Naming Amarillo: The Original Names of Amarillo's Streets

As a new process has been set in place for the formal renaming of streets and public buildings in Amarillo, many have forgotten how the streets of Amarillo were named in the founding days of the pioneer town.

Founded as a railroad stop in the late 1800's, Amarillo's population exploded by nearly 700 percent from 1890 through 1910, according to the United States Census Bureau. The explosion of population in the new town set the stage for new streets in the Texas Panhandle paradise.

According to a map of Potter County from early in Amarillo's history, the names of Amarillo's streets look much different that the streets of today. Washington Street was originally known as Davidson and that was not the only street whose name looks different today than over a century ago.

Here is a list of some of the streets that have different names today, according to an early map of Potter County:

• Davidson Street (Washington)

• Wallace Street (Hughes)

• Courtney Street (Hayden)

• Greene Street (Ong)

• Mabry Street (Lipscomb)

• Hollioott Street (Parker)

• Merchant Street (Travis)

• Lockett Street (Bowie)

• Plemons Street (Crockett)

• Ireland Street (Bonham)

• Sanborn Street (Fannin)

• Westsell Street (Milam)

• True Street (Austin)

• Stefens Street (Rusk)

Little information is known as to what method was used to rename the streets following the creation of various subdivisions in Amarillo.

However, these are just a few of the streets of our town that have seen renamings since the founding of Amarillo.