Skip to main content

Replies sorted oldest to newest

We are well and safe, thanks. I have a close relative who seems to be over the hump of battling the virus, but he's in D.C., which has relatively low rates.

From the FYI department:

Q. Most transplants to New York quickly learn that the Lower Manhattan street is pronounced HOW-stun, instead of HUE-stun, like the city. But why is it pronounced that way?

A. Because the city and street trace their names to two very different Mr. Houstons, according to Gerard Koeppel, author of the 2015 book “City on a Grid: How New York Became New York.”

“Houston the city is named after Sam Houston,” i.e., the politician who secured the independence of Texas from Mexico, Mr. Koeppel said. “Our street was named after a fellow named William Houstoun, who was a prominent Georgian, from a long line of Scotsmen.”

Despite Mr. Houstoun’s Southern pedigree, it was his wife, Mary Bayard, also from a Scottish family, who had the kind of clout that earns a person a street named in his honor.

  --- NYTimes

Last edited by JCG

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×