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Updated November 3, 2008 Special thank you to Kurt A. Goering for the most recent corrections to this page! The early layout of Phoenix was a simple grid. The major streets running east-west were named for the U.S. Presidents, with Washington in the middle. Subsequent presidents gave their names to alternating streets first to the north, then the south in order of office. Adams became the first street to the north of Washington, Jefferson the first south, and so on. Things get a little out of order, especially when they came to John Quicy Adams (they already had an Adams street) so they skipped him and went directly to Andrew Jackson. Indian names were used, more or less, for north-south streets: Cocopah, Yuma, Papago, Mojave, Cortez, Montezuma, Maricopa, Pinal, Arivipai, Tonto, Apache. Central - Originally called "Center", this north-south avenue was the center of the original 14 block by 14 block townsite of Phoenix, Arizona Territory. It separates the "Streets" to the east and the "Avenues" to the West. The original townsite, by the way, was from Van Buren (northern edge) to Harrison Street to the south (seven blocks wide by seven blocks deep). The streets and avenues were originally named after Indian tribes. |
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Phoenix street names going north from downtown: Washington Street - named after the first president of the United States, George Washington. Adams Street - named after our second president, John Adams. Monroe Street - named after our fifth president, James Monroe. Van Buren Street - Named after our eighth president Martin Van Buren. Grand Avenue - Grand Avenue was borrowed from Fresno, California. In 1887 developers from that city were inspired to create a quick, easy route cutting diagonally from downtown Phoenix to lure settlers to the west side. This avenue runs at a 45 degree angle north by northwest beginning at Van Buren and 7th Avenue. Polk Street - named after our eleventh president James Polk. Taylor Street - named after our 12th president Zachary Taylor. Fillmore Street - named after our 13th president Millard Fillmore. Pierce Street - named after our 14th president Franklin Pierce. McKlinley Street - named after our 25th president, William McKinley. Garfield Street - named after our 20th president, James A. Garfield. Roosevelt Street - named after our 26th president, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt. Portland Street - Moreland Street Culver Street Willetta Street Lynwood Street
Almeria Road Coronado Road Granada Road Granada Road Palm Lane Holly Street Monte Vista Road Cypress Street Oak Street Encanto Boulevard Hoover Street Vernon Avenue Lewis Avenue Ashland Avenue Wilshire Drive Woodward Drive Virginia Avenue Cambridge Avenue Windsor Avenue Edgemont Avenue Thomas Road - Country Club Drive - Goes around the Phoenix Country Club, a private golf course. Merrell Street Verde Lane Catalina Drive Avalon Drive Earll Drive Flower Street Cheery Lynn Monterey Way Campus Drive Mulberry Drive Osborn Road- This road ran by the south edge of the Osborn family farm, near Central, and had been homesteaded by John Preston Osborn, in the late 1870's. The street became known as Osborn Road around the time of John Osborn's death in 1900 at the age of 84. Mitchell Drive Whitton Avenue Columbus Avenue Weldon Avenue Clarendon Avenue Indianola Fairmount Avenue Piccadilly Road Amelia Avenue Indian School Road - This road was named for the the Phoenix Indian School which opened on September 30, 1891, with an enrollment of thirty-four Pima boys. The school's first permanent structure, the "girls' building," was built in 1892. Modeled after the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania, the Phoenix Indian School ostensibly offered Indian youth the opportunity to learn industrial skills with the aim of integrating them into white society as well-paid workers. In 1935 the Phoenix Indian School was operating as both a vocational training school and a regular junior and senior high school. Enrollment at the school reached its peak in 1961, but diminishing support for the school reflected a decline in support for off-reservation schools nationally. In 1990 the Phoenix Indian School was closed and developed as commercial real estate by the Collier Company of Florida. Monterosa Street Devonshire Avenue Heatherbrae Drive Glenrosa Avenue Montecito Avenue Turnery Avenue Roma Avenue Sells Drive Campbell Avenue Minnezona Avenue Meadowbrook Avenue Hazelwood Street Coolidge Street Highland Avenue Elm Street Pierson Street Mariposa Street Camelback Road - Named after Camelback Mountain. Pasadena Avenue Medlock Drive Orange Drive Colter Street Oregon Avenue Georgia Avenue Vermont Avenue Missouri Avenue - Marshall Avenue San Juan Avenue San Miguel Avenue Montebello Avenue Solano Drive Rancho Drive Palo Verde Drive Bethany Home Road - The Bethany Home Road led to the Bethany Home, way outside the city near what is now 15th Avenue. The "home" was tuberculosis sanitarium operated by a religious organization in the early 1900's. The namesake of the home is an ancient town near Jerusalem. Solicito