Source:Cooper
William Cooper. "Confusing, to say the least: What's in a name? Nothing much when it's about Westwood streets: People can't be sure just where they live." Pittsburgh Press, Feb. 27, 1946, p. 4. Newspapers.com 149673571.
Although a happy village, Westwood is still cloaked in confusion and seclusion.
We have this on authority of Mr. G. E. Goldstrom. Mr. Goldstrom lives in Westwood, although sometimes he's not sure just where.
His house has been stationary for many years, but the names of the streets change with startling regularity.
Right now Mr. Goldstrom thinks he lives on the corner of Highman St. and Highman St., although it may be 405 Shadyhill Rd. He's taking no chances. He has both 1305 Highman St. and 405 Shadyhill Rd. on his front door.
It's things like this, Mr. Goldstrom says, that make Westwood secluded. Only brave men, on important business, will attempt to locate a street address.
This does not include most delivery boys and taxi drivers, some of whom have been known to take to strong drink. Several postmen also have threatened to run away and join the Navy.
Root of the trouble, Mr. Goldstrom thinks, is Westwood's main paved street. It has three names that interchange whimsically every few blocks.
It is variously known as Denisonview, Shadyhill and Highman. There also are two independent Highman streets that branch off the main stem, all within a block of Mr. Goldstrom's house.
If you follow one of these Highman streets far enough, as many people apparently do, you discover that it's actually a driveway. It has a nice place to turn around.
In 1944 Mr. Goldstrom and some of his baffled friends petitioned the City Council to change the name of the main street to Shadyhill, all the way. The council was more than obliging.
A few months later other parties (who Mr. Goldstrom estimates at six per cent of Westwood's population) petitioned the council to change it back. The council was equally obliging, throwing in a third Highman St. for good measure.
Now there is a movement underfoot to change the name of Highman St. to Lohrman St. Pioneer residents say that would have been the name anyway, except for an unfortunate error.
When the Lohrman St. name was proposed, someone in the council room mistook it for "Lowman St." Since the street is on a hill he suggested Highman as more appropriate. Somehow in the confusion the suggestion passed.
Highman St., or one of them, also was once known as Amherst St. Why, nobody knows.
If Mr. Goldstrom can find his way down town he's going to petition the City Council again.