Susquehanna Street

From Pittsburgh Streets
Susquehanna Street
Neighborhood Homewood South
Origin of name Susquehanna River or the Susquehannock people
Second Street (until 1881)
Origin of name Sequential numbering from Penn Avenue

This street was laid out in a plan of lots by the Mellon brothers, recorded in 1868.[1] It was named Second Street because it was the second street in the plan, counting from Penn Avenue. This name conflicted with Second Street downtown, so in 1881 a city ordinance renamed it Susquehanna Street.[2] The other parallel streets in the plan, originally First, Third, and Fourth Streets, were renamed Finance Street, Tioga Street, and Fairfax Street, forming one of Pittsburgh's F–S–T sequences.

The street may be named for the Susquehanna River or for the Susquehannock, an Iroquoian people who lived in the lower Susquehanna River basin. George T. Fleming associates it with the people.[3] The word Susquehanna is Algonquian in origin and may mean 'people at the falls' or 'roily water people.'[4]

See also

References

  1. "Mellon Bros plan of Homewood at Homewood Station, Penna R. R." Recorded Sept. 19, 1868, Plan Book 3, pp. 270–271. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3778709. [view source]mellon-bros-homewood-plan
  2. "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
  3. 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
  4. William Bright. Native American Placenames of the United States, p. 466. University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8061-3598-4. [view source]bright