American Steet Names In Santo Domingo?

[Keith R]

I was going to mention Ataturk, but it's hardly a main thoroughfare. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk is a minor residential street in Naco, near the intersection between 27 and Tiradentes.

As well as the US and Dominican heroes and historical figures, the great and the good from other parts of the world are dotted around the city.

San Martin - Argentinian national hero - main thoroughfare.
Tiradentes - Brazilian national hero and dentist - main thoroughfare.
David Ben Gurion - first Israeli PM - residential street in Piantini.

There must be more...

Yes, there are. Bolivar (as in Sim?n, the Liberator), one of the main east-west thorough streets, which becomes Romulo Betancourt (former Venezuelan President that opposed Trujillo). Lope de Vega, the Spanish playwright (near Olympic center). There were also ones for Calderon de la Barca, a Spanish playwright, and Becquer, the Spanish poet, but can't remember now where I saw them.....

I'm pleasantly surprised & pleased you know of Tiradentes, Chiri. Hats off to you!

 

[Chirimoya]

Trivia queen, that's me.

Serralles and Piantini also have some musical street names, like Pablo Casals and Augustin Lara.

Also in Piantini: Jose Maria Escriva de Balaguer: founder of Opus Dei.

Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, is a street in Zona Universitaria.

 

[Keith R]

and let's not forget Cervantes, which is in Primavera (Cuidad Nueva or Gazcue -- not sure of the official borders betwen the two)....

and Ortega y Gasset (Spanish playwright), which borders the Olympic center on the western end

and Madame Curie, near the Music Conservatory

and Julio Verne (Jules Verne) which runs parallel to 30 de Mayo, near the National Palace

and Alexander Fleming (scientist), near Plaza de la Salud

and Leonardo da Vinci, which runs parallel to Bentancourt in Los Cacicazgos

and Benito Juarez, Mexican President (often referred to by the Mexicans as the "The Law Giver"), near the Plaza de la Cultura

and (my wife reminds me!), Mahatma Ghandi, which runs parallel to Maximo Gomez

I am also reminded that there is a street near UASD called Bartolome Mitre, who was an Argentine President, generally considered the father of the modern day Argentina

 

[Keith R]

Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, is a street in Zona Universitaria.

Isn't that the street that's basically an extension of St. Tomas Aquintas?

 

[Chirimoya]

Isn't that the street that's basically an extension of St. Tomas Aquintas?

It runs down to Av. Independencia, not sure where it starts. Ojas vegetarian restaurant is on the last block before Independencia.

 

[KateP]

One thing's for sure, it's a lot easier to find streets with foreign leaders, heroes, poets, etc's names than streets like Calle Primera esquina B #14!!

 

[bochinche]

i think it adds some character to a town or city to name streets and buildings after famous people.

i have often wondered why dominicans don't name their own houses (not necessarily after famous people) as they do in many other countries, instead of just numbering them.
may seem a bit pretentious though.

haven't they named the road to the airport (sdq) after sammy sosa. i think that's a bit much - i mean he's not even dead yet...................mind you, if he keeps taking those steroids.

 

[Naufrago]

Hey while were on the topic, Does anybody know who the heck was Begnino Filomena de Rojas, I live on his street and would like to know why?

 

[Celt202]

You gotta love Google....

Hey while were on the topic, Does anybody know who the heck was Begnino Filomena de Rojas, I live on his street and would like to know why?

This site says hee was head of state of the Dominican Republic from January 24 to March 24, 1865. Would that el Coco's rule had been so short.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Presidents_of_the_Dominican_Republic

Benigno Filomeno de Rojas (1821-1865). Considered the first Dominican Economist. He also was president of the congress from 1857 to 1858 and vice president during the revolutionary government in 1858.

http://juancardenes.tripod.com/People.html

This site says he was vice president earlier. This site also says that the presidency changed hands 21 times between 1865 and 1879.

The first Dominican presidents--General Pedro Santana was elected president of the newly independent Dominican Republic. He supported Buenaventura B?ez as his successor to the presidency in 1849. B?ez was another of those who had fought to help the country gain independence and was still fighting to keep it independent. B?ez was supposed to be Santana's "puppet," but he had a mind and ambitions of his own. In 1853, Santana was re-elected to the presidency in a hotly contested race. He sent B?ez into exile, accusing him of entering into a conspiracy with officials of the Catholic Church to turn the country into a private enterprise, with B?ez as lifelong leader. B?ez continued to oppose Santana, who was negotiating with the U.S. to establish a naval base on the Saman? Peninsula, something that Haiti, Spain and England did not want to see happen, each for its own particular reasons. The threat of the U.S. presence led to one of the bloodiest battles in the on-going Haitian-Dominican war, that of Santom? on December 22, 1855, and it, plus Santana's over-authoritative methods, put him in growing disfavor with the populace. Santana resigned and left on May 26, 1856, leaving Vice President Manuel de Regla Mota to run the country, which was in severe economic distress. Under pressure from Spain, Regla Mota named B?ez to the vice presidency, then resigned so B?ez could take over the presidency, which he did on October 6, 1856.... But Santana was not yet finished. Supported by the people of the Cibao, he came back out of exile to lead a rebellion against B?ez, but he betrayed the leaders from Santiago. He overthrew General Jos? Desiderio Valverde and Benigno Filomeno de Rojas, whom the Cibae?os had named as president and vice president instead of B?ez, declared invalid the new, more liberal and democratic Constitution of Moca, and, with a powerful troop of soldiers, seized control of the Capital away from B?ez in July of 1858.

