Monday, January 23, 2012

Fact check

A couple of weeks ago I took issue with the Hometown Quiz printed in our local newspaper concerning Lincoln's first roundabout. More recently, one of the questions was to identify the streets in Lincoln that are named after Presidents. The answer published Saturday was five: Adams, Cleveland, Garfield, Madison, and Washington.

Hmmm. I wonder what Abraham Lincoln (Mall), Andrew Jackson (Drive), Benjamin Harrison (Street), and Franklin Pierce (Drive) would think about that answer. If you look really close, you might even find that James Monroe (Avenue) could make a case. It would take a little research to determine whether the last few yards west of 21st Street were actually ever vacated by ordinance. I wouldn't rely on Google Maps as the deciding factor, if I were President Monroe, but if you searched for "2050 Monroe Ave. Lincoln, NE" you'd see his point.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

Makes you wonder about the accuracy of their reporting when they miss so much info on these two stories that you mention.

Steve said...

I came up with 17, or 18 if you want to count Fords (instead of Ford). I don't know that they were all actually named for the presidents, but they have the same name. I'll list them later if necessary.

Anonymous said...

There's also a Jefferson Avenue. And a Clinton Street, but I know that one wasn't named after a President. And nearly every street in town has a few Bushes.

Anonymous said...

I think we have become so addicted to Google and Wikipedia that we take them as Gospel and they don't always get it right.

I go to the source for information about the Constitution and the Founding Fathers, the Library of Congress. Their online archives are fantastic. You can see a picture of the actual documents. I understand that they are going to have an archive of EVERY newspaper printed in the United States going way back to the early 1700's in a few more years. I used to visit the local Nebraska Historical Society microfiche collection of archived newspapers. For any of you that are into Nebraska History you can spend thousands of hours browsing their newspaper collection.

Gun Nut

Tom Casady said...

9;53,

Quite true. Nice catch!

Steve said...

OK, here is my list:

Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Harrison, Taylor, Pierce, Hayes, Garfield, Cleveland, Harding, Kennedy, Ford(s), and Clinton. My count was off earlier (counted a couple twice that were repeats).

Tom Casady said...

Steve,

You rock! I had never even heard of Kennedy Dr. and Harding Ct. before--those are very new.

Steve said...

I wouldn't have known of all those streets from personal experience or memory, but it wasn't hard to find them from the street guide in the phone book. You'd think a reporter would have been able to accomplish that, wouldn't you? :)

ARRRRG!!!! said...

Don't forget Argyll Place.

Anonymous said...

I just have to chime in today. In the cold my bus Marquee sticks on some very odd messages. The most recent being " CAN ST " No riders were fooled by the message. Some of the others I will leave off.

Anonymous said...

To the Lincoln Police Department;

I am so sorry. My prayers are with you all.

Anonymous said...

I was saddened to read about the death of Ofc Howe in a traffic accident this morning. My prayers for all of his family, friends and co-workers.
Gun Nut