Back in 2006 when my husband and I were in the midst of addressing the multitude of wedding invitations that we were sending out, we called friends of ours who lived in Nanaimo to inquire about their address. "It's 123 Twiggly Wiggly Rd," they said. "Ha, ha! Ok, what's your real address?" we replied.
Much to our surprise, a Nanaimo mayor back in the day (as the story goes) let his kids name many of the streets around town resulting in such gems as Dingle Bingle Hill Terrace, Jingle Pot Road, Bergen-Op-Zoom Drive, and Giggleswick Place. These delightful street names have always left me with an impression that Nanaimo was "cute."
I was thinking about Nanaimo's street names recently and comparing it to Prince George street names because my husband hilariously (to me) mispronounced Ogilvie St. There is nothing that makes a tourist, a newbie or a non-local stand out than mispronouncing street names. When you are born in a city, the street names in your town are normal and it is baffling to consider that maybe your city's street names are insane. My husband grew up in Surrey so any names for your streets or avenues (instead of a numbered grid) are way more ridiculous than necessary. This is a sentiment shared by friends and relatives in Edmonton where you will always know where someone is by their address (imagine that!).
In Prince George, most of our street names and parks are named for other cities or provinces (Victoria St., Vancouver St., Edmonton St., Quebec St.), famous local people (L.C. Gunn, Masich Place, Carrie Jane Gray, Hammond Ave) or the neighbourhood developers or people who lived on the streets when they were merely driveways (Langer Cres, Barr Rd, Perrin Heights, Ginter's Field).
This is, of course, not an exhaustive list as I am not a historian but I was wondering if any readers knew who the streets where they lived were named after and why. I think that who we name our roads after reflects on the importance of whom or what we value as a community. There is no greater urban legacy than to have a building or a road named after you in recognition of the things that you have done for your community. It is sad however that what you did, and who you were can fade into obscurity. Let's try to learn about the people behind the street names in our community. If my name was on a building or on a street sign, I wouldn't want future generations to forget about me.
