The history of the street names in Phoenix, Arizona

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.

Map of the Town of Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona Territory in 1881

The streets that went east-west were named after United States presidents, beginning with Washington and alternating, first to the north, then south, in order of office. Adams was 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 Quincy Adams (they already had an Adams street) so they skipped him and went directly to Andrew Jackson.

Indian tribe names were used mostly for north-south streets: Montezuma, Maricopa, Pima, Pinal, Arivapai, Tonto, Apache, Cortez, Mojave, Papago, Yuma, Cocopah, Hualpai, and Yavapai.

Central Avenue, originally called Centre, later becoming Center followed by Central, is a north-south avenue which was at the center of the original 14 block by 7 block townsite of Phoenix, Arizona Territory. When the City changed the original north-south tribal names to a numbering system, Central was the dividing line: the "Streets" to the east and the "Avenues" to the West. The original townsite was from Van Buren Street on the north to Harrison Street to the south, Apache on the east and Yavapai to the west (fourteen blocks wide by seven blocks deep). These streets and The original townsite was from Van Buren (northern edge) to Harrison Street to the south (fourteen blocks wide by seven blocks deep).

Old-time Phoenix streets original names

Centre Street changed to Central Avenue
Montezuma Street changed to 1st Street
Maricopa Street changed to 2nd Street
Pima Street changed to 3rd Street
Pinal Street changed to 4th Street
Arivapai Street changed to 5th Street (actually, this is a misspelling, the actual Indian tribe is Aravapi)
Tonto Street changed to 6th Street
Apache Street changed to 7th Street
Oregon Street changed to 8th Street
Park Avenue changed to 8th Street
Brill Avenue changed to 10th Street (because they were going to use Brill elsewhere)
Nevada Street changed to 10th Street
California Avenue changed to 11th Street
Arizona Street changed to 11th Street
Franklin Street changed to 20th Street
Chicago Avenue changed to 44th Street
Delano Avenue changed to 48th Street

Cortes Street changed to 1st Avenue
Mojave Street changed to 2nd Avenue
Papago Street changed to 3rd Avenue
Yuma Street changed to 4th Avenue
Cocopa Street changed to 5th Avenue
Hualpai Street changed to 6th Avenue
Yavapai Street changed to 7th Avenue
Lateral 14 changed to 27th Avenue

Christy Road changed to McDowell Road
Tempe Road changed to Van Buren
Olive Avenue changed to Dunlap Avenue (but not in Glendale!)

By the way, Cactus Way was between Central and 1st Street, and Wall Street was between 1st Avenue and Central. Not shown on any maps, but businesses sometimes used these names to indicate their location. Melinda's Alley was also a residential street (and also part of the "Red Light District"), and ran east and west between Monroe and Adams the length of the city, from 7th Avenue to 7th Street.

The road "out of Phoenix" is Grand Avenue, which begins on the original "edge of town" - 7th Avenue and Van Buren, and goes northwest at a 45-degree angle.

The major streets in Phoenix are one mile apart and are indicated on the list.

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.

Melinda's Alley - You won't find this on any maps, but it was lined with houses and businesses during the early years of Phoenix. A trace of it remains, as of this writing, as simply a back alley at Central Avenue between Monroe and Adams. In 1902, Charles Poston lived, and died on Melinda's alley.

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

Van Buren Street (300 North) - Major street. Named after our eighth president Martin Van Buren. It was also known as the Tempe Road. As it curves south into Tempe, it turns into Mill Avenue.

Grand Avenue - In 1887 developers from Fresno, California 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 northwest beginning at Van Buren and 7th Avenue, which was known as Yavapai Street at that time.


Polk Street (400 North) - named after our eleventh president, James Polk.
Taylor Street (500 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) - Half-mile street. Named after our 26th president, Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt.

Diamond Street - Named after the Diamond Heights addition platted in 1909 by E.J. and Emma R. Bennitt. 

Portland Street

Latham Street - Named after H.I. Latham who owned the H.I. Latham Company, a real estate and investments firm and was a prominent booster of Phoenix. He owned 40 acres with his wife Henrietta at the northwest corner of Central and McDowell at the turn of the century.

Moreland Street - This street was originally called Westmoreland, but the West had to be removed to avoid confusion. Otherwise, it would have been East Westmoreland Street, or West Westmoreland Street. Can you blame them? 