Lane Rovey Avenue Berridge Lane Keim Drive Rose Lane Claremont Street Marlette Avenue Stella Lane Maryland Avenue - Sierra Vista Drive McLellan Boulevard Tuckey Lane Ocotillo Road Lawrence Road Lamar Road Flynn Lane Glendale Road - This is the road to Glendale, Arizona. Glendale Road becomes Lincoln Boulevard when you pass 16th Street going east. Cactus Wren Glenn Drive Palmaire Avenue Myrtle Avenue Northview Avenue State Avenue Gardenia Drive Orangewood Avenue - Vista Avenue Wagon Wheel Drive Kaler Drive Morten Avenue Belmont Avenue Hayward Avenue Desert Park Lane Augusta Avenue Linger Lane Northern Avenue - Presumably the name indicates the northernmost avenue of the city. As of this writing, it would be less than half-way to the Phoenix city limits north. Loma Lane Harmont Drive Royal Palm Griswold Road El Camino Drive Las Palmaritas Drive El Caminito Drive Echo Lane Butler Drive Seldon Lane Orchid Lane Diana Avenue Alice Avenue Lawrence Lane Golden Lane Townley Avenue Puget Avenue Dunlap Avenue - Dunlap becomes Olive Avenue at 43rd Avenue (entering the City of Glendale). Caron Street Eva Street Mission Lane Sunnyslope Lane Hatcher Road Carol Drive Vogel Avenue Purdue Avenue Mountain View - Ironwood Drive Cinnabar Avenue Brown Street Cheryl Drive Cochise Road North Lane Peoria Avenue - The road to Peoria, Arizona. This doesn't go through east. The road that is parallel to in the east it is Shea Boulevard. Shea Boulevard - Named after James A. Shea. Shea and Harvey Bell (see Bell Road) organized the Paradise Verde Irrigation District in 1916. This street is parallel to Peoria Avenue on the east side of the Phoenix Mountains. Becker Lane Sahuaro Drive Mercer Lane Desert Cove Avenue Shangri La Road Yucca Street Cholla Avenue Lupine Avenue Sierra Street Altadena Avenue Sunnyside Drive Laurel Lane Paradise Drive Butte Drive Cactus Avenue Wethersfield Road Charter Oak Bloomfield Columbine Drive Larkspur Drive Corrine Drive Windrose Drive Aster Drive Dahlia Drive Sweetwater Avenue Surrey Avenue Pershing Avenue Willow Avenue Joan de Arc Avenue Eugie Avenue Voltaire Avenue Sharon Aveneu Rue de Lamour Avenue Thunderbird Avenue - Thunderbird Road ran by Thunderbird Field Number One at a private flying school around the time of World War II. Greenway Avenue - named after John Greenway, Arizona pioneer. His statue is in the Hall of Statues for Arizona, although most Arizonans have never heard of him. John Greenway's web page is here. Bell Road - Named after Harvey Bell. Union Hills Avenue - named after the Union Hills. Not as impressive as Camelback Mountain, but hilly. In Glendale. Happy Valley Road - This page was created using Adobe Photoshop™ and Dreamweaver™. Updated on November 3, 2008 . For corrections and comments please e-mail Brad. Thank you to everyone who is helping me with this site! All photos and collateral on this page were originally from the Valley National Bank Collection. All rights reserved. |
Phoenix street names going south from downtown: Jefferson Street - named after Thomas Jefferson, our third president. Madison Street - named after James Madison, our fourth president. Jackson Street - named after Andrew Jackson, our seventh president. The Southern-Pacific Railroad used to be Harrison Street, which had been named after our 23rd president, Benajimin Harrison. Buchanan Street - named after our 15th president. Lincoln Street - named after Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president. Grant Street - named after Ulysses S. Grant, our 18th president. Sherman Street - Hadley Street - Tonto Street - named after the Tonto Apache Indian tribe. Buckeye Road - the road to Buckeye, Arizona. Yavapi Street - named after the Yavapi Apache Indian tribe. Yuma Street - named after the Yuma Indian tribe, today known as the Quechan. Papago Street - named after the Papago Indian tribe. Pima Street - named after the Pima Indian tribe. Sonora Street - named after the province of Sonora, Mexico Cocopah Street - named after the Cocopah (Kwapa) Indian tribe. Mojave Street - named after the Movaje Indian tribe. Apache Street - named after the Apache Indian tribe. Durango Street - named after Durango, Mexico Hess Avenue Hilton Avenue Gibson Lane Watkins Street University Drive - The road through Arizona State University in Tempe. Magnolia Street Broadway Road - named for Noah Broadway, sheriff of Maricopa County in the 1890s. Southern Avenue Baseline - This is the Public Land Surveying System (PLSS) line that divides Arizona north and south, created by the Land Ordinance of 1785. The original main survey line of the valley started from a point atop a small butte east of what is now the Phoenix International Raceway. The rest of the valley was measured from a line extending east and west of that point, called "the Salt River and Gila Baseline and Meridian." Fortunately for sign makers, the name adopted for the road following that line was shortened to Baseline Road. Back to Phoenix historical photos and maps
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This web page gives the background to the names of the streets in Phoenix, Arizona that we use every day. Your help and input is appreciated! Please e-mail 
