The 100 Funniest, Weirdest, Most Curious Boston Street Names
At our request, Mayor Marty Walsh’s office provided us with a copy of Boston’s Streets, a 202-page list of every street, road, avenue, boulevard and footpath in Boston, commissioned by the City Council in 1996 and prepared by the Public Works Department. Meticulously compiled and comprehensive in scope, the book details each street’s ward, precinct, district, ZIP code, neighborhood, and cross-streets.
So naturally, we pored over the thing and found the funniest-sounding ones. Two immediate observations: whoever named Brighton’s streets had remarkable panache; and we seem to love naming streets after composers (Beethoven Street, Chopin Plaza, Haydn Street, Liszt Street, Mahler Road, Mozart Street).
We’ve excluded private ways from the list, so sadly, that leaves out Chickamunga Park in Roxbury, Thor Terrace in Brighton, Seafood Way in South Boston, and Head Place, Pie Alley, and Crab Alley in Boston proper.
Listed alphabetically below are the 100 streets whose toponymy tickled us so. Let us know in the comments below if we’ve missed your favorite.
A.
Annafran Street, Hyde Park
Antwerp Street, Brighton
Arbutus Street, Dorchester
Argyle Street, Dorchester
Ascot Street, Brighton
Atwill Road, West Roxbury
Au Bon Pain Way, South Boston
B.
Batterymarch Street, Boston
Beethoven Street, West Roxbury
Bird Street, Dorchester
Blagden Street, Boston
Bobolink Street, West Roxbury
Bonad Road, West Roxbury
C.
Caddy Road, Dorchester
Chappie Street, Chestnut Hill
Chickatawbut Street, Dorchester
Child Street, Hyde Park, West Roxbury
Chiswick Road, Brighton
Chittick Road, Hyde Park
Chopin Plaza, Roxbury
Clapp Street, Dorchester
Clipper Ship Lane, East Boston
Cricket Lane, West Roxbury
D.
Dalrymple Street, West Roxbury
Dingley Place, Boston
Donnybrook Road, Brighton
Druid Street, Dorchester
Dunboy Street, Brighton
Dunwell Street, West Roxbury
E.
Electric Avenue, Brighton
Elven Road, West Roxbury
Euclid Street, Dorchester
Eutaw Street, East Boston
F.
Favre Street, Dorchester
Flood Square, South Boston
Friend Street, Boston
Friendship Road, Hyde Park
Fruit Street, Boston
Furbush Road, West Roxbury
G.
Goethe Street, West Roxbury
Goff Street, Hyde Park
Goodenough Street, Brighton
H.
Hackensack Road, West Roxbury
Hagar Street, West Roxbury
Half Moon Street, Dorchester
Hamlet Street, Dorchester
Haydn Street, West Roxbury
Henchman Street, Boston
Huntoon Street, Dorchester
I-J-K.
Joy Street, Boston
Kosciuszko Circle, Dorchester
L.
Landseer Street, West Roxbury
Life Street, Brighton
Liszt Street, West Roxbury
Liverpool Street, East Boston
M.
Magazine Street, Roxbury
Mahler Road, West Roxbury
Marginal Road, Boston
Mascot Street, Dorchester
Mattakeeset Street, Hyde Park
Michaelangelo Street, Boston
Milk Street, Boston
Mishawum Street, Chestnut Hill
Moon Street, Boston
Mozart Street, Roxbury
Myopia Road, Hyde Park
N.
Narragansett Street, Dorchester
Neptune Circle, East Boston
Norway Street, Roxbury
O-P.
Opera Place, Roxbury
Organ Park Street, West Roxbury
Pilsudski Way, South Boston
R.
Ransom Road, Brighton
Raven Street, Dorchester
Reservation Road, Hyde Park
Rill Street, Dorchester
Roach Street, Dorchester
Rugby Road, Dorchester
Ruggles Street, Roxbury
S.
Sackville Street, Chestnut Hill
Solaris Road, Hyde Park
Spice Street, Chestnut Hill
Spofford Road, Brighton
Sunnyside Street, Hyde Park, Roxbury
Supple Road, Dorchester
Swallow Street, South Boston
Symphony Road, Roxbury
T.
Tennis Road, Dorchester
Tesla Street, Dorchester
Thoreau Path, Boston
Thwing Street, Roxbury
Tip Top Street, Brighton
Twombley Place, Roxbury
U-V.
Ukraine Way, West Roxbury
Unity Street, Boston
Viking Street, South Boston
W-X-Y-Z.
Wait Street, Roxbury
Wigglesworth Street, Roxbury
Woodstock Avenue, Brighton
Yuletide Road, Dorchester