Culver Street

Willetta Street

Lynwood Street

McDowell Road (1600 North) - Major Street. Named after Civil War General Irvin 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. On the west side of Phoenix, over by the Fair Grounds, it was called Christy Road until the 1930s, after the ranch of William Christy.
Palmcroft - The Palmcroft subdivision was platted in 1927 by Dwight B. Heard and William G. Hartranft on land purchased from J. W. and Sallie G. Dorris. It's still an amazing neighborhood to walk around in today.

Almeria Road

Coronado Road

Granada Road

Granada Road

Palm Lane

Hubbell Street

Holly Street

Monte Vista Road - This is Spanish for "Mountain View" or "View of the Mountain". Monte Vista was a subdivision platted on December 4th, 1908 by Dwight B. Heard, president of the Suburban Realty Company.

Cypress Street

Oak Street

Harvard Street - An Ivy League School, like Yale and Princeton whose names were used in the 1924 subdivision Greenfield Acres created by T.H. and Elsie Greenfield at 16th Street just south of Thomas. Princeton Street appears to be gone now.

Sheridan Street

Yale Street - See Harvard Street above

Encanto Boulevard - Half-mile street. "Enchantment" in Spanish.

Hoover Street

Vernon Avenue

Lewis Avenue

Ashland Avenue

Wilshire Drive - named after Henry Gaylord Wilshire (1861 - 1927), who was known by his contemporaries by his middle name, Gaylord, and was a land developer for whom Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles was also named.

Woodward Drive

Virginia Avenue (2600 North) 

Cambridge Avenue

Windsor Avenue

Edgemont Avenue 

Greenfield Road - From the Greenfield Gardens subdivision platted by T.H., Elsie, Max, and Bonnie Greenfield in 1928. This street runs at an angle parallel to Grand Canal. Look for it as you pass the Creighton Christian Church at 22nd Street, just south of Thomas.

Thomas Road (2900 North) - Major street. Named after William E. Thomas, Arizona territorial deputy county recorder at the turn of the century. Thomas owned an 85-acre ranch one and a half miles north of the city limits (the city limit was Van Buren at the time). Thomas Road was also known as West Oleander Avenue.

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

Merrell Street

Verde Lane

Catalina Drive

Avalon Drive

Pinchot Avenue

Earll Drive - Named after E.A Earll who developed Earll Place which was platted in 1929.

Flower Street

Cheery Lynn

Monterey Way

Campus Drive - Goes around Phoenix College.

Mulberry Drive

Osborn Road (3400 North) - Half-mile street. This road ran by the south edge of the Osborn family farm, near Central, and had been homesteaded by John Preston Osborn, originally from Tennessee, and his wife Paulina Elizabeth (Swetnan), of Kentucky, in the late 1870's.  The street became known as Osborn Road around the time of John's death in 1900 at the age of 84. John's son Neri became the City of Phoenix County Recorder. Neri F. Osborn was born on April 7th, 1856 and died on October 6th, 1943. Neri Osborn's wife was named Marilla and they lived at 77 W. Encanto, Phoenix. Neri was living on Franklin near Porter Avenue, neither of which exists today. Neri's son, and John's grandson, was Sidney Osborn, the 7th governor of Arizona.

Mitchell Drive

Whitton Avenue - Named after F. E. Whitton, who platted the Whitton Tract in 1910. 

Columbus Avenue

Weldon Avenue

Clarendon Avenue

Indianola - Named by T.M. Earnhart, who platted Indianola Place at 2nd Street in 1909.

Fairmount Avenue

Piccadilly Road

Amelia Avenue

Indian School Road (4100 North) - Major street. 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 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 - Named after Omar Asa Turney, Phoenix city engineer at the turn of the century. In the 1892 Directory Phoenix City Directory, he listed as a bookkeeper and his residence was on Washington between Center and Montezuma (1st Street). Omar Turney was living at 643 N. 4th Avenue when he died on December 21st, 1929. As of this writing, it looks like his house is still there.Transcript of document:

This plat of lots: - Is hereby published as the complete plan and survey thereof and the street upon the recording thereof in the County Recorder's office of the Country of Maricopa, Territory of Arizona, is dedicated to the public for their use forever. The premises hereby subdivided consists of the North half (1/2) of the South-west quarter (1/4) of Section number Twenty (20), township number Two (2) North of Range number three (3), Gila and Salt River Base and Meridian, County of Maricopa, Territory of Arizona.
Witness my hand this seventh day of November, 1893, R.H. Woolf.
Recorders Office, Phoenix, Maricopa Co., A.T.
Filed and recorded request of J.N. Evans, Nov. 7th, 1893, at 2:30 P.M.
Book 2 of Maps Page, Neri Osborn, County Recorder (son of John P. Osborn), by Wm. E. Thomas, Deputy.

Territory of Arizona, County of Maricopa
Before me, O.A. Turney, a Notary Public, in and for said county of Maricopa, on this day personally appeared R. H. Woolf known to me to be the person whose name is subscribed to the foregoing instrument and acknowledge to me that he executed the same for the purpose and consideration therein expressed.
Given under my hand and seal of office this 7th day of November, 1893
O.A. Turney, Notary Public

Roma Avenue

Sells Drive

Campbell Avenue - Half-mile street.

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

Grand Canal - I know, it's not a street, but many times in old maps it's a good reference. I'm putting it here in this list because this is where is crosses Central, although it crosses different streets elsewhere. And yes, it's Grand Canal, as in Grand Canyon, not The Grand Canal. Built in 1878, they must have thought pretty highly of it, to compare it to Grand Canyon!

Meadowbrook Avenue

Hazelwood Street

Coolidge Street

Highland Avenue

Elm Street

Pierson Street - named by Eugene M. and Lena Pierson, who platted Pierson Place in 1926 at 7th Avenue, just south of Camelback Road.

Mariposa Street

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

Reade Avenue - named after Dave Reade, who worked as a salesman for John F. Long.

Pasadena Avenue

Medlock Drive - Named after Floyd W. Medlock, who platted Medlock Place at Central Avenue in 1926.

Orange Drive

Colter Street - Prior to our neighborhood incorporation into the city of Phoenix in the 1950s, Colter Street was named Nile Street, and hence the Nile Neighborhood organization was born.

Oregon Avenue

Georgia Avenue

Vermont Avenue

Missouri Avenue - Half-mile street.

Marshall Avenue

San Juan Avenue

San Miguel Avenue

Montebello Avenue

Solano Drive

Rancho Drive

Palo Verde Drive - The palo verde tree is Arizona's state tree. It's Spanish for green stick.

Bethany Home Road (6000 North) - Major street. Led to the Bethany Home, way outside the city, near what is now 15th Avenue.  The "home" was a tuberculosis sanatorium operated by a religious organization in the early 1900s. The namesake of the home is an ancient town near Jerusalem.

Solicito Lane

Rovey Avenue

Kerridge Lane - 

Keim Drive

Rose Lane

Claremont Street

Marlette Avenue

Stella Lane

Maryland Avenue - Half-mile street

Sierra Vista Drive

McLellan Boulevard - Named after George W. McLellan, who platted the Washington Homesites in 1925. The map says it was at Alhambra Road.

Tuckey Lane

Krall Street

Ocotillo Road - A type of cactus that is native to the Sonoran Desert.

Lawrence Road

Lamar Road - Lamar Road is a conjunction of the surnames of the two men who developed the surrounding area, Mr. Lawrence and Mr. Marshall; hence the resulting LA(awrence) +MAR(shall) Road.

Flynn Lane - Named by James L. Diggs, owner of Arizona Paving and Grading, after his wife Eula Flynn Diggs.

Glendale Avenue (7000 North) - Major street. The road to Glendale, Arizona. Glendale Avenue becomes Lincoln Drive when you pass 22nd Street going east, entering the city of Scottsdale. The city of Glendale started as a temperance colony in the 1800s, and in spite of an excellent and active historical society, no one really knows why the city was named Glendale. Maybe it just sounded good. Glendale Avenue, in the city of Glendale itself , was originally Washington Street.

Lincoln Drive - named after John C. Lincoln, a self-made millionaire, who came to Arizona in 1931 when his wife, Helen, was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He founded the Desert Mission in Sunnyslope, which became John C. Lincoln Hospital. He also helped establish a resort in Paradise Valley called The Camelback Inn.

