The Georgetown Metropolitan explores the archives and finds a scandal in the heart of Georgetown: Is the road named Dumbarton a Street or an Avenue?

At first, it wasn’t called Dumbarton at all — it was “Dunbarton”. The GM has more:

The name “Dumbarton” made its way to Georgetown via Scotsman Ninian Beale who was granted 75 acres from Lord Baltimore in 1703 in what would become Georgetown. Beale named the land tract “The Rock of Dumarton” after a massive rock located in Dumbarton, Scotland. This name carries on in Dumbarton House, Dumbarton Oaks, and of course Dumbarton St./Ave.

Note that Ninian Beale made an appearance in Prince Valiant, apparently.

Georgetown Metropolitan makes the case that the way went from Street to Avenue at about the time that Georgetown (then West Washington) was absorbed by the District of Columbia. But there’s no rule to it: Plenty of roads that didn’t fit the grid system survive today as Streets and not Avenues.

Fascinating stuff, with plenty of cool old map images to boot. Naturally, there is no question today that it is Dumbarton Avenue. Glad to have that settled.

Image courtesy Google Maps