Source:Fact-a-day/content
Most of Pittsburgh's early streets originally bore the names of men who were instrumental in laying the foundations of the town. But as Pittsburgh grew into a metropolis and thoroughfares increased in number, many of the historic names were dropped in favor of numbers.
In 1794, when Pittsburgh was incorporated as a borough, the town extended from the Point to Grant street, on the Monongahela river side; and from the Point to Washington (now Eleventh) street, along the Allegheny river. The principal thoroughfares were Liberty street and Penn street, later designated avenues, which were crossed by Marbury, Hay, Pitt, St. Clair, Irwin, Hand, Wayne and Washington streets.
Marbury street was named for Captain Joseph Marbury, at one time an officer of the Fort Pitt garrison; St. Clair, for General Arthur St. Clair, who headed an unsuccessful expedition against the Indians of the Wabash country in 1791; Hand and Irwin streets for generals who commanded Fort Pitt during the Revolutionary War; Wayne, for General "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who in 1793 decisively defeated the Indians who had been harassing settlements in the vicinity of Pittsburgh.
The streets running parallel with the Monongahela river were Water, Front, Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth streets; Hammond alley (now Diamond street), Virgin alley (now Oliver avenue), Sixth street, Strawberry alley, Seventh street, all of which were crossed by West street, Short street, Redoubt alley, Ferry street, Chancery lane, Market street, Cherry alley, Smithfield and Grant streets.
Wood street took its name from Colonel George Woods of Bedford, who surveyed Pittsburgh in 1784. Smithfield street was named after Devereux Smith, an Indian trader of prominence during the pioneer days, and Grant street was designated after Major Grant, leader of the band of Scotch Highlanders cut to pieces by the French and Indians in 1758, on the spot where the courthouse now stands, during a disastrous campaign to wrest Fort Duquesne from the French.
