where do i find history of road names?

Answer 1

Place names and road names tend to be an accretion of various impulses through time. Taken together, they tell the social and political history of a place. At every point in time, someone somewhere will say the latest naming fad jars with the custom of a place. Sometimes, these detractors will be proven right, and when the fashion passes, the place names linger to cause either embarrassment to those who know their silly origins, or mystery to those who don't. But at other times, the custom of a place evolves, and the names that at first seemed completely out of character become part of us.

Each naming fashion is a marker of its time. Each is like a sediment of history laid onto our ground.

Answer 2

This question is far too ridiculously vague for anyone to give a sensible answer. How about a few more details?

Your question is in "genealogy". Is that even the right category?

I can only assume that maybe you have found an address for an ancestor of yours in the census, and surprise surprise, it doesn't appear on any modern maps of the area and you would perhaps like to know where it is in relation to a modern map, what it might have changed to and when it was demolished or whatever? Am I even close to the reasoning behind your question?

If I am, then I would suggest contacting the library closest to the area in question and get them to wheel out an old copy of a map of the place in question (they should have stuff going back to the mid 1800s at least) and then compare the streets and roads that have survived the years with a modern-day map.

For large cities like London especially, road names came and went with alarming ease. I think there are even one or two web sites with details on the old Victorian streets of London and where they were/are, but as you question is so vague with no extra details, no-one here can even be sure they are on the right track and telling you what you want to hear.

I despair sometimes with some of these questions. I really do.

Answer 3

Road names of which place? USA, Europe, Australia, Asia or a particular state, county, city or town?

Anyway below are a few links that might be helpful.

Answer 4

Public Library and a local history group.
The latter is particularly useful as it is often haunt of people who have lived in a particular area for some time and, like you, are interested.

Answer 5

Depends where you live - in Aberdeen we have a book called walkin the mat - which explains all the street names.

But there are always good local history books at your public library, start there

Answer 6

Search in the archaeological department's archives. Alternatively, I suggest that you do a research of the street names and publish a thesis.

Answer 7

you can probably find it online, I just bought some really old maps that are interesting because there are no motorways, they were 50p each and falling apart but interesting non the less. makes me sound so sad oh well

Answer 8

try the link theres plenty on the net

Answer 9

Try road names.com.

Answer 10

Go to the library they have everything.