Street Names

City of Alcoa street names originate from many different sources - trees, inventors, presidents and local figures of historical importance. Credited with the naming of the original City of Alcoa streets are Alcoa’s first city manager, V.J. Hultquist, who was also Alcoa Inc.’s chief engineer in charge of the Alcoa plant construction and Edwin S Fickes, vice president of Alcoa Inc. at the time. Below is a listing of streets and the origin of their names:

  • Bell Street - Alexander Graham Bell (1847-1922), inventor or the telephone.
  • Bessemer Street - Sir Henry Bessemer (1813-1898), an English engineer who developed the Bessemer process for manufacture of steel by decarbonization of molten cast iron.
  • Boyle Street - Robert Boyle (1627-1691), an English natural philosopher known for his discovery that the volume of gas varies inversely as the pressure varies.
  • Brewster Street - William Brewster (1566-1643), an American born in England that led the pilgrims settling in Massachusetts after the Mayflower voyage.
  • Burns Street - Robert Burns (1759-1796), a national poet of Scotland.
  • Burroughs Road - John Burroughs (1837-1921), an American poet and writer of natural history; a teacher, farmer and journalist
  • Dalton Street - John Dalton (1766-1844), the developer of the atomic theory.
  • Darwin Street - Charles R. Darwin (1809-1882), an English naturalist and author of the "Origin of the Species" on the theory of evolution.
  • DeForest Street - Lee DeForest (1873-1961), the inventor of the audion, the elementary form of the modern radio tube.
  • Edison Street - Thomas A. Edison, (1847-1931), the inventor or the electric light bulb.
  • Faraday Street - Michael Faraday (1791-1767), an English chemist and physicist who is considered to be the father of the age of electricity.
  • Franklin Street - Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), an American statesman, philosopher, scientist and writer.
  • Fulton Street - Robert Fulton (1765-1815), a Pennsylvania inventor and engineer best known for the steamboat Clermont and the first submarine, the Nautilus.
  • Gilbert Street - William Gilbert (1544-1603), an English scientist who first likened the Earth to a huge magnet.
  • Henry Street - Joseph Henry (1797-1878), an American physicist and scientific administrator who invented spool of winding of magnets and fog signals.
  • Howe Street - Elias Howe (1819-1867), the American inventor of the sewing machine.
  • Huxley Street - Thomas H. Huxley (1825-1895), an English philosopher, theologian, and biologist upon whose work much of modern day biology is based. Huxley was also known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his strong support of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.
  • Joule Street - James Prescott Joule (1818-1889), an English physicist who discovered the first law of thermodynamic and developed a heat measurement system by mechanical equivalent of heat.
  • Kelvin Road - William Thomas (1724-1907), an Irish-born inventor of many telegraphic and scientific instruments. He stated the second law of thermodynamics on the dissipation of energy.
  • Kettering Road - Charles F. (1876-1958), an American inventor and revolutionary figure in the automotive industry - in particular Delco and General Electric companies. Kettering invented the first practical electric engine starter, diesel engines, and electrical refrigeration. He also introduced ethyl gasoline to decrease engine knocking and pioneered the use of lacquer finish paints for cars.
  • Lake Street - Simon (1866-1945), a noted Naval architect from Connecticut who invented the even-keel type submarine in 1894. Lake also invented an apparatus for locating and raising sunken vessels.
  • Lodge Street - Sir Oliver Joseph (1851-1940), an English physicist whose work dealt with investigating lightning and electricity.
  • Long Road - Crawford W (1815-1878), was born in Danielsville, Georgia and was the first to use ether for the first recorded use of an anesthetic during surgery.
  • Maury Street - Matthew Fontaine (1806-1873), a U.S. Naval officer. His hydrographic and oceanographic research helped him invent the electrical torpedo. He served with the Confederacy during the U.S. Civil War.
  • McMillan Street - Donald B, led expeditions over a 200-mile area of ice in 1913 to 1917 in search of a non-existent island in the arctic.
  • Morse Street - Samuel D. (1791-1872) American artist and inventor. Founder and first president of the National Academy of Design. Invented the most widely used telegraph in 1936 and also patented a machine for cutting marble.
  • Murdock Street - William (1754-1839) Born in Scotland, invented steam and gas lighting, as well as an oscillating engine.
  • Newcomen Street - Thomas (1663-1729) English engineer who devised a steam engine to pump water from mines.
