On my way to the airport this weekend, I passed Whitney Avenue and realized, perhaps for the first time, that Whitney was yet another street in the Arden/Arcade named after a famous inventor, namely Eli Whitney of cotton gin fame. I have to admit, Whitney snuck up on me. Most of the inventors honored by local street names are fairly well known–Edison, Marconi, Watt (for a list of their accomplishments check out this well written SacMag piece)–but Whitney was just second tier enough to go unnoticed by me for decades. This started me thinking: Were their other streets in the ‘Cade named for lesser known inventors that I’ve been overlooking all these years? It turns out that the answer is yes. So here’s a brief list of some of the not-so-well-known inventors honored by Sacramento street names:
James Eastern– invented the compass. The direction “west” is named after his youngest son.
Jonathon Hurley– invented the hockey puck.
Jack Northrop– Co-founder of the Northrop-Grumman aviation company, invented thrust with substantial contributions by Jean-Paul Airbus.
Higgins Fairoaks– credited with introducing the concept of planting trees close to roadways.
Cyrus Cottage– invented the picture frame.
The Sac Rag 
Local pitchman and comedian Jack Gallagher did a show about this I found in my comcast cable “on demand” under the local section.
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I’m usually not all that bright/quick/sharp/etc., but when I moved here from Ohio in 2004, the inventor street names was one of the first things I noticed when I was finding my way around Sac. 🙂
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Jim 2nd-Avenue – invented the urinal cake.
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I thought that the urinal cake was invented by the family of Maris (wife of Niles Crane), according to an old “Frasier” episode. Why do I remember this? Oh wait, maybe her maiden name was “2nd Avenue.”
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Some other obvious ones are Fulton and Bell streets, after Robert Fulton and Alexander Graham Bell. Fulton, of course, built the first commercially viable river steamship (which is a fuzzy line of “invention” as all he did was take things that had already been invented and put them to a new use), and of course Alexander Graham Bell who invented Graham Crackers and Bells.
Since it’s honoring inventors, and because it’s streets that are being named for these inventors, it is somewhat surprising to me that I have never noticed a Cugnot street. Cugnot, of course, in 1793 invented the first autonomously powered vehicle, albeit a crude, impractical, clunky steam engine.
But more important than that, to commemorate the man for whom there would not only be no automobiles, but likely almost no vehicles at all, I find it sad that, though his name may never be known, there is no street named for the inventor of the beloved wheel. I think “Oog” or “Gork” or something would be fitting enough. Who wouldn’t want to live on 1715 Oog Street? Wouldn’t it be ironic if it became pedestrian access only, though. Ha.
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Great topic! Something I miss terribly about New Orleans is the street names…things like “Terpsichore”, “Piety”, “Music” and “Tchoupitoulas” certainly illustrate a connection to things far more interesting than inventors. Makes me feel blah and grey that I live near “Arden” and “Fair Oaks”.
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I know tucked in to Autorow on Fulton there is a Tesla way. I would assume it is for the inventor not the long haired rockers..
There is also Morse which is named after the fictional British detective Inspector Morse.
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Depends on what you consider interesting, I guess. The inventor-named streets date to the post-WWII era, when a lot of Sacramento’s growth was in defense industries (McClellan and Mather AFB, Aerojet, etcetera.) Such names were no doubt meant to inspire generations of future inventors, engineers and tech workers of the greater Sacramento area. I lived in that part of town in the mid-seventies, and as a nerdy kid with an interest in things technological I always liked the inventor street names. They’re definitely a step above the kind of names one finds in, say, Citrus Heights, which live up to the suburban stereotype of streets named after the trees they cut down to build the subdivision.
I always thought that Winding Way was an appropriate name, as anyone who has driven on it can attest.
One street name that folks downtown notice sometimes is “Terminal,” the alley between 11th and 12th Street and H and I. It is not named because of the effects of Jim-Denny’s hamburgers (Jim-Denny’s is right at 12th and Terminal) but because the Sacramento Northern Railway’s Sacramento depot was located on the half-block now occupied by a recently closed Best Western motel.
One street name I consider personally interesting is “Judy Court” near American River College. The street was named after a friend of my mother, whose father was a contractor who helped build that neighborhood. Generally, contractors are the ones who name the streets in the subdivisions they build.
Speaking of which, anyone who has been watching the Railyards development may have noticed that one of the major streets is named “Camille.” The name sticks out because the other streets in the vicinity are named for the Central Pacific’s Big Four. Rumor has it that “Camille” is the name of the daughter of Suheil Totah, the VP in charge of Railyards development for Thomas Enterprises.