 

[Celt202]

Charles Sumner

There's a street named after him in Julieto Morales. He was a US Senator from Massachusetts.

from http://studentservicesdr.freeservers.com/Dominican Overview & Historical Summary.htm

The presidency changed hands 21 times between 1865 and 1879! It was during this turbulent time that the U.S., once again, considered annexing the Dominican Republic for the $100,000 in U.S. cash and $50,000 in weapons that B?ez requested for the deed. President Ulysses S. Grant's secret agent outlined a treaty that was signed on November 29, 1869--but it was not approved by either the U.S. Senate nor by the Dominican people. Despite a positive report on the Republic by a U.S. investigating committee in 1871, Charles Sumner, the annexation project's main opponent, led the defeat of the proposal.

 

[Keith R]

Charles Sumner, the annexation project's main opponent, led the defeat of the proposal.

I've always wondered why there is a street in Santo Domingo named after Sumner. Now I know why!

The street is up by Av. JFK, between Churchill and Nu?ez de Caceres (if memory serves me well), and has my favorite family seafood restaurant (if they're still there and still good), Sully.

Sumner was an interesting guy. He was chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the time he opposed the DR annexation agreement, which is why his opposition was so potent. Grant reportedly saw to it that Sumner lost his committee chairmanship as a result.

Some other Sumner factoids:
* he took over Daniel Webster's seat in the Senate
* he opposed the Mexican-American war
* he opposed the annexation of Texas
* he was a leader of the anti-slavery group in the U.S. Senate, and drafted the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery
* he was the first to nominate a black man to practice before the US Supreme Court
* he was a leader in the Senate to impeach President Andrew Johnson

 

[Chirimoya]

If you read 'In the name of Salome' by Julia Alvarez several of the people after whom streets in the Colonial Zone and other parts of the city were named are brought to life. Eugenio Maria de Hostos, Arzobispo Meri?o, Padre Billini, the Henriquez Ure?as and of course Salome Ure?a herself.

 

[Pib]

An "obscure" name which is a favorite of mine: Olof Palme (also spelled Olaf in a corner), though Bok told me it should be spelled Oluf.

Famous people:
Isabel La Catolica

Saints and religious figures:
San Ju?n Bosco
Papa Pio V (or another Pio)

Countries and places:
Espa?a
Mexico
Francia
Puerto Rico
Venezuela
Sarasota

 

[Keith R]

An "obscure" name which is a favorite of mine: Olof Palme (also spelled Olaf in a corner), though Bok told me it should be spelled Oluf.

Not that obscure, at least not to me. I know who Palme was, remember how shocked everyone was when he was murdered.

Heehee -- Bok thinks the Danish version of the first name is better than the Swedish, even for a Swede?

If I remember correctly, I used to cross that street when traveling along Nu?ez de Caceres to take my son to soccer practice. Doesn't it get to Luperon right around where the airport is?

 

[Don Juan]

I wont cost you much!...serious!

I mean, would I have to find one that doesn't have a name first? Couldn't I just find one that nobody likes the name it has now and change it?
I mean, I used to live at Calle Central, esquina Segunda, when Calle Central was only one block long.(Although, now that I think of it, I would like to have a street longer than that named after me!) Why, there wasn't even a esquina Primera.
Would I get in trouble if I just had some street signs made up with my name on them and stuck them up?

Can you tell I'm bored today?

Mr. Jones, yes, it can be done but you'll have to opt for a small town such as Manabao (an actual place). Go ahead and have your street signs made. All you'll need is approximately $500US worth of bribes to the sindico and cohorts plus materials and labor depending on how long the street is.

I doubt you'll get in trouble. No one will question the legitimacy of the new name and even if someone does, it'll be a long time coming before anything can be done to rectify the "mistake" and by that time people will get use to living in JONES st and will resist any further changes.

Also, it will be deemed too expensive to change again and so you'll be pretty safe in securing your name in posterity. So you see?, Anything can be had in good ol' DR! Heh?

 

[Pib]

Not that obscure, at least not to me. I know who Palme was, remember how shocked everyone was when he was murdered.

I was hardly shocked. It happened when I was 16. I had other things in mind. But I know who he was.

If I remember correctly, I used to cross that street when traveling along Nu?ez de Caceres to take my son to soccer practice. Doesn't it get to Luperon right around where the airport is?No, he said that that's how Swedes spell it. I know nothing about that.

That's the street alright. It starts in Luper?n and ends in Defill? in Los Praditos. It was called Estancia Nueva before, some people still call it that.

 

[Keith R]

No, he said that that's how Swedes spell it. I know nothing about that.

Actually, he was probably pulling your leg. Check out the spelling from the official Swedish government site:
http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/4136

Oluf may be the Danish version of the name. Danish and Swedish, while related and similar, are not the same. But I'm sure you know that, and certainly he does.