Do You Know The Original Names of These Amarillo Streets

Amarillo has gone through a lot of changes. I've been here almost half of a decade, and there are parts of town that look different from when I moved here

Now, imagine how much things have changed since 1927.

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That was the year that several street names were changed from their original names, according to a post from Melissa in a group dedicated to preserving and enjoying the history of Amarillo.

According to her post (which cites Old Town Amarillo, Judge John Crudgington, Panhandle Plains Historical Review, 1957) several of those early names came from citizens and friends of Henry Luckett, who happened to make the first map of the town.

All of this occurring after a train station and depot were to be put in Amarillo.

According to the information she provided, Hayden St. was once Davidson Ave. Ong St. was once Wallace Ave. Lipscomb St. was once called Courtney Ave.

Other changes were:

Green Ave became Parker St.
Merchant Ave became Crockett St.
Plemons Ave became Fannin St.
Wetsell Ave became Rusk St.

There were only two of the roads that kept their original name and just swapped from Avenue to Street.

McMasters Ave became McMasters St. Bowyer Ave. was renamed Bowyer St.

Several more were also changed by the Zoning Commission in 1927. The one question that I have is why were McMasters and Bowyer safe from having their names completely changed? Did someone at the commission not want to go through the headache of informing everyone of their new address?

It's interesting what you find out when you take a moment to look back at the history of the city we live in. There's a lot more to it than what sometimes meets the eye.