Cactus Wren - The state bird of Arizona.

Glenn Drive

Palmaire Avenue

Myrtle Avenue

Northview Avenue - The name comes from Northview Acres, a subdivision that was created in 1946.

State Avenue

Gardenia Drive

Orangewood Avenue - Half-mile street. Named after The Orangewood Nursery Company, which was managed by Burle J. Jones in 1912.

Vista Avenue

Kaylor Drive - Named after the Kaylor family that settled and built a home on that street.

Wagon Wheel Drive

Kaler Drive

Morten Avenue

Belmont Avenue

Frier Drive (7700)

Hayward Avenue

Desert Park Lane

Augusta Avenue

Linger Lane

Northern Avenue (8000 North) - Major street. This is the northern edge of the Salt River Valley. The southern edge is South Mountain.

Loma Lane

Harmont Drive

Royal Palm

Griswold Road

El Camino Drive - Spanish for "The Road".

Las Palmaritas Drive

Arizona Canal. Yes, I know it's not a street, but on old maps it makes an excellent reference. I'm putting it in this list here because this is where it crosses Central Avenue, although it crosses other streets elsewhere. Built in 1885, and, like Grand Canal, there is no "the". I guess that's how people talked in those days.

El Caminito Drive - Spanish for "The Little Road".

Echo Lane

Butler Drive - Half-mile street.

Seldon Lane

Orchid Lane

Diana Avenue

Alice Avenue - named after the daughter of the founder of the community of Sunnyslope, William R. Norton.

Lawrence Lane

Golden Lane

Townley Avenue

Puget Avenue

Dunlap Avenue (9000 North) - Major street. Named after Phoenix Mayor John T. Dunlap. Dunlap becomes Olive Avenue at 43rd Avenue (entering the City of Glendale).

Caron Street - named after Frank and Lenna Caron, who platted the Caron Tract at 4th Street in 1925.

Eva Street - named after Eva Caron, the wife of Ralph D. Caron. This street was named in 1929.

Mission Lane

Sunnyslope Lane - Sunnyslope is a community that has some deep historic roots in Phoenix.

Hatcher Road - Named after Robert A. Hatcher, who came to Arizona in 1908 from Florida. The name of this road was changed from Wabash to Hatcher in the late 1940s when the road was paved.

Carol Drive - named by Walter and Hilda Tengen who moved to Sunnyslope from Indiana in 1926.

Vogel Avenue - Originally Olmstead Lane (probably named by the Tengens). About 1938-39, John and Susie Vogel purchased the plot on Olmstead Lane and built three small houses, one for themselves and two others to sell or rent. It was during that time that that Olmstead Lane was renamed Vogel Avenue.

Purdue Avenue - Same as above.

Mountain View - Half-mile street. The mountains that you can view to the west are the White Tanks, and the mountains to the east are The Phoenix Mountains.

Ironwood Drive

Cinnabar Avenue

Brown Street

Cheryl Drive

Cochise Road

North Lane

Peoria Avenue (10600 North) - Major street. The road to Peoria, Arizona. This road doesn't go all the way through east, it ends at 7th avenue, at North Mountain. The road that is its equivalent east of the Phoenix Mountains, picking up again at 24th Street, is Shea Boulevard - named after James A. Shea. James Shea and Harvey Bell (see Bell Road) organized the Paradise Verde Irrigation District in 1916. The town of Peoria, Arizona, was named after Peoria, Illinois, from whence its first settlers came. You can still see the original names of the streets on the west side of Grand Avenue, Washington Street, Jefferson Street, Madison Street, and Monroe. Yep, they are still there! However, Vine Street became 82nd Avenue, Orange Avenue became 83rd Avenue, Peach Street became 85th Avenue, and Almond Street became 86th Avenue. Market Street, east of Grand Avenue, is still there. Walnut Street became 81st Avenue.

Becker Lane

Sahuaro Drive, also spelled Saguaro Drive - The saguaro is the symbol of Arizona, the saguaro cactus blossom is the state flower.

Mercer Lane

Desert Cove Avenue

Shangri La Road

Yucca Street

Cholla Avenue - Half-mile street. Cholla is a type of cactus which is native to the Sonoran Desert.

