalled by street names: Stanwix brings to mind many important happenings in the early days of the Western Pennsylvania settlement." Pittsburgh Gazette Times, Dec. 6, 1914, sec. 2, p. 8. Newspapers.com 85907599. [view source]fleming-history-recalled
  3. Erasmus Wilson, ed. Standard History of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, pp. 392, 996. H. R. Cornell & Co., Chicago, 1898. Google Books 1dcwAQAAMAAJ; Historic Pittsburgh 00hc03974m; Internet Archive standardhistoryo00wils. [view source]wilson-erasmus
  4. "An ordinance establishing the names of avenues, streets, lanes and alleys of the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1881, no. 33. Passed Feb. 28, 1881; approved Mar. 4, 1881. Ordinance Book 5, p. 212. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Select and Common Councils of the City of Pittsburgh, for the Year 1880, pp. 213–234 (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1880). [view source]ordinance-1881-33
  5. Atlas of the Cities Pittsburgh and Allegheny. G. M. Hopkins & Co., Philadelphia, 1882. http://historicpittsburgh.org/maps-hopkins/1882-atlas-pittsburgh-allegheny; 1882 layer at Pittsburgh Historic Maps (https://esriurl.com/pittsburgh). [view source]hopkins-1882
  6. Bob Regan. The Names of Pittsburgh: How the City, Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks and More Got Their Names, p. 60. The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9770429-7-5. [view source]regan
  7. William Bright. Native American Placenames of the United States, p. 209. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. [view source]bright
  8. Annie Clark Miller. Early Land Marks and Names of Old Pittsburgh: An Address Delivered Before the Pittsburgh Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution at Carnegie Institute, Nov. 30, 1923, p. 8. Pittsburgh Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, 1924. Historic Pittsburgh 00awn8211m; Internet Archive earlylandmarksna00mill. [view source]miller
  9. George Thornton Fleming. History of Pittsburgh and Environs: From Prehistoric Days to the Beginning of the American Revolution, vol. 1, pp. 148–149. American Historical Society, New York and Chicago, 1922. Google Books 7ctaAAAAYAAJ, ffQMAAAAYAAJ, S88wAQAAMAAJ, tzUafgt-eskC; HathiTrust 011262563; Historic Pittsburgh 01aee9405m; Internet Archive historypittsbur01compgoog, historypittsbur01socigoog, historypittsbur01yorkgoog. [view source]fleming-history