Where did all the streets go?

So, you never heard of Broadmore Street, eh? How about Corey Street? Well, how about Moseleau Street, Hayward, Frazier, Goding and Cross? Chances are that the vast, vast majority of you reading this article have never heard of such local streets which once hosted parked cars, children bouncing balls, bread winners shoveling snow and neighbors knocking on neighbors’ doors.
    Green Street has disappeared and Martin Street has been relocated just like Cross Street. New streets have been dug out of the earth in the last 50 years to accommodate a growing population or, should I say, a sprawling population; Presque Isle’s numbers have dwindled since 1960. And one wonders how some of the names of those new streets ever came about. Several names have been changed to avoid confusion. One new street has been named to add to the confusion. I’ll name that street a bit later.
Before what we call Hardy Street, there was Broadmore. Broadmore? It must have taken a giant-sized brain to think that one up; I mean, there are so many people who have so heavily contributed to the growth of our town that you would have thought the giant-sized brain would have chosen from that pool of names, but didn’t. In any case, Hardy started out as Broadmore Street but only ran south of Academy to Cedar; north-running Hardy came later like in the late 1950s. Hardy derived its name from the family of Hardys who occupied ‘Hardy Hill’ above Hillside on the State Street side. We oldsters still refer to that area above Hillside as Hardy Hill . . . and always will.
Back at the turn of the last century, Roberts Street was called Green Street. No one alive today knows why someone changed the name. It’s possible that the street was renamed because the person who built the Thibodeau house on Roberts Street in 1889 was an attorney named Roberts. No one knows for sure.
How about Moseleau Street? What a strange name for a Presque Isle street! Some of you actually recall (probably if you’re 60 years old or more) Braden Terrace. Braden Terrace was a federal housing project put up to accommodate some of the military personnel and their families during WW II. If one enters the fairgrounds by the first gate (which is seldom open) at the head of Judd Street, the ground occupied by the exhibition hall and the parking area behind it, one discovers the ground which once hosted Braden Terrace. The Terrace was a system of four streets, each street flanked by project housing much like Fairview Acres (referred to later). There we found Frazier Street which branched off to Moseleau, Hayward and Goding streets. The project persisted after the war, rented out to civilians. According to Billy Tilley, an old schoolmate of mine, the Terrace was dismantled in 1968.
Just like Braden Terrace, the far better remembered Fairview Acres was a government housing project built to accommodate military personnel and their families during WW II. One can find the remains of the Acres right off to the right of Central Drive. After the war (1945), the Acres fell into the hands of the city and was operated by the city for almost 40 years. Many of you readers as kids lived in the Acres, and, no doubt, have fond memories of the project. How well you recall the kerosene tanks which lined the streets as well as the clotheslines. It wasn’t exactly Madison Avenue but the project served to provide housing to families of soldiers returning home from the war. Otherwise, housing would have been very scarce.
Fairview Acres was comprised of a system of streets. A street named Green Mountain Drive made a horseshoe turn from  Parsons Street. Within the horseshoe were three other streets: Sebago Court, Katahdin Court and Spaulding Court. Eventually, the Acres fell into disrepair and was intentionally burned down in the early 1980s. Remnants of the asphalted streets there can still be seen. It’s amazed me that after all these years that this tract of land hasn’t been utilized by the city.
Another street, Cross Street, was once a short extension of South Street. It never, somehow, reached North Street. Cross Street now is a displaced street found on the base. Cross Street? Never heard of a local named Cross or Broadmore. Where do they get such names?
Many know where Martin Street is and many don’t. Once upon a time Martin Street wasn’t that dead end off North Street but was down off Roberts Street. That street is now called Ryan, but as Ryan continues and turns east towards Main, it loses its name. That little stretch is a lost child of the streets and is nameless, but once referred to as B & A Street. What happened?
Ever heard of  English, Shoby, Tracy, Ash, Ritchie Road, Diamond Lane (formerly State Street Place) and a few others which don’t come to mind right now? Well, these streets have been recently created and without fanfare. Many of you couldn’t find ‘em with a flashlight or sunlight, but they’re there.
But lately we’ve seen how sometimes a street name can just disappear. To wit, Lake Street was recently changed to Water Street. They tell me that the city fathers or maybe the local firefighters decided that Lake Street might be confused with Lake Road if a fire was called in. I reckon rightly so except the changes weren’t consistent with the idea to un-confuse. Lay witness to a newly created street named Park Place. Pretty name to be sure, but for years and years and years our town has had Park Street. Park Place, Park Street? Reckon the confusion continues despite honorable intentions.
By the way, I haven’t a clue who does the naming of streets. City Council, city manager, road commissioner? Seems that new streets could be named after those who contributed to the advancement of the town. I can think of a very large handful of names as I write.
And what about Summit Street and Highland Avenue? Well, those two streets haven’t been around since 1954. Summit Street was the south end (from State Street) of Barton Street. In 1954 the town changed Summit to Barton so that the whole street had the same name (dah). Likewise for Highland Avenue. Before 1954 Highland was the north end (from State Street) of Dudley. That, too, was changed to Dudley to give the entire street the same name. Reckon the postal department was relieved.
And Fish Street. Sam Fish was a farmer back years ago and owned large plots of potato land on the Houlton Road just the other side of the University. When, back in the 196’s, the city developed that tract of land now called University Street, the first name which came to their minds (who’s ‘they’ again?) was Fish Street and appropriately so because it once belonged to Sam Fish. Since, the name has been changed. Why do they have to change names?
Last, but not least, is Corey Street. But first let me give credit to the person who inspired me to write about those streets which have left us over the last 75 years or so. A patient named Joyce Plummer was sitting in my chair a few weeks ago and happened to mention that she had spent part of her life on Corey Street in Presque Isle. I said, smugly, that wasn’t possible because there had never been such a street named Corey in my town (sometimes I’m a know-it-all and often have to eat my words). That was a direct challenge – which I regretted later, (sort of). She politely told me I was mistaken. She was right and I was somewhat embarrassed. Corey Street was, in fact, down on Chapman right after the tracks on the right just below where the Milliken, Tomlinson Co. warehouse stood. Joyce told me that the street ended about where the front door to the new courthouse is now. There were several houses on the street. I did a little digging and discovered that at the turn of the century there was a person named Corey who operated a potato company. The office was across the street just up a bit from where Spike Beaulieu’s hardware store was for years. I checked a 1900 Presque Isle directory and found no such person named Corey listed. Corey remains a mystery. Perhaps he arrived in P.I. a few years later.
One more item: Carpenter and Charles streets. I believe one person lives on Carpenter Street. Doubtful but a handful of you readers knows where Carpenter Street is. And Charles – does anyone live on Charles?
Thanks for reading Forgotten Times. I always welcome responses to these articles, be they positive or negative. Write to this paper as a letter to the editor if you have anything to add. Stay tuned to this column for other local history items as inspiration dictates at irregular intervals.