  • Newton Street - Sir Isaac (1642-1727) English physical scientist and mathematician, who devised telescope optics, using prisms. Made known to the world the laws of gravity.
  • Nobel Street - Alfred Bernhard (1833-1896) Swedish chemist and engineer. Invented dynamite, blasting gelatin. He established the Nobel Prizes in fields of peace, physics, chemistry, medicine and literature, with prizes provided from fortune he amassed from inventions and the Baku oil fields.
  • Oersted Road - Hans Christian (1777-1851) Danish physicist and chemist whose most important contribution to chemistry was the reduction of metallic aluminum in 1925. He also discovered electromagnetism and peperdine.
  • Perkins Street - Sir William Henry (1838-1907) English chemist who worked with dyes and discovered aniline dyes (synthetics prepared from coal tar). He first made the purplish color known as mauve and was knighted on the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the color.
  • Ramsay Street - Sir William (1852-1916) Scottish born chemist who first produced helium gas. He discovered the rare gaseous elements of air and also did research in the field of radio activity.
  • Stephenson Street - George (1781-1848) One of three English brothers active in inventing. He was founder and inventor of railways. Designed a miner’s safety lamp.
  • Telford Street - Thomas (1757-1934) Scottish architect and civil engineer renowned for building bridges, aqueducts and canals.
  • Volta Street - Alessandro Guiseppe Antonia Anastosia (1745-1827) Itialian physicist, celebrated as a pioneer in electrical science. "Volt" and "Voltmeter" are named for him.
  • Watt Street - James (1736-1819) Scottish engineer credited with inventing the modern steam engine, also the term "horsepower".
  • Young - Thomas (1773-1829) English physicist and physician is best known for his work with optics. Identified with the eye defect of astigmatism in 1801. Deciphered Egyptian hieroglyphics successfully. Gave the word "energy" its present scientific significance and his name to Young’s Modulus.
  • Another group of streets obtained their names from presidents of the United States. Included are Cleveland, Garfield, Grant, Harding, Harrison, Hayes, Lincoln, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft. General Douglas MacArthur is honored in the named of MacArthur Road.
  • Alcoa Road and Aluminum Avenue require no explanation about the source of their names. Park Road gets its name from its extension through the city park. Springbrook Road is named after the tiny creek or branch by the same name which empties into Pistol Creek. People identified with early days of the aluminum company or aluminum manufacturing are honored also.
  • Calderwood Street - I.G., the engineer in charge of construction of Calderwood Dam.
  • Frary Street - Francis G., director of the Aluminum Research Laboratories and contributor of many scientific refinements in the production of aluminum alloys.
  • Glascock Street - B.L., a former works manager of the reduction plant.
  • Hall Road - Charles Martin (1862-1914), the inventor of producing aluminum as is now used at the South (Smelting) Plant and also former vice president of the Aluminum Company of America.
  • Hoopes Street - William, a hydraulic engineer who developed process of production of 99.99% pure aluminum. Also developed aluminum-steel reinforced transmission lines.
  • Hunt Road - Captain Alfred E., first president of the Aluminum Company of America and father of the subsequent president, Roy A. Hunt.
  • Lindsay Street, Judge Hugh B., of Knoxville, the first Aluminum Company lawyer at Alcoa.
  • Sanderson Street - A.D., first construction engineer on the job at Alcoa.
  • Streets near Veach-May-Wilson Lumber Co. (today, in 1994, The Burruss Corp.) are approximately named for trees. These include Ash, Beech, Birch, Chestnut, Cedar, Cherry, Hemlock, Hickory, Locust, Maple, Oak, Poplar, and Walnut.
  • Vose Road is named in honor of the family name of the mother of Alcoa’s first mayor, C.L. Babcock, one of the founders of Babcock Lumber Co., the forerunner on (in 1969) present Veach-May-Wilson.
  • Other Alcoa streets bear the names of locally important persons and families. Hannum is for Captain WY.C. Hannum, who served in the Confederate Army, lived at Cedar Circle, which is now the site of New Midland Shopping Plaza. Rankin was originally Rankin Ferry Road as was Wright for Wright Ferry Road, with both roads leading to ferries across the Tennessee River.
  • Other family names used in street names include Badgett, Cochran, Ford, Gill, Goddard, Hood, McGinley, Rule and Steele.
  • Recent subdivisions in the city have utilized family names also, with some such as Green Meadow addition using given names of feminine members of one family.