Boyds Untethered #51

When the Galveston City Company laid out the city in 1838, it was done in a grid-like fashion, where all of the streets that ran north to south were assigned a number with 21st street being labeled as the "center" of the city and thus, it was also called Centre Street. North to south streets east of 21st decreased in their numbered assignment as one traveled east and increased in their numbered assignment as one traveled west. 

When the Sandusky map of Galveston was drawn in 1845, the city stopped at 7th Street to the east and 57th Street to the west. Some of these names evolved, too, as 21st/ Centre street did, most notable 25th Street, also known as Bath Avenue (because it led to the bathhouses along the beach, and today it's Rosenberg, in honor of Henry Rosenberg) and 23rd Street, known as Tremont because of the original and second incarnation of the Tremont Hotel, both of which fronted 23rd Street. Contemporary re-branding of 21st, 22nd, and 24th Streets honor three leading families in the community- Moody, Kempner, and Mitchell.

To complete the grid of the city's pattern, all of the streets that ran east to west were assigned alphabetic names- Avenue A, also known as Water Street (and today Harborside), was the northernmost boundary of the city. Avenue B was known as Strand, after Strand Street in London, which was a banking center. Our Strand Street was modeled after London's Strand and was initially Galveston's financial center. Avenue C was Mechanic Street, where most mechanics/blacksmiths/merchants could be found. Avenue D was Market Street, where all the markets and shops were. Avenue E was Postoffice Street because that's where the post office was. Likewise, Avenue F became Church Street because of First Presbyterian and St. Mary's Cathedral, two of the oldest churches in the city. Over time, numbered streets south of church reflected more city leaders and leading families- Winnie (Fox Winnie), Ball (George Ball), and Sealy (John and George Sealy). Initially, these streets were named after the earliest city founders, Menard, Williams, and McKinney.

Broadway is Avenue J. It was laid out upon the highest ridge of the island and always intended to be the city's main thoroughfare. Avenue N was Ursuline because the grand Ursuline Convent and Academy was once located on that Outlot, fronting Avenue N between 25th and 27th Streets. 

The city proper extended to Avenue M, where the Outlots (large parcels of land the equivalent of four city blocks) began and ran south to Avenue W out at 57th Street. Because of the island's topography, when the city was established in 1838, Avenue R was the last avenue to intersect 25th Street, and Avenue Q was the final road to cross 21st Street. Of course, over time and as a result of hurricanes and the construction of the Seawall post-1900, that changed.

The alphabetical-half named streets observed south of Avenue M (Avenue M ½, N ½, O ½, etc.) result from the division of the Outlots as the city grew during the 1870s. The numbered streets, which originally dead-ended at Avenue M, were carried south to the beach and divided the Outlots into equal east/west portions. In contrast, the half-alphabet streets were designated to split those two halves into four equal blocks, each containing fourteen lots that mirrored the original (and existing) configuration of the city lots north of Avenue M.