By Jim Foley,
Special to the Georgian
Editors note: The following article was written by previous Journalism student Jim Foley and originally printed in the Georgian in May of 1996.
The people of Stephenville walk and drive up down these streets everyday but many seem quite un-informed about how these streets got their unique names.
When several people in Stephenville were asked how Prince Rupert Drive got its name, the answers varied. One man thought perhaps it had been randomly chosen but another thought it had been named after a prince named Rupert. Another jokingly stated that perhaps it had been named after Prince Rupert Sound in B.C.
According to town manager, Barry Coates, the name originated in 1979 when Stephenville was "twinned" with Prince Rupert, B.C. which may, in fact, be near Prince Rupert Sound. In honour of that symbolic municipal fusion, a street was named for the B.C. town.
In fact, Prince Rupert is only one of many original street names in Stephenville which have an interesting and offbeat history.
According to past historian, Gilbert Higgins, Stephenville streets were named for a number of various reasons. Streets like O'Quinn Place, Gallant Street, White's Avenue, Alexander Avenue and Russell Heights were named for some of the earliest families that settled in this town.
Geography has played a very conspicuous role in naming some town streets such as Hillview Avenue, Bayview Street, Townview Road, Crescent Street (shaped like a crescent moon or the pastry), Mountain Road or Blanche Street.
Mr. Coates states that some residents of Stephenville refer to Blanche Brook (runs parallel to Blanche Street) as Cold Brook so perhaps the reason for the street name eludes them.
A town with denominational schools would, logically, have denominational streets. Stephenville has St. Stephen's Street, St. George's Avenue, St. Claire Avenue and perhaps in the spirit of ecumenism, Zion Drive.
Some streets in town carry the names of Maple Street or Poplar Lane. However they are few and far between when compared to the nearby town of Kippens which has at least 12 'tree' streets. Mr. Coates speculates that people like tree names because they are nice, therefore people name their streets after them.
The discrepancy between the number of tree names used in Stephenville versus the number used in Kippens, a much smaller community. Mr. Higgins felt that Kippens is a rural area so they would have lots of 'tree' streets in order to preserve their rural character.
Some of the street names in town have fuzzy histories but obvious origins. Queen and King Streets seem to need no explanation. Interestingly, there are Prince or Princess streets. Empire and Colonial Avenue are perhaps respectively in honour of Newfoundland's past colonial glory and Newfoundland's perceived status as Britain's first colony (with apologies to the Irish).
Finally, the name Main Street seems self explanatory. But, Mr. Higgins recounts that in 1936 (in the middle of the Great Depression) today's Main Street looked like a cow patch. Considering the rural character of early Stephenville, perhaps this is an accurate description.
Councilors and street names
According to Stephenville Mayor, Cec Stein, the streets in Stephenville have been named after former councilors. Those who have been honoured include Jean Fowlow, Fowlow Drive, Tom Rose, Rose Avenue, Leo Bruce, Bruce Boulevard, and so on.
Mr. Stein says here are still many past councilors who have not had a street named for them so present councilors will have to wait their turn.
There is one way to have a street named after you. If a subdivision has been developed by a private developer, they, or event he residents of a subdivision road may request that council mane a road for a certain individual. This has resulted in Nina Crescent- the mother of a developer, Silver Place- an early developer, MacNeil Place- the father of the developer, and so on.
The old axiom that he who pays the piper also calls the tune, seems to definitely apply here, but with a twist. In Stephenville, he who makes the road, may also name it.
The base has a street naming system completely different from Stephenville. Mayor Stein says that when the Americans controlled the base, they named the streets after their states. When the town took over the former Air Force Base, all street names remained as they were.
The end result is Main Street turning into Carolina Avenue. This system commencing with the Yankee friendly invasion in the early 1940's until their departure in 1966 has continued and will continue in the future.
For example, Mr. Stein mentions that the Canadian Coast Guard building is on a new road named after an American state but he couldn't remember the name of it. It was later discovered that the road is called California Drive. In spite of the street name and the stated purpose of the building on it, there was unfortunately no sand or sea in sight.
According to Mr. Coates, future streets on the base will also follow this practice. In fact, the town has already approved American street names for new streets to be eventually constructed according to the Stephenville East Development Plan.
Names for no reason
Unfortunately this story only scratches the surface of how Stephenville streets got their names. Many street names have origins that don't fit into any neat category. Viking Terrace, for example, is not named for the Corner Brook Winter Carnival mascot or because Valhalla can be found there, but rather named after the great Viking Trail on the Northern Peninsula. It was being heavily promoted as a tourist destination some years ago so the Terrace was named as such.
Another road name with much local history attached to it is Mill Place. It was not named for the pulp and paper mill but because it was the site of an early wool mill run by members of the Gabriel family. The name of this street alludes to the pioneer days of Stephenville when, before WW2, it was to a large extent a sheep farming area.
Finally, some Stephenville street names are a total mystery to Mayor Stein, Mr. Higgins and Mr. Coates. Are residents of Pleasant Street extremely pleasant? Is Laurel Drive in honour of the great Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame? Perhaps a future local street name historian will answer these and other questions.
Some of the streets in Stephenville have been named after past mayors. Bruce Blvd and Fowlow Street were both named after Leo Bruce and Jean Fowlow.
Pictured here is an aerial view of a section of the Ernest Harmon Airforce base in Stephenville taken a number of years ago.