Street names
156 street names, across 12 platted places, read off the sheets this section already carries. The two county atlases draw the towns lot by lot, and the Library of Congress Sanborn fire insurance sheets letter the streets of six of them between 1883 and 1922.
No source in this archive says why any street here carries the name it does. What the sheets show is where a name is written and what stands beside it, and that is what this page records. Where a plat letters a man's name on the ground next to a street of the same name, the entry says so and stops there.
The names were read off the sheets rather than off an index, because a town plat has none. A name is entered only where it is set in block capitals and reads without doubt at the size this site serves. Several names are on these sheets and are not below, because they could not be read cleanly. An absent name here means it was not read, never that it is not there.
The fourteen of 1836
LaGrange was platted on 18 June 1836, and the 1882 county history is the only source in the archive that enumerates a town's streets as a list:
the names of the streets being Mountain, High, Detroit, Poplar, Walnut, Sycamore and Canal, running north and south; Lake, Steuben, Factory, Michigan, Spring, Lafayette and Wayne, running east and west
- Mountainnorth to south
- Highnorth to south
- Detroitnorth to south
- Poplarnorth to south
- Walnutnorth to south
- Sycamorenorth to south
- Canalnorth to south
- Lakeeast to west
- Steubeneast to west
- Factoryeast to west
- Michiganeast to west
- Springeast to west
- Lafayetteeast to west
- Wayneeast to west
None of the four men who platted the town is on that list. That is the subject of Fourteen streets and not one of their own, which argues from the enumeration above and says plainly that it is an enumeration rather than a statement of naming.
LaGrange
Platted 18 June 1836. Battey lists the fourteen original street names in full, running north and south and then east and west, which is the only enumeration of streets any of the four volumes gives.
- Mountainone of the fourteen
- Highone of the fourteen
- Detroitone of the fourteenDetroit became the principal business street, and still retains that prestige.
- Poplarone of the fourteen
- Walnutone of the fourteen
- Sycamoreone of the fourteen
- Canalone of the fourteen
- Lakeone of the fourteen
- Steubenone of the fourteen
- Factoryone of the fourteen
- Michiganone of the fourteen
- Springone of the fourteen
- Lafayetteone of the fourteen
- Wayneone of the fourteen
- Cherry
- Maple
- Ruick Ave.The plat letters Samuel K. Ruick on the ground beside it. No source says the street was named for him.
- Central Ave.The plat is printed in two halves, north of Central Avenue and south of it, so this street is the line the atlas itself divides the town on.
- Grant
- Sherman
- Hendricks
- Mason
- Seymour
- RyasonThe plat letters S. Ryason and Jas. Ryason on ground nearby. No source says the street was named for either.
- Clay
- Fenn
- Dale
- Union
- Mott
- South
- Wood
- Hawpatch RoadA road named for where it goes, running south east out of the town toward the Haw Patch.
Read on LaGrange town north of Central Avenue in 1893, with the court house and jail, LaGrange town south of Central Avenue in 1893, Sanborn LaGrange 1887.
Lima, later Howe
The same place under two names. The 1874 and 1893 atlases letter it Lima, the 1909 Sanborn edition letters it Lima, and the 1917 edition letters it Howe, formerly Lima, on its own title block. The street names do not change with the name of the town.
- North
- Franklin
- Market
- Union
- Williams
- South
- Defiance
- Wayne
- Washington
- Greene
- Broad
- Main
- Park
- First
- Second
- Fifth
- Steuben County RoadLettered along the north edge of the 1874 plat, named for the county it runs to.
Read on Van Buren Township in 1874, the east half, with the Lima town plat, The town of Lima and Howe in 1893, lot by lot, Sanborn Howe 1917, Sanborn Lima 1909.
Wolcottville
The 1893 plat draws the county line straight through the town and letters Noble Co. on the far side of it, which is why the Sanborn editions are titled Wolcottville, Noble and LaGrange Counties.
- Main
- Water
- RaceThe millrace it is named for is drawn on the same sheet.
