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‘ Woolworth Stores, ‘ The town’s first mayor, la ' What’s in a name? Noel Perry, an employee of the Picton public works department displays one of the town’s street Signs, brought in for repairs. Names such as Lake Street and By MARG HAYLOCK Staff Reporter PICTON â€" Book titles, such as Green Dolphin Street, The Barretts of Wimpole Street and 79 Park venue, suggest the color and fascination of street names. In Picton, many streets were named for prominent local residents, active in commerce, politics or the military. er Philip Low had two streets named in his honor, Philip treet an Low Street. Both are in the neighborhood of Castle Villeneuve, the unique house ' he constructed on Bridge Street. ' 1 Capt. John P Bockus Street was named in tribute to merchant Charles Bockus, who was a promoter of the Prince Ed- ward County railway and Downes Avenue was named for cppcr Downes, who produced the popular '_ Downes Prints of local scenes. Mortimer Street was a tribute to merchant Cecil Mor- timer and Fairfield Street was named in honor of a ' , member of the local judiciary, Judge Fairfield. Several streets were named for royalty, amon these King Street, Queen Street, Princess Street and melia and Adelaide Streets. Disraeli Street and Gladstone ‘~ Avenue were named for British rlme ministers. Pedestrian names, such as orth Street, South Street, -' Bay Street and Water Street were given to indicate the streets, locations or proximity -tu.-water. Some were a :- ‘V _ Parent misnomers, among theselsake Street, which is ocated just off Main Street West, far from any body of ' water, and Hill Street, which is a flat stretch, running !‘;‘9'Pl'lil¢§ ' time member of along Picton Harbor. Ferguson Street was named for Arra Ferguson, a one arliament and Ross Street for Col. William Ross. Was burn Street was named for merchant Simon Washburn and Harvey Street for Picton’slate mayor, Harvey J. McFarland. When he died, approx- Albert Street have local significance. Perry said man of the signs are damaged by vandals and signs for loa ' g~ zones often are taken for bar room decorations. :“Meaningbehind thoseodd names imately six years a o, a roposal was made to rename Main Street “McFar and. rive”, but no action was taken ' because of the com lexities involved. The name “Harvey Street” had been c osen prior to his death, because his construction company had built homes there. Several town streets have names with no 23) connections, among them Bowery, Hea , Maitland streets. In Picton, certain sections of town were given nicknames that have endured. The Hill Street area was known, originally, as The Commons, a reference to the British name for unclaimed public land. Several squat- ters’ lots were acquired in this once sparsely populated nei borhood. . e name Delhi was given to the neighborhood spreading out below the Town Hill and “over Delhi” became a colloquialism to describe the part of Picton that includes York, Union, Mill, Church, Pitt and Maitland streets, among others. . ‘ In Prince Edward County, rural road names reflect the history of the community. Christian Street was named after a gnu of farmers attending a barn raismg at the farm of ugii Barker refused to accept drinks of whiskey, on hand for the occasion. The barn was butlt in 1846 and Barker had the words “Christian Street” cut on one end of it to recall the temperance of his friends. . other bibical names given to country roads are Jericho, Sodom and Gommorah. Another area name is Salem. Hills in Prince Edward received colorful names, among them Chuckery Hill on Glenora Road, Mockingbird Hill, near Green Pomt and Fingerboard Hill in Amehasburg. Other unique count names for roads and small set- tlements . .re Sand ook, Ben Gill, Fairmount, Yerex- ville, Doolittle RoA , Fry Road and Fish Lake Road. Visitors to the county, often, are amused by the unusual road signing and intrigued by the derivation of the names. 'arent local Eyre and Story of silver thirnble A silver thimble owned by Mrs. J.N. (Hilda) Bailey, of 57 King Street, Picton is one of a number of souvenirs in Prince Edward County which is linked to the celebration 0f the 100 years of operation of the the company that invented the “five and ten." As a young girl Margaret Morrison left the county with Jennie Creighton to learn the dressmaking business. Miss Creighton married Frank Winfield Woolworth who when he died had a chain ' of more than 1,000 stores in Canada, Briatin and the US. and his personal Worth was estimated at $65. million. her collection of exotic husbands, one a phoney Russian prince, another a German count and a third Cary Grant. Jennie Creighton while a seamstress gave Margaret Morrison the thimble. Then in 1952 it was given to Mrs. Bailey by an aunt of her husband while they were in California attending the Rose Bowl Parade. Now, though she has the original box in which it was bought in Waterdown, N.Y,, Mrs. Bailey wears the thimble on her charm bracelet. It’s a souvenir she thought little about until the announcement was made that Woolworth’s is 100 years old in June this year. i % Silver thimble which was a gift from Jennie Creighton]l Woolworth.