Famous Streets, Roads and Byways, A – G

(Go to “Streets H – O” or to “Streets P – Z” or to “Listing by Locale”)

ery often street and road names describe more than geography—they convey meanings and images far from any location. They become a shorthand for a history or situation or way of life. (Read about street names at “Saks Fawn Creek Chase”)

Here are, on three pages, 135 such byways. (Bridges, railways and canals are not included with the exception of The Grand Canal of Venice.) A concise list of these streets, roads and byways sorted by locale is available at Listing by Locale.

The bias for American byways in this list must be forgiven since the compiler is more familiar with American name usage. If you know of any other roads in other countries which are considered famous or important, email me with the information.

Famous Street Names, A – G
Street Name	Image	Reknown	Notes
Abbey Road		Famous Beatle’s Album (1969)	Album cover shows the Beatles crossing Abbey Road in central London, England.
Albert Cuypstraat		On this street is the largest daytime market in Europe.	On this street in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, is the Albert Cuyp Market which is completely closed off to traffic during market hours.
Appian Way (Via Appia)		Known as The Queen of Roads	One of the earliest and strategically most important roads for ancient Rome.
Autostrada dei Laghi (Motorway of the Lakes)		First automobile highway in the world	Begun in 1925, it is part of Italy’s Milano-Laghi set of expressways, from Milan to Como on the border with Switzerland.
Avenida Nueve de Julio (9 de Julio Avenue)		The avenue’s width spans an entire city block, in Buenos Aires, Argentina	Started in 1888, it honors Argentina’s Independence Day, July 9, 1816.
Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue)		A major avenue in the borough of Manhattan, New York	Although Sixth Avenue was officially changed to Avenue of the Americas in 1945, New Yorkers use the old name.
Avenue Q		A stage musical with mostly puppet characters	The show is largely inspired by Sesame Street with most of the characters in the show puppets operated by actors onstage.
Beale Street		Home of the Blues, Memphis, Tennessee	From the 1920s to the 1940s, many blues and jazz legends played here developing the Memphis Blues style.
Bleeker Street		Famous street in Greenwich Village in Manhattan	Today popular for music venues and comedy, but was once a major center for American bohemia.
Blue Ridge Parkway		Noted for its scenic beauty	Runs for 469 miles, mostly along the famous Blue Ridge of the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern United States.
Boston Post Road		Early mail delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts	The road was trail-blazed in 1673 and, over the years, widened and smoothed for horse-drawn wagons or stagecoaches.
Boulevard Ring		One of two roads half encircling Moscow, Russia	The Ring replaced the medieval walls of the White City in the 1820s. The wall itself was razed in 1760.
Boulevard Saint-Germain		Famous east-west street in Paris, France	One of the two major streets in the Latin Quarter of Paris, crossing the Boulevard Saint-Michel.
Boulevard Saint-Michel		Famous north-south street in Paris, France	One of the two major streets in the Latin Quarter of Paris, crossing the Boulevard Saint-Germain.
Bourbon Street		An icon of festive times, Mardi Gras, night life	An historic street in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Broadway		Pinnacle of American theater	An avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City with many theaters.
Burma Road		A famous road linking Burma (Myanmar) with China	At the start of World War II, the British used the road to transport war materiel to China before Japan overran Burma in 1942.
Calle Estafeta		Major path for Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain	Bulls round the dangerous corner from Mercaderes to Calle Estafeta, a long and narrow street lined with shops and bars.
Canal Street (New Orleans)		The popular street is the dividing line between the older French/Spanish Colonial-era city and the newer American Sector	With three lanes of traffic in both directions and streetcar tracks in the center, it is said to be the widest roadway in America to be classified as a street.
Canal Street (New York)		Main road through New York City’s Chinatown	Borders Little Italy, the Tribeca neighborhood and the southern boundary of SoHo.
Canalasso (The Grand Canal)		The major water-traffic corridor of Venice	The S-shaped canal is about 2 miles long, and as the major throughfare of Venice, an exception of non-canal listings here.
Carnaby Street		Elite Shopping	Fashionable pedestrian street in the heart of London, England.