- Mill
- Canal
- Oak
- Vine
- State
- First
- Second
- Third
- Fourth
- Grove
- Orange
- Albany
- Chicago
- WabashThe Wabash Railroad is drawn across the same sheet.
- TaylorThe plat letters Henry L. Taylor and V. R. Taylor on ground nearby. No source says the street was named for either.
- County Line RoadNamed for the line it runs on. The 1893 plat letters Noble Co. on the far side of it.
- Woodruff Road
- Cemetery Hill Road
- Ruth
Read on Wolcottville in 1893, lot by lot, Sanborn Wolcottville 1895, Sanborn Wolcottville 1922.
Shipshewana
- North
- Main
- Park
- Depot
- Walnut
- Maple
- MiddleburyNamed for the road out, toward Middlebury in Elkhart County.
- State
- Mill
- High
- Union
- Harrison
- Morton
- Talmage
- Van Buren
Topeka
The 1916 Sanborn sheet splits four of its streets by compass, north and south Main and north and south Harrison, and east and west Lake and Mill. They are entered here as the sheet letters them.
- North
- N. Main
- S. Main
- N. Harrison
- S. Harrison
- W. Lake
- E. Lake
- W. Mill
- E. Mill
- Babcock Ave.
Read on Sanborn Topeka 1916.
Ontario
- Front
- Canal
- Defiance
- Main
- Court
- College
- West
- Oak
- Mill
- First
- Second
- Third
- Fourth
- Fifth
Read on Ontario in 1893, the race and the mills still drawn.
Mongo
- North
- Front
- Second
- Third
- Fourth
- South
- West
- East
- Ohio
- Indiana
- Michigan
- Illinois
Read on Ontario in 1893, the race and the mills still drawn.
Lexington
Lettered Lexington on the plat and Brighton P.O. beneath it. It has a street named Lagrange and another named Steuben, which is a village naming its streets for the places the roads out of it lead to.
- North
- Westley
- Main
- Easterly
- South
- Allen
- NobleNamed for the county east of here, in a row with Lagrange, Steuben and DeKalb.
- Lagrange
- Steuben
- DeKalb
Read on Lima Township in 1874, with the Lexington and Van Buren town plats, The town of Lima and Howe in 1893, lot by lot.
Van Buren
Lettered Van Buren on the plat and Scott P.O. beneath it, on both the 1874 and the 1893 sheets.
- Burr Oak
- Cranberry
- Defiance
- Mill
- Race
- West
- Fawn RiverNamed for the river, which is drawn on the same sheet.
- First
- Second
- Third
- Fifth
Read on Lima Township in 1874, with the Lexington and Van Buren town plats, The town of Lima and Howe in 1893, lot by lot.
South Milford
- Mill
- Center
- Wood
- High
- Union
- South
Springfield
- North
- Main
- South
- Lagrange
Read on Ontario in 1893, the race and the mills still drawn.
Valentine
- Market
- Main
- South
Read on Ontario in 1893, the race and the mills still drawn.
What the books say
Almost nothing, and the count is worth stating because it is why this page is built on maps. Searched inside the LaGrange half of each volume rather than across the whole book, since both county histories cover more than one county and a street in the Noble half is not evidence about this one: the 1882 history names Detroit three times, Michigan four, Spring twice, and quotes a Jordan street once, against twenty three uses of the bare word street. The 1920 history's LaGrange volume adds Mountain, High and Main. The 1850 constitutional convention names none.
So the whole written record of this county yields about seven street names in passing, and every enumeration above comes off a sheet somebody drew.
A town under three names
Lima and Howe are one place. The atlases letter it Lima in 1874 and 1893, the 1909 fire insurance sheet letters it Lima, and the 1917 sheet letters it Howe, formerly Lima, on its own title block. The streets do not change with the name of the town. The town's names are the subject of The town that has had three names.
The Sanborn sheets are held by the Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection, and are in the public domain. The atlas plats are published sheet by sheet in this section, each with its own credit and rights.