Street-smart author digs up interesting facts about names

Ever wonder about the meaning of the street names in the Las Vegas Valley?

You're not the only one.

Mark Hall-Patton, museum administrator for Clark County, has spent the last 10 years researching and compiling a history of valley street names. His findings are published in a new book called "Asphalt Memories."

The book, written in the style of a dictionary, is chock full of historical nuggets and interesting tidbits about street names all over Clark County. The book was published to coincide with Clark County's centennial.

For instance, you may have figured out that Las Vegas Boulevard's nickname "the Strip" is taken from the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. But do you know who gave it the name back when it was known as Los Angeles Highway or Highway 91?

The street got its nickname in the 1950s from Guy McAfee, a gambler, pimp, criminal, promoter and ex-police officer from Los Angeles, Hall-Patton told me.

That seems to fit in with the history of Las Vegas.

The book has more than 400 street names and accompanying historical references, including one street named for a criminal, even if the namers didn't get the spelling exactly right.

Mobster Bugsy Siegel is seen by some as an influential figure in Las Vegas' history. Siegel took over building the Flamingo, which went on to become the prototypical Las Vegas casino and resort.

He eventually was killed by his mob partners.

But the street name tribute to the mobster doesn't even get his name right. Located near Ann and Fort Apache roads, it's spelled Bugsy Segal Circle.

Two of the street names that inspired Hall-Patton to write the book are Colanthe and Gilmary avenues, near Rancho Drive and Oakey Boulevard. The two streets were named for Florence Murphy, one of the founders of the North Las Vegas Airport, and Larry G. McNeil, a developer and president of the board of Bonanza Airlines.

Hall-Patton said McNeil wanted to name one of the streets in a subdivision after Murphy. She agreed to use her real first name, Colanthe, which she never used, if McNeil would name a street using his middle name.

Hall-Patton said when he spoke to McNeil family members they told him, "so that's what the G. stood for." Some members of Murphy's family didn't even realize her first name was Colanthe because she only used Florence, even when signing documents, he said.

"Their own families didn't know. When I heard that story, I realized there was no way under the sun anyone would know how those streets were named unless someone wrote it down," he said.

But not all street names are so cryptic.

Stephanie Street in Henderson is named for a woman named, you guessed it, Stephanie.

Stephanie Page Wurzer was the oldest daughter of Harold J. Wurzer, a plant manager for Stauffer Chemicals and friends with the man who named the street.

"When the street was named, it was a small road," Hall-Patton said. Now it's become a main thoroughfare in Henderson.

Meanwhile, Lamb Boulevard may not be named for who you think.

While there are many influential Lambs who have left their mark on Clark County -- including state Sen. Floyd Lamb, County Commissioner Darwin Lamb and Sheriff Ralph Lamb -- none are the reason for Lamb Boulevard's name.

Instead it is named for Press Lamb, another member of the Lamb clan. The original road carried many different names, including Louise Road, Noble Lane, Goerman Lane, Mockingbird Lane and Marber Boulevard.

Government officials realized that all of those names would end up confusing firefighters, police or paramedics who might have to respond to an emergency there, so they renamed it after Press Lamb, who lived on the road, Hall-Patton said.

Another main Clark County road, Decatur Boulevard, has an interesting history.

The road is named for Decatur, Ill., which in turn was named for U.S. naval hero Adm. Stephen Decatur.

Originally, Leonard Frechette and his wife, along with the Carr family, were the only two families living on the road.

"The Carrs were not interested in naming the street, so Frechette did," Hall-Patton said. Frechette came to Las Vegas in the 1930s to work for the Union-Pacific Railroad.

While many streets and roads were named for people, others take on references to books, movies, perfumes, designers, sport figures, baseball team hometowns and fallen police officers.

"I love the Tolkien streets," Hall-Patton said.

Streets in a subdivision in Henderson are named for fictional characters from the Lord of the Rings books written by J.R.R. Tolkien. The names include Shadowfax Road, Longshanks Way and Strider Drive.

A subdivision near Silverado High School in the south valley has streets named after 20 Los Angeles Dodgers, including Roy Campanella, Delino DeShields, Gil Hodges, Hideo Nomo, and Jose Offerman.

My personal favorite is the subdivision near Lamb and Russell Road where streets are named for Star Wars characters, including Skywalker Avenue, Leia Street and Vader Avenue.

Other roads seem aptly named because they lead to a casino of the same name. I am sure you can figure where Sahara Avenue, Flamingo Road and Tropicana Avenue go.

But those weren't the original names of the roads, Hall-Patton said. Sahara was originally San Francisco Street, and Flamingo originally was Monson Road.

Tropicana Avenue was originally Bond Road. It led to property owned by the Bond family, the author said.

When Richard Taylor, the Tropicana's general manager, suggested renaming the road, Mrs. Bond was none too pleased. She went to the hearings and protested the change to no avail.

Tropicana got its current name in 1960.

Other families got to keep their names on street signs. Smoke Ranch Road in the northwest valley is named for the Smoke family ranch that was in the area.

Entertainers also have had a fair share of roads named after them. Singer Jimmy Durante has two streets named for him, including Jimmy Durante Boulevard and Durante Street.

Ol' Blue Eyes has Frank Sinatra Drive, which runs parallel to the Strip, and My Way, named for Sinatra's signature song, which is near Twain Avenue and Jones Boulevard.

The winner for most streets named after him is former U.S. Sen. Patrick McCarran, Hall-Patton said. While McCarran has three streets named for him today, he used to have four. Patrick Lane, McCarran Boulevard and McCarran Street still survive. McCarran Avenue in Henderson was demolished.

A couple of names frustrated Hall-Patton. While Maryland Parkway may seem obvious, he wasn't able to definitively say what the road was named for around the time of World War II.

Hall-Patton narrowed down Alta Drive to three possibilities. It was named after either Alta Becker, wife of the man who owned the land; or Alta Ham, who allegedly made the city of Las Vegas promise that no homes on the street would have walls around them, because she wanted more open yards; or for Alta Green, the wife of Bill Green, who built one of the first homes there.

The author isn't giving up. He hopes members of the community will contact him at the museum if they know where some of these street names come from.

"As this book gets out there, I hope to hear from people," Hall-Patton said. "Somewhere, somebody knows something about these names."

Copies of "Asphalt Memories" sell for $9.95 at the Clark County Museum, 1830 S. Boulder Highway, Henderson. All proceeds from the book go to the museum.

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