THUNDER BAY — More than half a century after amalgamation, a remnant of the former cities of Fort William and Port Arthur inexplicably remains.
Each city had a Lincoln Street when they became one municipality along with the townships of McIntyre and Neebing in 1970.
Today, both Lincoln Streets still exist – one in the north core between Algoma Street and the rear of the Gateway Casino on Cumberland Street, and one on the south side that intersects with Vickers Street near Arthur Street.
Multiple other streets in the new City of Thunder Bay were renamed to avoid duplication.
It's unclear why neither Lincoln Street was changed, but a check with the city archives section revealed that an effort was made at one point to rename the southside street.
Archivist Christina Wakefield has located documents that reference the attempt by city officials.
"They sort of went over the names and said, well, okay, the one in Port Arthur has 22 addresses, and the one in Fort Willliam has only two, so probably we'll change the one there."
Lamont Street was initially suggested for the new name.
"And then, on the night they were finally doing a bylaw for those streets in 1973, it was on the list, and they were going to change it to Liverpool Street, but they received a letter from someone in the public, and decided to leave it as-is," Wakefield said.
A note summarizing the outcome of the meeting indicates a decision was made to proceed with a bylaw to enact uncontested name changes, and to consult further with the public about alternate names in contested cases.
Additional street names were changed in a 1977 by-law.
Lincoln Street, however, was omitted again, and there is no record as to why that decision was made.
Archives show the street on the south side was named for John Lincoln Silles, a family member of Mary Silles, owner of a plot of land that was developed in the early days of Fort William.
Lincoln Street in what was then Prince Arthur's Landing was named by surveyor Hugh Wilson in 1871, but the source of the name is unknown.
The risk that emergency responders might go to the wrong Lincoln Street when a call for help comes in is apparently low.
Newswatch was told emergency services are well aware there are two with the same name, and that the numbers used for their respective addresses are unique for each street.
Cross-streets are also provided when first responders are dispatched.
Wakefield noted Thunder Bay also has a number of non-identical but similar street names.
Some examples include:
- Dawson Road and Dawson Street
- Gordon Street and Gordon Avenue
- Lawrence Road and Lawrence Avenue
- Park Avenue and Park Row
- Ray Boulevard and Ray Court
To add to the potential for confusion and annoyance – especially for visitors – numerous other streets include disconnected sections with the same name, while several major traffic routes are comprised of multiple streets with different names.
Changing street names can be an expensive and divisive process.
The issue of giving major routes such as Algoma St./Memorial Ave./May St. one name has been raised in the city in the past but has never been acted on.
Coun. Kristen Oliver said Tuesday she doesn't believe council would consider it to be an urgent matter for the foreseeable future.
"There's a million things that are a priority right now, and this isn't up there...(but) there's probably some value in having council discuss it because it is very confusing."
Oliver recalled that when the question came up years ago "the barrier was the cost of doing it, both on the consultation piece and on the implementation if we were to roll it out. The costs are pretty significant. That's why I think it hasn't been flagged."
