Old/historic peculiar road names

[wriddle082]

This topic seems to be more general than anything else, and I can't think of any reasonable keywords to search for previous topics on this subject matter, so new topic here we go!...

Was wondering if anybody knew the history of some particular common old road names that I've recently started to notice.

In the Columbia, SC area there are two different roads called Two Notch Road.  One is US 1 going northeast out of the city to the suburbs and is a busy arterial.  The other is in Lexington County and branchs off of US 1 (Augusta Rd) to the southwest near Lexington.  I recently saw a Three Notch Road in the Mobile, AL area, so that got me thinking about how a quantity of "notches"  would be the origin of a road name.

I have also noticed several instances of Wire Road or Old Wire Road throughout SC, especially Exit 29 off of I-20 (which I just noticed has a Three Notch Road nearby!).  Could this name originate from early telephone/telegraph or electric service lines?

Thanks!

[Mapmikey]

A little history on the Alabama one:
https://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2010/11/06/three-notch-road-is-historically-popular-in-south-alabama/

Per this article on Three Notch'd Rd (also called Three Chopt Rd) on Virginia it seems likely that the 'Notch' roads were named after how they were marked in the field and not due to passing through notches (like New England might have).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Notch'd_Road

References to Wire Rds are almost certainly related to telegraph line routings, as would obvious Telegraph Rds.  There are also a bunch of Old Post Rds that relate to early America mail routes.

[wriddle082]

A little history on the Alabama one:
https://www.andalusiastarnews.com/2010/11/06/three-notch-road-is-historically-popular-in-south-alabama/

Per this article on Three Notch'd Rd (also called Three Chopt Rd) on Virginia it seems likely that the 'Notch' roads were named after how they were marked in the field and not due to passing through notches (like New England might have).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Notch'd_Road

References to Wire Rds are almost certainly related to telegraph line routings, as would obvious Telegraph Rds.  There are also a bunch of Old Post Rds that relate to early America mail routes.

Ok when you mentioned Three Chopt Road it reminded me of US 301 leading north (actual east) from Orangeburg, SC, which is called Five Chop Road.  That road name was always a head scratcher.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

One that always raises an eyebrow from visiting friends is Cretin Avenue in St. Paul. It takes a name after missionary Joseph Cretin, which also lent its name to area school Cretin-Derham Hall.

[fillup420]

South Carolina definitely has some weird road names that makes one question the origins. Ashley Phosphate Rd in North Charleston comes to mind. I also recall SC 6 near I-26 to be called Caw Caw Highway.

[Max Rockatansky]

Some streets around Yuma still carry the moniker of "El Camino Del Diablo."

https://www.gribblenation.org/2018/09/organ-pipe-cactus-national-monument-and.html?m=1

[rlb2024]

In Marrero, LA (just outside of New Orleans) there is a road called Eighty Arpent Road.  Apparently an arpent is an old French measure of length and//or area . . .

[TheOneKEA]

There are several of these types of roads in MD, some of which are state highways:

- South Rolling Road, MD 166. So named because it was supposedly used to roll hogsheads of tobacco down hill to a colonial seaport on the Patapsco River.
- Three Notch Road, MD 235. So named because of an anecdotal colonial rule stating that any road to a ferry had to be marked with a post with three notches carved into it.
- Whiskey Bottom Road, a county highway in Laurel, MD. Wikipedia states that it was used to transport whiskey prior to Prohibition.

[Rothman]

Mormon Hollow Road in...Wendell, Massachusetts.

It passes through a gathering place for Mormons before they headed west.  There's a cemetery along there that has the graves of a few early members of the religion.  The cemetery has been researched extensively by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

[wriddle082]

South Carolina definitely has some weird road names that makes one question the origins. Ashley Phosphate Rd in North Charleston comes to mind. I also recall SC 6 near I-26 to be called Caw Caw Highway.

I had always assumed that Ashley Phosphate Rd was named after some former factory.  But yeah, Caw Caw Highway is a strange one.  I figured maybe it was named after some noisy crows, since I think I have seen corn growing in that general area.

[noelbotevera]

A few off the top of my head:

-Old Hundred Road, apparently everywhere in the Richmond area (and sometimes shows up in Maryland)

-Boulevard (another Richmond example); never got why it got just "Boulevard" and nothing else

Nothing really in my area; most roads were named after landowners or natural features (but that's most every road).

[Route66Fan]

On US 24 in Lafayette Co, MO, between Dover, MO & Lexington, MO, there is a road called Ox Trail Rd (Shown on Google Earth as Oxtrail Rd.), which runs North & South between US 24 & another road called Lick Fork Rd. In this area, US 24 follows the Old Santa Fe Trail.

[stevashe]

-Boulevard (another Richmond example); never got why it got just "Boulevard" and nothing else

This reminds me of "The Alameda" In San Jose, since Alameda is Boulevard in Spanish.

[Mapmikey]

South Carolina definitely has some weird road names that makes one question the origins. Ashley Phosphate Rd in North Charleston comes to mind. I also recall SC 6 near I-26 to be called Caw Caw Highway.

I had always assumed that Ashley Phosphate Rd was named after some former factory.  But yeah, Caw Caw Highway is a strange one.  I figured maybe it was named after some noisy crows, since I think I have seen corn growing in that general area.

