Woolslayer Way
| Woolslayer Way | |
|---|---|
| Neighborhoods | Bloomfield, Lower Lawrenceville |
| Origin of name | Woolslayer family, including William Woolslayer |
| Lee Alley (until ca. 1865) | |
| Portion | Between Fisk Street and Main Street |
| Origin of name | Rev. R. Lee |
| Woolslair Alley (until ca. 1870) | |
| Portion | Between about 39th Street and 40th Street |
| Origin of name | John Woolslair |
| Woolslayer Alley (ca. 1870 – 1914) | |
| Origin of name | Woolslayer family, including William Woolslayer |
Woolslayer Way is named for the Woolslayer family, early landowners in the area. Annie Clark Miller and Bob Regan connect the name specifically to William Woolslayer,[1][2] who laid out the original plan of lots for Bloomfield in 1850,[3] as shown in the 1852 map of R. E. McGowin.[4]
A short piece of this alley, between about modern 37th Street and 39th Street, appears in McGowin's map, labeled just "Alley."[4] The segment from modern Fisk Street to Main Street was laid out as Lee Alley in 1855 by William Woolslayer;[5] it was named for Rev. R. Lee, who owned a piece of property on the east side of Main Street.[4][5] By the late 1860s the alley had become known as Woolslair Alley (an alternative spelling of the family name): it appears in an 1868 plan of lots by A. W. Ewing[6], an 1869 plan by John Woolslair,[7] and an 1871 plan by Samuel Woolslair.[8] By 1872 the whole length of the alley west of Main Street had been laid out and named Woolslayer Alley.[9]
An 1881 city ordinance that established the names of all thoroughfares in Pittsburgh officially named it Woolslayers Alley,[10] though it was typically called "Woolslayer Alley" without the final S. A similar ordinance in 1910 dropped the S but officially named it Woolslayer Street, probably by mistake;[11] subsequent ordinances continued to call it "Woolslayer Alley."
Woolslayer Alley became Woolslayer Way in 1914, when a city ordinance changed all alleys in Pittsburgh to ways.[12]
References
- ↑ 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. 33. Pittsburgh Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, 1924. Historic Pittsburgh 00awn8211m; Internet Archive earlylandmarksna00mill. [view source] miller
- ↑ Bob Regan. The Names of Pittsburgh: How the City, Neighborhoods, Streets, Parks and More Got Their Names, p. 75. The Local History Company, Pittsburgh, 2009, ISBN 978-0-9770429-7-5. [view source] regan
- ↑ "Plan of Bloomfield laid off for William Woolslayer." Laid out Oct. 1850 and Dec. 1855; recorded July 14, 1869, Plan Book 3, p. 298. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3778745. [view source] bloomfield-woolslayer-plan
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 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
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Wm. Woolslayer's plan of Bloomfield." Laid out Oct. 1850 and Dec. 1855; recorded Mar. 11, 1874 and Apr. 14, 1874, Plan Book 5, pp. 238–239. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3779228, 3779242. [view source] bloomfield-woolslayer-plan-2
- ↑ "Plan of building lots situated in the City of Pittsburgh laid out for Dr. A. W. Ewing and wife." Laid out Oct. 1, 1868; recorded Feb. 16, 1869, Plan Book 3, p. 277. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3778725. [view source] aw-ewing-plan
- ↑ "Plan of building lots situate in the City of Pittsburgh: Made for John Woolslair." Laid out Mar. 1869; recorded July 20, 1870, Plan Book 4, pp. 38–39. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3778810. [view source] john-woolslair-plan
- ↑ "Plan of the subdivision of Sam'l. Woolslair's property: Situate in the 16th Ward City of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania." Laid out May 20, 1871; recorded June 13, 1872, Plan Book 4, p. 223. Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds 3778990. [view source] saml-woolslair-plan
- ↑ Atlas of the Cities of Pittsburgh, Allegheny, and the Adjoining Boroughs, pp. 54–55. 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
- ↑ "An ordinance establishing the names of avenues, streets, lanes and alleys of the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1880–1881, 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, Herald Printing Company, Pittsburgh, 1881 (Internet Archive pghmunicipalrecord1880). [view source] ordinance-1880-1881-33
- ↑ "An ordinance establishing the names of the avenues, streets, lanes and alleys in the City of Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1909–1910, no. 716. Passed Mar. 31, 1910; approved Apr. 5, 1910. Ordinance Book 21, p. 359. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the [Select and Common Councils] of the City of Pittsburgh for the Years 1909–1910, appendix, pp. 328–381, Devine & Co., Pittsburgh, 1910 (Google Books doQzAQAAMAAJ; HathiTrust uiug.30112108223832; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1909). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Apr. 29, 1910, pp. 12–16 (Newspapers.com 86616256, 86616285, 86616314, 86616333, 86616343), and Apr. 30, pp. 12–16 (Newspapers.com 86616643, 86616672, 86616694, 86616726, 86616748). [view source] ordinance-1909-1910-716
- ↑ "An ordinance changing the name 'alley' on every thoroughfare in the City of Pittsburgh to 'way.'" Pittsburgh city ordinance, 1914, no. 402. Passed Nov. 10, 1914; approved Nov. 16, 1914. Ordinance Book 26, p. 360. In Municipal Record: Minutes of the Proceedings of the Council of the City of Pittsburgh for the Year 1914, appendix, p. 226, McClung Printing Co., Pittsburgh (HathiTrust uiug.30112108223899; Internet Archive Pghmunicipalrecord1914). Reprinted in the Pittsburgh Post, Nov. 23, 1914, p. 11 (Newspapers.com 86505785), and Nov. 24, p. 12 (Newspapers.com 86505809). [view source] ordinance-1914-402