Castro Street		Famous locale of lesbian and gay activisim	Commonly known as The Castro, the neighborhood is in San Francisco, California.
Champs-Élysées		Known as The most beautiful avenue in the world	A prestigious avenue in Paris, France with cinemas, cafés, luxury specialty shops.
Chandni Chowk		Famous street in the walled city of Old Delhi, India	The street is still choked with congestion, but it retains its historical character. Originally a canal ran through the middle of the street.
Charing Cross Road		Renowned for its specialist and second-hand bookshops	Correspondence between a New York based author and the staff of a bookstore on the street was the inspiration for the book and movie 84 Charing Cross Road.
Dalal Street		A metonym for the Indian financial sector	The busiest street in Mumbai, India and home of the Bombay Stock Exchange and other related financial institutions.
Davison Freeway		The first urban freeway below street level with overpasses	At 5.5 miles long, the freeway cuts across Highland Park, a city in the middle of Detroit, Michigan.
Dixie Highway		Old north-south highway in the United States Midwest	Inspired by the earlier Lincoln Highway in 1914, it ran from Michigan to Florida.
Donner Pass		A high mountain pass through the northern Sierra Nevada in California	November 1846, the Donner Party was forced to spend the winter on the eastern side of the mountains because of snow and only 45 of 81 travellers survived to reach California.
Downing Street		10 Downing Street is resident of England’s Prime Minister	Located in Whitehall in central London, England, not far from the Houses of Parliament.
Easy Street		Metaphor for wealth	A film, TV series and book title as well as several song titles.
El Camino Real		Historic road along the western part of California established by the Spanish beginning in the 17th century	Many streets throughout the American Southwest today bear the name of this famous road, often with little historical basis.
Electric Avenue		One of the first streets in London to have electric lighting	Also a popular song by Eddy Grant released in January 1983.
Elm Street		A typical American street, now associated with horror	The film A Nightmare on Elm Street led to a series of horror films, TV shows, novels, and comic books. Also the street in Dallas, Texas, where President Kennedy was shot.
Falls Road (The Falls Road)		The name is synonymous with the Catholic and republican communities in the city	The road was originally a country lane leading from the city center, but the population expanded rapidly in the 19th century with the construction of several large linen mills.
Fifth Avenue		Symbol of wealthy New York, (Saks Fifth Avenue)	A street, candy bar, and used as part of many other kinds of names.
Fleet Street		Symbol for British journalism	In London, England, home of the British press until the 1980s.
42nd Street		Movie musical and theaters	A successful 1933 musical and 1980s broadway stage musical about the depression in New York City; includes a song titled 42nd Street.
Fosse Way		An old Roman road in England	Also called The Fosse Way, many sections of the old road form parts of modern roads and many geographical boundaries.
Friedrichstraße		Checkpoint Charlie during the Cold War	From 1961 to 1989 the Berlin Wall crossed it at Zimmerstrasse. Today, a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, Germany.
Gasoline Alley		Comic strip first published on 1918	Created by Frank King, it is the first comic whose characters age as the years pass.
Grand-Trunk Road		One of South Asia‘s oldest and longest major roads	It has linked the eastern and western regions of the Indian subcontinent, running from Bengal, across north India, into Peshawar in Pakistan.
Grand Via		An ornate and upscale shopping street located in central Madrid	Building the road in the 19th century, required the demolition of many buildings, earning it the name of “an axe blow on the map” as well as many other historical names.
Great St. Bernard Pass		The most ancient pass through the Western Alps	The historic road winding over the pass, a few hundred metres from the Swiss-Italian border, is only passable June to September.
Great Trail (Great Path)		A network of footpaths created by Algonquian and Iroquoian-speaking peoples	Connecting the Great Lakes region of Canada to New England and the mid-Atlantic, many modern highways in the Northeastern United States follow the routes.
(Go to streets H – O or to streets P – Z) (Go to listing by locale)

Interested in college team names? How about pro team names? Or how about famous ship names?

Or maybe famous dog names? There is also a list of the names of masked heroes, and one for U.S. Presidents.