Ashley Phosphate was an actual place...located where Ashley Phosphate Rd crosses the RR just west of I-26. Shown as a distinct village on county maps up until about 1970. I had heard growing up there used to be phosphate mines out that way towards the Ashley River.

[Max Rockatansky]

-Boulevard (another Richmond example); never got why it got just "Boulevard" and nothing else

This reminds me of "The Alameda" In San Jose, since Alameda is Boulevard in Spanish.

San Juan Bautista has a The Alameda also, part of Old US 101 in fact. 

[fillup420]

Also in South Carolina just south of Lake Marion, there is Old Number Six Hwy, which is currently SC 6...

[Max Rockatansky]

In the Lower Florida Keys there are numerous local roads that are signed as State Road 4A.  FL 4A was the first Overseas Highway which was completed in 1928.  In the Lower Keys the grade of FL 4A was used as part of US 1 until the Highway was moved to the Overseas Railroad grade in the 1940s. 

[1995hoo]

Avenue Road in Toronto sounds weird to American ears. The word "Avenue" in this case is in the British sense of a road lined with trees, rather than the American sense of a notable road.

[Mapmikey]

Also in South Carolina just south of Lake Marion, there is Old Number Six Hwy, which is currently SC 6...

This one is odd because this route has not always been SC 6 - started out as SC 45. 

There is an Old Number 4 Hwy in Florence County that was originally part of SC 4 until circa 1930 when it was moved to today's US 301 routing.

[Route66Fan]

Just North of Tipton, MO, there is a road called Old 12 Rd (Much of US 50 in Missouri was originally State Road 12 prior to 1926.).
Also, there is a road North of Columbia, MO called Old Number 7 (Old Number 7 was replaced with US 63 in 1926.).
Article about Old Number 7.
https://www.columbiatribune.com/article/20140109/News/301099774

[StogieGuy7]

Two quick ones:  there's a Three Chopt Road near Richmond, VA too.

And, in the Milwaukee area is Watertown Plk Rd.  Or so the BGS says on I-41.  Actually Watertown Plank Road, which must have some historical significance with such a name.

Took me several years of occasional travels up there to figure out that "Plk" means "PLANK".  My wife and I would drive by there on our way somewhere north and try to imagine what "Plk" is an abbreviation for.  But (my commentary but I'll stand by it) most people in the Milwaukee area have always lived in the Milwaukee area and would just know, so it probably never entered WSDOT's mind that nobody from beyond Wisconsin would inherently understand what "Plk" means.  Plick? Plunk? Plaque? OK, maybe not the last one.

[stevashe]

And, in the Milwaukee area is Watertown Plk Rd.  Or so the BGS says on I-41.  Actually Watertown Plank Road, which must have some historical significance with such a name.

Took me several years of occasional travels up there to figure out that "Plk" means "PLANK".  My wife and I would drive by there on our way somewhere north and try to imagine what "Plk" is an abbreviation for.  But (my commentary but I'll stand by it) most people in the Milwaukee area have always lived in the Milwaukee area and would just know, so it probably never entered WSDOT's mind that nobody from beyond Wisconsin would inherently understand what "Plk" means.  Plick? Plunk? Plaque? OK, maybe not the last one.

I saw another questionable abbreviation driving through Helena, MT last month where "Last Chance Gul" was shown on the street sign on a signal's mast arm. Ended up just looking on Google maps to find out that Gul. was short for gulch.

[Mrt90]

Two quick ones:  there's a Three Chopt Road near Richmond, VA too.

And, in the Milwaukee area is Watertown Plk Rd.  Or so the BGS says on I-41.  Actually Watertown Plank Road, which must have some historical significance with such a name.

Took me several years of occasional travels up there to figure out that "Plk" means "PLANK".  My wife and I would drive by there on our way somewhere north and try to imagine what "Plk" is an abbreviation for.  But (my commentary but I'll stand by it) most people in the Milwaukee area have always lived in the Milwaukee area and would just know, so it probably never entered WSDOT's mind that nobody from beyond Wisconsin would inherently understand what "Plk" means.  Plick? Plunk? Plaque? OK, maybe not the last one.

It was literally a plank road -- a road made of wooden planks -- between Milwaukee and Watertown for wagon travel.

I've taken that exit numerous times to get to Froedtert Hospital and never noticed that it says "PLK."  Watertown Plk is on top and Road is on the bottom, it seems like there would have been enough space on the sign to put Watertown on the top and Plank Road on the bottom?

[Big John]

^^ Some highway agencies prefer that the road name remain on one line allowing the suffix to go on another line.

[kurumi]

Three Mile Road, a residential street in Glastonbury, CT, is less known than Detroit's 8 Mile Road, but has (possible) local significance. Or not.

It's 3 miles inland from the Connecticut River and marks the original eastern boundary of the settled area. There are no other "X Mile Road"s in town.

The road layout (https://goo.gl/maps/dkcdw6NvjF9HoM2f9) doesn't seem to mark a boundary at all: in fact, it loops around and intersects with itself.

ISTR Wickham Road south of Neipsic Road used to be called Three Mile Road North (or North Three Mile Road). But I've found no evidence on old maps (or traces in satellite view) of the two parts being connected.

And finally, Three Mile Road itself seems to have been constructed in the mid-1900s -- so maybe it was little more than just a name.