Nov. 8 — Turning the corner on street names

Rediscovering the roads of East Pierce County

Chris Albert, Roxanne Cooke and Susan Schell / of the Herald

Many of the streets across Puyallup, Sumner and South Hill are numbered. They have transformed from trails, then dirt roads and finally the paved streets they are today.

Some roads like Fruitland and Woodland Avenues have stood the test of time, but the original names of others have only recently been rediscovered.

There is no great mystery surrounding the naming of streets in the Puyallup valley. Most of the streets are numbered, named for their geographic location, or named after the city’s original founders.

“They were all named after people, trees or fruit,” said longtime Puyallup resident Hazel Hood.

Main Street and Pioneer were among the original roads in downtown Puyallup and new streets were laid out as the town was platted.

Two of the main streets in Puyallup owe their names to the city’s founder, Ezra Meeker, who held the distinction of being the town’s first mayor.

James Porter Stewart was one of the original settlers of the valley and the first white man to return to the area after the Indian war. Stewart Avenue is named after him.

Like Puyallup, roads in Sumner and South Hill were named after people, fruits and trees.

In Sumner, Prune Street, Pear Street, Plum Street and Apple Street are now 16th Street, Bonney Avenue, Wright Avenue and McMillan Avenue, respectively.

All of the fruit streets were part of the Fred S. Williams Acre development, said Ryan House Museum Curator Vicki Connor.

In 1911, home delivery of the mail started and most street names were changed to numbers in Puyallup and numerical changes soon followed in Sumner and South Hill. Changing to numbers also helped assist fire services.

A few interesting names that changed in Puyallup were Elf Street, which became 8th Street Southwest, Nix Road became 20th Street Southeast and Spinning Street became 10th Street Southeast. There was even a Puyallup Avenue, which was changed to 9th Avenue Southwest and Southeast.

In 2001, the efforts of the South Hill Historical Society helped to regain some street heritage. That year, the Pierce County Council added historic names to many of the streets that are used by thousands of drivers everyday.

Many of the original roads on South Hill were named after early settlers in the area. They often were the ones who also surveyed and petitioned for the road to be built. Names would sometimes change depending on who drew the most current map.

But most were still connected to land owners.

Roads were built for two main reasons, said Paul Hackett, public relations chairperson for the South Hill Historical Society.

“The county used to build because it gave people jobs,” he said. “(And) they had to build roads in order to have farms and have their produce moved.”

Remembering the historic names is only part of history, Hackett said. It begins the process of learning the stories behind the people who built them.

“The whole thing takes on personality,” he said.

The following is a listing of those rediscovered names and the names of streets now, as well as some history behind them provided by the South Hill Historical Society, the Ryan House Museum and local residents. The roads listed have been renamed, but also have signs that commemorate the original names. The streets are located in Sumner and South Hill.

Recognizing origins

Old name: Ball-Wood Road

New name: Meridian Avenue East

Location: South Hill

Ball-Wood Road was planned in 1888 and is noted as the oldest planned road on South Hill. Today, it is the busy main road known as Meridian Avenue East or Highway 161. Where its name originates is not clear. It is possible the road is partially named after Pierce County Commissioner Henry Ball.

Old name: Collins Road

New name: 128th Street East

Location: South Hill

The road was established as a country road in 1893 in South Hill. It runs from Meridian Street East (Ball-Wood Road) to Waller Road. It was noted for crossing Military Road from Steilacoom to Puyallup. The road is named after James B. Collins.

Old name: College Street

New name: Park Street

Location: Sumner

The street’s name was changed after Whitworth College, then Sumner Academy, was moved out of town. College Street formed the southern boundary of the school, which had its roots in Sumner.

Old name: Deming Road

New name: 29th Street East

Location: Sumner

The road was named after the family that lived at the end of the road at the time in Sumner. The road was really just a very long driveway for the family’s house.

