Street signs

Paul Grondahl has a fun article in the new 518 Life about the origins of some street names in this area. One of our favorite quirky local street names is "Road Street" in Albany -- Paula collected some of the backstory on it a few years ago. (Also: There's a good Wikipedia entry about Albany street history.) [TU] [Albany History]

Comments

I'd like to know how Clit Court in Colonie got it's name...
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Clit+Ct,+Albany,+NY+12205/@42.69335,-73.78157,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89de0b9095b72c61:0x5fc752ba53af2ebd?hl=en

In Albany, off upper New Scotland, there are two short streets - Hopi St. and Zuni St. -- that I believe are the only southwest Indian names in all of Albany. That was a mystery to me until an elderly neighbor told me the original property owner in this area (a guy named Cary - thus Cary Ave. where Cary farm had been) had visited the Southwest and was much taken with the Native American tribes there. When he returned to Albany and developed some of his land in the 1930s, he named the two streets Hopi and Zuni.

For me the dilemma when I moved there was whether to adopt the local pronunciation of Hop-eye and Zoon-eye, or pronounce them "correctly." I couldn't bring myself to mispronounce them no matter what the local custom. Over time, as the neighborhood has turned over, I find the new residents are willing to adopt correct or standard pronunciation of the tribal names.

Now if someone could explain the origins of Teacup Circle, which seems like it should be a street for doll houses. (It's near the Stewarts at New Scotland and Whitehall.)

Not only is there a Road Street in Albany, there's a Street Road in the Town of Knox.

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