Pearl St.

From Brooklyn Centre Wiki

Revision as of 16:57, 26 March 2009

Post-1906 name:

West 25th Street

Location:

Full length of the street extends from a few blocks north of Detroit Ave. to the Brooklyn-Brighton Bridge, however, the portion that was in Brooklyn Centre started at about Daisy Avenue.

Development:

Ebenezer Fish and Betts and Bibbins developed the section north of Denison Ave.

Moses Fish developed the section south of Denison Ave.

Named for:

The origin of the name "Pearl" is unknown. It was already called this by 1835 as attested to by its appearance on a map of that era. There were no property owners in the vicinity with the surname of Pearl for whom the street might have been named.

Hezekiah Eldredge opened "Pearl Street House" in 1836.

It can be naturally assumed that the street's name is feminine, but around this time there was a substance in use called pearl ash that may have been the source of the name.

Potassium carbonate was first identified in 1742 by Antonio Campanella and is the primary component of potash and the more refined pearlash or salts of tartar. Historically pearlash was created by baking potash in a kiln to remove impurities. The fine white powder remaining was the pearlash. Pearlash has been used for soap, glass, and china production."

Source: Wikipedia article

Pearl Street's northern end was in the vicinity of several streets named for trees such as Hickory, Hemlock, Willow, Mulberry, and Spruce.

Another possible reason for the name was the popularity of oysters along the east coast of America, though the family of oysters found there did not produce pearls of commercial value.

Wikipedia article on Oysters

Also at various times called:

Columbus Road

Plank Road

Wayne, Medina, and Cuyahoga Turnpike

Medina-Wooster Turnpike

Turnpike Road

Main Street

West 25th Street

Pearl Road