Old name: Glaser Road

New name: 122nd Avenue East

Location: South Hill

The road opened as a county road between 1926 and 1936 in South Hill. It spans from 136th Street East (Reservoir Road) to the 14400 block. The road was named after a property owners Nicholas and Barbara Glaser.

Old name: Hemlock Road

New name: 144th Street East

Location: South Hill

It was opened as a county road in 1936 in South Hill. The road covers 94th Avenue East (Odens Road) to 122nd Avenue East (Glaser Road). It is named after the tree.

Old name: Lundbald Road

New name: 86th Avenue East

Location: South Hill

The road was originally built in 1928 in South Hill and runs from 112th Street East to 152nd Street East. The road was named after property owner Christ Lundbald.

Old name: Main Street

New name: 122nd Street East

Location: South Hill

Portions of the road existed in 1936 in South Hill, but the first county improvements didn’t take place until 1949. It extends from 111 Avenue East (Fir Street) to Military Road East (Old Military Road). This street was part of several roads created in the un-recorded Rabbit Farm plat.

Old name: Mitchell-Gould Road

New name: 152nd Street East

Locations: South Hill

It was established as a county road in 1925 in South Hill and goes from Meridian Avenue East (Ball-Wood Road) to 86th Avenue East. In 1931, an extension of the road was put in from 86th Avenue East to Canyon Road East (Malcolm-McLarty Road). It presumed that the road was named after Marg S. Gould and W.F. Gould who owned land on the road. Mitchell may be the name of another property owner, but a full name has not been found.

Old name: Muelher-Berger Road

New name: 10th Street East

Locations: South Hill

It was established as a county road in 1889 in South Hill. The road was named after property owners C.F. Mühler and Charles Berger.

Old name: Odens Road

New name: 94th Avenue East

Locations: South Hill

The road was established as a county road in 1926 from 112th Street East (Oversat Road) to the 14400 block in South Hill. In 1927, it was extended from the block to 152nd Street East (Mitchell-Gould Road). It is believed that the road was named after a property owner in the area, but a full name has not been found.

Old name: Old Military Road

New name: Military Road East

Location: South Hill

It was opened as a military road in 1853 in South Hill. It was declared a territorial road in 1858 in attempt to solve maintenance problems. County records of all military roads were destroyed in a fire in 1859 at Fort Steilacoom. That same year, to ensure the public’s right to free passage on the road the county commissioners ordered that roads be at least 30 feet wide. The road is the oldest known road across South Hill.

Old name: Orton Road East

New name: 158th Avenue East

Location: Sumner

It was named for the Orton family in Sumner, whose farm was the location of the Daffodil Tea, the predecessor to the Daffodil Festival.

Old name: Patzner Road

New name: 136th Street East

Location: South Hill

The road was opened as a county road in 1914 in South Hill under the name Reservoir Road. It spans from Meridian Avenue East to the city of Tacoma Reservoir. In 1950, a county resolution renamed the road as Patzner because it was known by that name locally and the county had put signs on it using that name. The road was named after property owners John Joseph and Florence Patnzer.

Old name: Poole Road

New name: 162nd Avenue East

Location: Sumner

It was named for the Poole family who lived on the end of the road in Sumner.

Old name: Van Tassel Road

New name: 160th Avenue East

Location: Sumner

The road was named after the Van Tassel family and was developed by a member of the family before he moved away from Sumner.

Old name: Wahl Road

New name: 166th Avenue East

Location: Sumner

The road was meant to be named Knoblauch Road in honor of a farming family in Sumner, said longtime Sumner resident Hazel Freehe. However, M. Wahl threw a wrench in that plan. Freehe’s father-in-law, Henry Knoblauch, purchased 80 acres of land along the road and sold 40 of those acres to his sister and her husband, M. Wahl, for the same price the 80 had been purchased for. When Wahl found out, it made him angry, Freehe said. So he took the petition that had been signed by residents who wanted the road named Knoblauch and he replaced that name with his own, then returned it to Pierce County in 1888. “My husband always thought it was great because Knoblauch would have been an awful name for a road, and Wahl was better,” Freehe said.