Mr. Sun,
Is it true that the streets named for cities near the Stratosphere reflect the
Major League Baseball standings of the teams in those cities at the time?
Local lore says thatÕs why Las Vegas has those short avenues named for New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Boston, Baltimore, Cleveland and Cincinnati.
The source for that explanation is early Las Vegas newspaper editor A.E. Cahlen, who noted in a column that the areaÕs developer had told him he used the baseball standings to name the streets in the mid-1930s. (Mark Hall-Patton, administrator of the Clark County Museum, cites CahlenÕs account in his new book on valley street names, ÒAsphalt Memories.Ó)
But there are a few reasons why CahlenÕs account canÕt be entirely true.
Baltimore didnÕt have a major-league team during that decade. The big-league Baltimore OriolesÕ first season was in 1953.
Also the citiesÕ teams werenÕt all in the same league. The Cincinnati Reds are in the National League, and the Cleveland Indians are in the American. (Boston, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and St. Louis had teams in both leagues at the time.)
Questions for Mr. Sun can be sent to
page8@lasvegassun.com.
Copyright 2009 Las Vegas Sun