Lupine Avenue

Sierra Street

Altadena Avenue

Sunnyside Drive

Poinsettia Drive

Laurel Lane

Paradise Drive

Butte Drive

Cactus Road (12200 North) Major street. Named after the little town of Cactus, which was just northeast of Sunnyslope.

Wethersfield Road

Charter Oak - refers to a monument in Hartford, Connecticut where the city charter was hidden to keep it out of the hands of the enemy.

Bloomfield - a city in Connecticut

Columbine Drive

Larkspur Drive

Corrine Drive

Windrose Drive

Aster Drive

Dahlia Drive

Wood Drive

Sweetwater Avenue - Half-mile street.

Surrey Avenue

Captain Dreyfus Avenue - Only east of Cave Creek Road. Do you think it could be from the famous Captain Alfred Dreyfus affair in the late 1800s and early 1900s in France? The French writer Émile Zola supported Captain Alfred Dreyfus who had been falsely accused and imprisoned on Devils Island. The case was re-opened after Emile Zola (see below) went to the aid Captain Dreyfus.

Pershing Avenue - named after John Joseph Pershing "Black Jack" (1860 - 1948), general of the U.S. Army who served in the Apache and Sioux Indian wars, Spanish American war in the Battle of San Juan Hill, the Philippine-American War in the Moro Rebellion, the Russo-Japanese War, the Mexican Revolution in the Pancho Villa Expedition, and World War I.

Willow Avenue

Alexandria Way

Victor Hugo Avenue - Victor Hugo was a 19th century French poet.Emile Zola Avenue - Émile Zola was a French writer during the late 1800s. That explains who Émile Zola is, but it doesn't explain why the street was named after him!

Joan de Arc Avenue - Joan de Arc, who lived in the 15th century, was a martyr and a national heroine of France. Again, that's who she was, but it doesn't explain why the street was named after her!

Eugie Avenue

Voltaire Avenue

Sharon Avenue

Rue de Lamour Avenue - "Street of Love" in French. If you live on that street, I hope that it is true for you!

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

Greenway Road (15400 North) - Major street. Named after John Greenway, Arizona pioneer. His statue is in the Hall of Statues for Arizona, although most Arizonans have never heard of him. By the way, there is another Greenway Road in south Phoenix. Yes, it's still there, you can find it on Google maps. Look for it just east of Central between Southern and Baseline, south of Vineyard. How Phoenix could have two roads with the same name, I don't know. I wonder if it confuses the Post Office! I suppose that's what zip codes are for.

Bell Road (17000 North) - Major street. Named after Harvey Bell, a local farmer. He and James Shea (see Shea Boulevard) organized the Paradise Verde Irrigation District in 1916.

Hartford Avenue - named after the city in Connecticut, which was named by my 11th great-grandfather Samuel Stone

Lindner Drive (in the Belair Subdivision) - Named after Carl Henry Lindner, Jr. (April 22, 1919 – October 17, 2011), a Cincinnati businessman and one of the world's richest people. According to the 2006 issue of Forbes Magazine's 400 list, Lindner was ranked 133 and was worth an estimated $2.3 billion. He was a client of Charles Keating (see below)

Keating Circle (in the Belair Subdivision) - Named after Charles Keating, who is most known for his role in the savings and loan scandal of the late 1980s.

Continental Drive (Near the Belair Golf Course) - Named after The American Continental Mortgage Company

Union Hills Drive (18600 North) - Major street. Named after the Union Mine.

Beardsley Road (20200 North) - Major street. Named after William H. Beardsley, a farmer in the north valley. He headed up the group that raised 3.3 million dollars in 1925 to build the dam on the Agua Fria river, which was designed by Carl Pleasant.

Deer Valley Road (21800 North) -Major street.

Pinnacle Peak Road (23400 North) - Major street. Named after Pinnacle Peak, a granite summit, which is just east of Pima Road in Scottsdale.

Happy Valley Road (25000 North) - Major street.

Jomax Road - named after Josephine and Maxine Durham

Culpepper Drive (in Anthem) - named after Detective Culpepper from the 1963 movie "*It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"


Phoenix Streets 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.

Gold Alley - named after Yugoslavian immigrant Martin Gold. Not any any maps, it was a residential and business section between 5th and 7th Streets, mainly Hispanic.

