Why Is the Street Name That Gets Stamped on a New Curb Not Actually the Name of That Street?

For example, at the corner of North Dekum Street and Fenwick Avenue, the concrete says “Harris St.” What gives?

I've noticed when new curbs get poured, sometimes the street name that gets stamped on the curb isn't actually the name of that street. For example, at the corner of North Dekum Street and Fenwick Avenue, the concrete says "Harris St." What gives? —Doug N.

Before I answer this question, I have a bone to pick with the media establishment.

You folks at home may not realize it, but soft-news features like Dr. Know can be big business (just ask the guys who make Jumble®).

Yet in seven years, I have not once been contacted—let alone picked up for syndication—by Parade magazine, AM Northwest, or even FOODday. I don't get it.

Dr. Know is light, inconsequential and contains no actual reporting—everything modern news outlets are looking for. It's basically the print version of ratings juggernaut Live! With Regis and Kelly. (If, you know, Regis and Kelly were locked in a bloody bar fight over the last bag of heroin.)

So, can any of you tell me what's keeping me from going mainstream? Because I'm stumped. Is it recipes? Do I need more recipes?

Sorry, Doug; the street names. You'll be happy to learn it's not a case of work crews being bizarrely passive-aggressive—those "wrong" street names are an homage to history.

We covered the "Great Renaming" in a previous Dr. Know column ("The Mystery of the Stained-Glass Numbers," wweek.com, Nov. 4, 2015). Basically, when Portland annexed the previously independent towns of East Portland and Albina, many street names had to be changed to avoid redundancies and other confusion, and new street signs were erected.

Concrete curbs, however, continued to bear the old street names. These misnamed curbs became such a beloved conversation starter that the city decided to re-create the old names when new curbs replaced the old ones.

With their nod to old-timey ways, the misnamed curbs are the handlebar mustache of civic gestures—what could be more Portland? Join us in 2017 for the next great retro craze: typhus!

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