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Yes, builders often named the streets. I know right across Fruitridge Road from Hollywood Park the streets are Jacks, John, Norman, Helen, etc were the children of the contractor. Don’t know about Nolder though!
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Well “Cottage” and “Northrop” just do not roll off the tongue quite as nicely as some of the more lyrical street names. When someone asks where you live and you say, “Treehouse Lane” that is enormously more interesting-sounding (to me) than “Barbara” or “Grant”. Someone needs to start naming streets using slang words. Nothing outrightly offensive:
“Make a right when you get to Radical rd., then go about a block and make a left at Biaatch ct.. If you’ve gotten to Douchbag dr. you’ve gone too far.”
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And on the subject of street names and the railyards, Thomas Enterprises is welcoming suggestions for street names for the project….
clickety
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Indeed they are–personally I suggested “Pacific,” largely because the “Transcontinental Railroad” was originally called the “Pacific Railroad” and “Transcontinental Boulevard” is kind of a mouthful.
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I thought that “Choo Choo Court” had a nice ring to it.
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They should totally use all rail terminology for the street names — what a great way to pay homage to the past and provide educaional opportunities for visitors: DMU Drive, Rolling Stock Road, Catenary Court, Switchman Street, Wayside Way, Annett Key Avenue, Brakeman Boulevard, etc.
Note to the rail enthusiasts (or, “Trolley Jollies” as they were called when I was in the business): I realize that not all of the terms above are reflective of Sacramento’s rail history. These are just suggestions.
They could probably raise some revenue by offering naming rights to rail industry suppliers.
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It’s better than “Toxic Place” for sure. and I like “Transcontinental Blvd.” You could call it “Tranny” for short.
Take the Choo Choo and flip a bitch on Tranny.
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p.s. Not all rail enthusiasts are trolley jollies — only a handful. No offense intended to those who share useful information.
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Oh oh, how about Pullman Place?
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Maloof Manor?
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The Little Engine That Could Terrace and Thomas the Tank Engine Drive.
They’re train themed, kid themed, and if you consider them as having double meanings, one sounds like a statement, the other sounds like an imparative.
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Well, per the Cincinnati Library, Henry Arden invented the car elevator in 1868.
There’s also Wright Street for the Wright Brothers.
Frazier Court may have been named before his time, but there is a Jim Frazier who is known for inventing the Frazier lens.
Heron Way could be named for Heron of Alexandria, a mathematician and inventor from ancient times.
Charles Denniston Burney (perhaps the link to Burney Way) was the inventor of the paravane, a device which protected British warships from German mines during WWI.
Shaw Street — Thomas Shaw, inventor of many things in engineering, including the mercury steam gauge, which, during his time, was a noiseless steam exhaust which was used on every locomotive and steam boiler.
Marcus Court — Sigfried Marcus, inventor of the internal-combustion engine in 1864. I found this blurb especially interesting because in the link, it mentions in the photo caption that the documentation of his invention and its existence survived destruction attempts by the Nazis.
Church Ave — Alonzo Church invented Lambda calculus.
Did anyone mention Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph, for Morse Avenue?
And, of course, don’t forget Jefferson Lane.
What a fun blog! I wonder how the contractor found the names of these inventors (it surely wasn’t as simple as Googling them, just like I did!).
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KXJZ’s Insight is going to have a show on this today..
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Yes indeed, my main man Jeff is interviewing Carlos Alcala about his book, “Sacramento Street Whys.” I sure hope Carlos wears the “I finished second on JEOPARDY!” t-shirt I sent made for him.
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Yeah, ‘eats, I did wear the shirt. Did you see it on the show?
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I heard the show, and could “feel” the shirt on you. Way to go, dog. We 2nd place Jeopardites gotta stick together. Nice job with the interview, by the way. Jeff can be intimidating in his intesity–even about street names.
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Carlos, you and Sac-Eats need to send Alex Trebek a get well card following his mild heart attack that he had yesterday.
“What is atherosclerosis?”
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I used to be the facilities planner for the Folsom Cordova school district…. during the period when I was developing their first comprehensive facilities master plan (circa 1998) I had to drive around and conduct “house counts” on yet undeveloped streets in fast-growing Folsom. Imagine my surprise when I saw a whole series of streets named after 1970’s rock guitarists: Clapton, Mayall, Beck etc…. Since most streets are named by the developers, I guess the developer of that subdivision was a child of the 70’s as I was…! (Rio Americano, Class of ’75.)
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