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

Harrison Street - Half-mile street. Named after our 9th president, William Henry Harrison. This is where the railroad tracks are.

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

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

La Patria Street - After the La Patria neighborhood.

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

Sherman Street

Hadley Street

Tonto Street - named after the Tonto Apache Indian tribe. Central Park, which is on Tonto between 1st and 2nd Street, originally platted in 1910, is still there.

1954 ad

Modern map overlayed with 1958

Buckeye Road (1200 South) - Major street. The road to Buckeye, Arizona. Also called Westward Boulevard. Near the airport it was Henshaw.

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

Lower Buckeye - Major Street

University Drive (2800 South) - Major street. The road through Arizona State University in Tempe.

Magnolia Street

Pioneer Street

Victory Street

Elwood Street

Raymond Street

Fulton Street

West Road

Illini Street

Jones Avenue

Southgate Avenue

Riverside Street

Pueblo Avenue

Hildalgo Avenue - Named by Walter R. and Blanche F. Strong, who platted the subdivision Hildago Place in 1927.Broadway Road (4400 South) - Major street. Named for Noah M. Broadway, sheriff of Maricopa County from 1885 to 1886. His farm was located between 7th and 23rd Avenues on the south side of what is now Broadway Road.

Romley Road - named after Elias Romley, who is also the namesake of Romley Hall at Brophy College.

Southern Avenue (6000 South) Major street. Presumably the name indicated the southernmost avenue of the city.

Wong Way - named after Phoenix City planner Jimmy Wong. Another example of slipping in a bit of humor by the people who name the streets!

Baseline Road (7600 South) - Major street. 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.

Valencia Drive - A Valencia is a type of orange

Harwell Road

Beautiful Lane

Gary Way

Beverly Road

Ian Drive

Desert Lane

Latona Road

Gloria Drive

Nagdali Lane

Magdalena Lane

South Mountain Avenue - Half-mile street.

Dobbins Road - Major street. Named after J.C. Dobbins, chairman of the Phoenix city planning commission.

Lindner Avenue - In Dobson Ranch, named after Cincinnati businessman Carl Linder.

Saratoga - In Dobson Ranch

Keating Avenue -  In Dobson Ranch, named after businessman Charles Keating, who was convicted in December 1991 of 17 counts of fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. In July 1993, Keating was given a 12½ year sentence. The judge also ordered Keating to pay restitution of $122 million to the government, but Keating said he was $10 million in debt and had no assets to sell. There is also a Keating Drive in the Bellair neighborhood of Glendale north of Bell Road at 45th Avenue.

Houston Avenue

Guadalupe Road (9200 south) - Major street.

Grove Parkway

Elliot Road (10800 south) - Major street.

Warner Road (12400 south) - Major street.

Ray Road (14000 south) - Major street.

Chandler Boulevard (15600 south) - Major street. Named after Dr. Alexander John Chandler, who founded the town of Chandler in 1891.

Pecos Road - Major street.

Germann Road - Major street.

Queen Creek Road - Major street.

Ocotillo Road - Major street. An ocotillo is a desert plant, native to the Sonoran Desert.

Chandler Heights Road - Major street.

Riggs Road - Major street.

Hunt Highway - Major street. Named after Arizona Governor George W.P. Hunt.

---

North and south roads in the West Valley

Nathaniel Dysart

Dysart Road - 13100 West (131st Avenue) Named after Nathaniel Dysart, the rancher who donated the land for the Dysart School.

Litchfield Road - 13900 West (139th Avenue) except for the section between Thomas and Camelback, which is about 14100 West. Named after Goodyear Cotton and Tire executive Paul Litchfield.

Sarival Avenue - 16300 West (163rd Avenue). A contraction of "Salt River Valley".

C Street - At the Light Rail park-and-ride lot, Dunlap Avenue west of 19th Avenue. The name comes from the main street of the Royal Palm Mobile Home Park, which is alphabetical, and apparently the middle is C.

---

If you like pictures of old-time Phoenix, please become a member of History Adventuring on Patreon. I share a LOT of cool old photos there, copyright-free, with no advertising. If you like Phoenix history and would like to help support my efforts to preserve and share precious digital historic images, please consider becoming a patron. Thank you!

Become a Patron!