Election Section

The just-published Quick Index to the Origin of Berkeley’s Names delivers on the promise of its title, offering in 28 pages a definitive account of the reasons behind the names of the city’s streets, creeks, walks, paths and parks. 

Created by the Berkeley Historical Society under the guiding hand of editor and fifth-generation city resident John Ginno Arnovici, the text offers concise one- to seven-line accounts of how some unfamiliar and very familiar names in the city came to be. 

Consider Telegraph Avenue. Originally named Telegraph Road for the wires stretched along its length from Oakland to Claremont Canyon, it became—successively—Choate and then Humboldt Avenue before reverting to an upgraded version of the original. 

The telegraph also figures in the name of Ellsworth Street, which was named for federal patent commissioner Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, who enticed Congress to come up with $36,000 for Samuel F.B. Morse’s first telegraph line. 

Many Berkeley names derive from early settlers, business folk, prominent figures in the history of UC Berkeley, and activists. 

Journalists left their brands on at least three streets. Early Oakland Tribune scribe Herman Whitaker lent his last name to the avenue, and each of former San Francisco Chronicle editor Scott Newhall’s names adorns one of the city’s paths. The last name of California’s most famous early newsman, Mark Twain, graced both an avenue and a path. Later, the walkway was renamed Anne Brower Path after the environmental activist. 

One avenue was named after a play—Posen Avenue—for the drama Sam’l of Posen.  

There are streets named after poets, playwrights, English cities, real estate developers, city officials and naturalists. 

There’s even a street—Prince—named for a horse that belonged to early Berkeley resident J.B. Woolsey. 

One name residents stopped seeing for political reasons is Axis Drive, renamed University Drive in World War II, when the U.S. was waging battle against the so-called Axis Powers of Germany, Japan, and Italy. 

As a nifty bonus to the Quick Index, there are photos of some of the early settler who gave their names to local landmarks, as well as a foldout panel of three maps which locate the city’s creeks, neighborhoods, and successive annexations. 

In short, it’s the perfect bathroom and nightstand book. 

Quick Index to the Origins of Berkeley’s Names is available for $10 from local bookstores and at the Berkeley Historical Society, Veteran’s Memorial Building, 1931 Center St., 94701, or by mail for $15 from B.H.S., P.O. Box 1190, Berkeley 94701.