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hemlockone t1_j6krrdb wrote

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diaymujer t1_j6nfih8 wrote

Thanks for sharing the article. I’ve known the general rule for a long time, but the article cleared up something that had always seemed to contradict the rule:

Only “streets” are subject to the convention. Avenues, roads, drives, and other minor streets do not conform to the alphabetical progression. “Places,” on the other hand, usually appear one block north of the correspondingly lettered street and often share the same first letter.

So now I understand why Quincy Place and Todd Place are in eckington, which is covered by the first alphabet.

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SchrodingersCatfight t1_j6o54ag wrote

I believe the tree streets were something started in Takoma Park, which was a planned Victorian bedroom community established in 1883.

>In this connection one should also note that the early street names chosen by Gilbert were those of local trees: Tulip, Cedar, Maple, Dogwood. etc.

It was an extension of the "Sylvan Suburb" ideal he wanted to create. Looks like DC took those botanical names and ran with them when the city was extended, at least according to this 1907 map. If I'm reading it right, Aspen St. used to be "Wabash."

The streets are mostly trees but not all (dahlia, fern, and geranium, for example).

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