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Column: Street names tell a city's history

Sweet Avenue named after 19th century municipal clerk who earned $175 a year
street names
This is the family home of Orison Davis Sweet, back in 1888, when he worked as a municipal clerk. Sweet helped incorporate Richmond and for that has had a street named after him.

By now Richmond’s road network is pretty much set. Few new roads are created these days — four in 2014 to be precise — as development is confined by protected farmland and the Fraser River, of course.

But road names provide a glimpse into the city’s young, but interesting, history. It’s a history most Richmond students don’t learn about in schools, unless a teacher takes a proactive approach.

Gilbert, Blundell and Williams roads are all named after Richmond “pioneers.”

Road names may often be an extension of a neighbourhood’s geography or a distinct feature. The recently paved River Parkway and Oval Way get their names from being close to the river and Olympic Oval, respectively. For newbies to the city, you may not know that Railway Avenue used to have a railway line running alongside it.

Pretty simple stuff, although probably not as simple as naming roads by numbers.

Side note: It’s time to rename the No. 2 Road Bridge.

Anyway, the more interesting road names are those named after pioneers and historical figures.

The new Sweet Avenue (near Aberdeen Centre) was named in June after Orison Davis Sweet, a municipal clerk from 1884-1891 who was one of many to sign the petition to incorporate Richmond in 1879.

Apparently, he earned $175 per year, one of a few facts Bill Purver, the Richmond archives manager, was able to dig up.

Purver is a valuable source for Richmond’s history. 

He’s also part of a secret operation conducted along with city councillors to name roads. No joking, the city keeps about a dozen prospective names under wraps (protected by the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act) in order to protect people’s privacy.

I tried asking for the list, but was denied.

We can all come up with our own lists. Halsey-Brandt Way? Brodie Avenue?

What about the new Harold Steves Bridge? (I don’t think that would fly with Coun. Steves.)

Those are recent politicians. Some of the names on the city’s sidewalks we know little about. Were they truly good people? Or were they Richmond’s version of robber barons? Were they kind? Greedy? Racist?

We know Sweet was a founding member of the Methodist Church in Richmond, now Minoru Chapel.

The city named the new Mannini Way near Ikea because Mannini was one of the first Scandinavian settlers (see Finn Road on Finn Slough). Although, oddly enough, Mannini was Finnish, not Swedish, and that’s all we know of him. I’d say Finns are good people, for the most part.

Sometimes naming streets has been controversial. The River Rock Casino and Resort paid for adjacent roadways so the city named one of them Great Canadian Way, which is actually just an extension of Garden City Road, named for Richmond’s reputation as, well, a city of gardens.

Sweden Way highlights its proximity to Ikea, another corporation.

The point is, I find it interesting we have proper names for roads and not just numbered streets and avenues like Surrey and Vancouver.

As such, we can learn about and celebrate the city’s history — something worth exploring for young students.