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February 20, 2004
Street names showcase Pahrump's funny bone
It got me wondering what rhyme or reason was used in the past to name the now hundreds of streets in the valley, from Aardvark Road to Zurich Street. I know Basin Avenue and Blagg Road is the center point for the addressing system. Many of the thoroughfares from east to west are avenues; those from north to south are streets. Most of the time. I often turn to the big street map on the wall this time of year when I have to detail all the streets on the road paving or chip-sealing list for the annual program, which is usually the biggest political debate of the year. When it was warm enough to start up the road-paving machine last summer, I noticed a street sign with a glaring error: Chaparrel Avenue. Everyone knows it should be Chaparral, Webster defines it as "a dense, impenetrable, thicket of shrubs or dwarf trees." Nye County Road Foreman Dave Fanning said they merely spell the street signs the way the streets are named on the subdivision map. Likewise, someone should've told the developers that it is Malibu, as in Malibu, Calif., not Malibou Avenue. Another street is spelled Rockafeller, instead of Rockefeller. River Plate Drive should be River Platte, like the big river going through Nebraska, not a dinner plate. The street sign says Ogallah, but the Indian chiefs correct name is Ogallala, a city in western Nebraska. Also, Tahachapi, should be Tehachapi, like the city in California, unless the Californians misspelled it. The Indian tribes are well represented in Pahrump though, with Yavapai, Hualapai, Comanche, Apache, Paiute, Arapahoe and Navajo, as well as famous Indians like Tecumseh and Crazy Horse. Some of those streets are near Homestead Road, south of Gamebird Road, (not to be confused with Jaybird). A developer farther west had fun naming streets in one subdivision Cash, Money, Bank and Dollar. Bell Vista sounds pretty enough, but sometimes its spelled Belle Vista on some signs. It's actually a corruption of two languages, Belle, the French feminine word for beautiful, and Vista, the Spanish word for view, "beautiful view." To be consistent it should be all French, Bellevue, or all Spanish, Vista Hermosa. Longtime Pahrump Valley resident and developer Tim Hafen said at one time developer Abe Fox convened a meeting where the few local residents here at the time could help name streets. That would explain Fox Avenue, in his Green Saddle Ranch subdivision. Of course Hafen named Hafen Ranch Road, Vicki Ann Road after his daughter, and others. C.A.A.S. Road was named after Christiansen Aerial Application Service, probably the only road named after a crop-dusting outfit. Carrick "Bat" Masterson, a former salesman for Preferred Equities Corporation, said the scuttlebutt among PEC employees in the 1970s was that some company salesmen concocted names for streets while drinking cocktails at a bar once located at the Calvada duck pond. Streets can give off a certain image about the community. A number of horse names seem appropriate for Pahrump's current semi-rural nature, like Appaloosa, Arabian, Quarter Horse and Saddleback Lane. Then there's Clip Clop Avenue. The flowered streets almost make me smell a pleasant aroma, like Jasmine, Jacaranda, Oleander, and Manzanita, but I don't know if I've ever heard of an Elderberry or Newberry before. I've heard the early residents named a lot of streets after wives, daughters and girlfriends. That would explain all the female names, like Linda, Leslie, Irene, Lola and Betty. I thought they were women who used to work at the Chicken Ranch. Some names could only come from Pahrump. I don't know if I'd want to list my address on my letters to the relatives as Tough Boy or Tough Girl Street. Of course I could live on Lil' Bit Way, Kick Street, Kid Avenue, Bevs Way, Retread Road or Grubstake Lane. Is Big Five Road named after the mythical big five developers in the good old boy conspiracies? Was Thousandaire named after a millionaire who lost money gambling on the Strip or another indication of the lower income levels in Pahrump? People may choose to live on a street name that fits their personality. The space cadet could move to Cosmic Place, then there's Galaxy Street or Milky Way. A Frank Sinatra fan could live on My Way. A homosexual could locate on Gay Street. A motorcycle enthusiast may want to live on Easy Rider Street. Maybe a bar owner could build his business on Bourbon Street or Tequila Way. You could live on Happy Lane or have a tougher life on Hardscrabble Street. There's Desert Hills, Desert Rose, Desert Trails and Desert View. I sometimes get confused between Charleston Park and Charleston View. Then there's Red Butte, Red Dog, Red Hawk, Red Horse, Red Planet and Red Rock. I'm amused to hear people try to pronounce Wahkiakum and Humahuaca, two streets with an increasing number of businesses. I guess there's a bit of semantics involved in street names. At least we don't have boring addresses like 3629 North 55th Street. But misspelled street names can make Pahrump residents look less educated. Some communities have fancy names like Avenida Rancho Cielo that give off an impression they're more upscale areas. But then what local redneck could pronounce that? (Write to Mark Waite at mwaite@pvtimes.com.) |
