The history of the street names in Phoenix, Arizona

Darrell Duppa, who named the city of Phoenix, Arizona

Phoenix street names going north from downtown

Washington Street (0) - named after the first president of the United States, George Washington.

Adams Street (100 North) - named after our second president, John Adams.

Monroe Street (200 North) - named after our fifth president, James Monroe.

Van Buren Street (250 North) - 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 (300 North) - named after our eleventh president James Polk.

Taylor Street (400 North) - named after our 12th president Zachary Taylor.

Fillmore Street (600 North) - named after our 13th president Millard Fillmore.

Pierce Street (700 North) - named after our 14th president Franklin Pierce.

McKinley Street (800 North)- named after our 25th president, William McKinley.

Garfield Street (900 North) - named after our 20th president, James A. Garfield.

Roosevelt Street (1000 North) - named after our 26th president, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

Portland Street

Moreland Street

Culver Street

Willetta Street

Lynwood Street

General Irwin McDowell

McDowell Road (1600 North) - Named after Civil War General Irwin McDowell (1818-1885). A graduate of West Point, McDowell was in command of Union troops when they were routed at the Battle of Bull Run. His career survived and he was twice appointed to command of the department of the Pacific. He reportedly never visited Arizona, and is interred in the National Cemetery on the Presidio Military Reservation, San Francisco.

Almeria Road

Coronado Road

Granada Road

Palm Lane

Holly Street

Monte Vista Road

Cypress Street

Oak Street

Encanto Boulevard - Becomes Oak Street east of 3rd Street.

Hoover Street

Vernon Avenue

Lewis Avenue

Ashland Avenue

Wilshire Drive

Woodward Drive

Virginia Avenue (2600 North) -

Cambridge Avenue

Windsor Avenue

Edgemont Avenue

Thomas Road (2900 North) -

Country Club Drive - Goes around the Phoenix Country Club, a private golf course, which remains outside of the city limits.

Merrell Street

Verde Lane

Catalina Drive

Avalon Drive

Earll Drive

Flower Street

Cheery Lynn

Monterey Way

Campus Drive

Mulberry Drive

Osborn Road (3400 North) - 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 (4100 North) - This road was named for 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 and as a city of Phoenix park.

Monterosa Street

Devonshire Avenue

Heatherbrae Drive

Glenrosa Avenue

Montecito Avenue

Turney Avenue

Roma Avenue

Sells Drive

Campbell Avenue

Minnezona Avenue - Named by contractor Porter (P. W. ) Womack, for a favorite Aunt MINNiE and combined it with AriZONA.

Meadowbrook Avenue

Hazelwood Street

Coolidge Street

Highland Avenue

Elm Street

Pierson Street

Mariposa Street

Camelback Road (5000 North) - Named after Camelback Mountain, which is so named because it looks like a camel lying down.

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 (6000 North) - 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 Avenue (7000) - This is the road to Glendale, Arizona. Glendale Avenue becomes Lincoln Boulevard when you pass 16th Street going east, entering the city of Scottsdale.

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 (8000 North) - 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 (9000 North) - Dunlap becomes Olive Avenue at 43rd Avenue (entering the City of Glendale). The city of Glendale made a lot of name changes to their streets in deference to the city of Phoenix, but not this one.

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 (10600 North) - 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 Road

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 Avenue

Rue de Lamour Avenue

Thunderbird Road (13800 North) - Thunderbird Road ran by a U. S. Army Air Corps training field during WWII.

Greenway Road (15400) - 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 (17000 North) - Named after Harvey Bell, a local farmer.

Union Hills Drive (18600 North) - named after the Union Hills. Not as impressive as Camelback Mountain, but hilly. In Glendale.

Beardsley Road (20200 North) -

Deer Valley Road (21800 North) -

Pinnacle Peak Road (23400 North) -

Happy Valley Road (25000 North) -

Phoenix street names going south from downtown

Jefferson Street (100 South) - named after Thomas Jefferson, our third president.

Madison Street (200 South) - named after James Madison, our fourth president.

Jackson Street (300 South) -named after Andrew Jackson, our seventh president.

The Southern-Pacific Railroad used to be Harrison Street, which had been named after our 23rd president, Benjamin Harrison.

Buchanan Street (500 South) - named after our 15th president.

Lincoln Street (600 South) - named after Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president.

Grant Street (700 South) - named after Ulysses S. Grant, our 18th president.

Sherman Street -

Hadley Street -

Tonto Street - named after the Tonto Apache Indian tribe.

Buckeye Road (1100 South) - the road to Buckeye, Arizona.

Yavapai Street - named after the Yavapai 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 Mojave 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 (2800 South) - The road through Arizona State University in Tempe.

Magnolia Street

Broadway Road (4400 South) - named for Noah Broadway, sheriff of Maricopa County in the 1890s.

Southern Avenue (6000 South)

Baseline (7600 South) - 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.

Go to> Phoenix historical images