Dayton Historical Society

Some streets were named after the primary businesses or purpose of that street:

• Church Street - Access to first churches in Dayton (1st Baptist and 1st Methodist)

• Cleveland Street - the main road to/from Cleveland before Hwy TX-321

• Depot Street - Texas & New Orleans Railroad tracks ran parallel (aka Railroad Avenue, Commerce Street)

• Eastgate Road - the main road to/from Huffman before Hwy FM-1960

• Goosecreek Street - Goose Creek Railroad tracks ran parallel

• Houston Street - the main road to/from Houston before Hwy TX-90

• Klemp Road - access to Klemp Corporation

• Lovers Lane - Popular destination for young couples seeking privacy

• Main Street - the main street through downtown crossing railroad tracks

• Manor Street - access to Heritage Manor Nursing Home

• Old Spanish Trail - National road to connect Florida to California (aka Hwy TX-90 in 1928)

• Sawmill Road - access to steam-powered sawmill

• Seaberg Industrial Road - access to Seaberg Rice Company

• Tram Street - Railway ran parallel to connect Dayton Lumber Co. to main railroad track

• Waco Street - Access to Dayton Lumber/Mills Company (1900-1930, 250 employees , 75K SF sawmill)

In 1961, the Dayton City Council posthumously honored Dayton citizens who died in World War II by renaming streets after their military heroes as follows:

• Barrow Street - Douglas Barrow

• Friery Street - John C. Friery Jr.

• Harmon Street - Geator J. Harmon

• Holitzke Street - Joseph L. Holitzke

• Kay Street - Cyde David Kay

• Merritt Street - William H. Merritt III

• Seekamp Street - Vernon H. Seekamp

• Stevens Street - Calvin Ray Stevens

• Waring Street - Willie B. Waring

• Young Street - Charles Stenius "Bubba" Young

These same names are listed on the military memorial erected in front of Dayton's City Hall.

Pioneers (1900 or earlier)

• Cherry Creek Road – John Cherry (1835 pioneer settler)

• Hunnicutt Street – James and Anna Hunnicut (Circa 1900 pioneer developer of French settlement)

• Kindt Street – Abraham F. Kindt (Mid-1800s pioneer land broker)

• Linney Street – Michael Linney (Mid-1800s pioneer settler)

• Pruitt Street – Edmund Pruett (Early-1800s pioneer settler) [street name misspelled]

• Winfree Street - Winfree Family (Arrived prior to 1830s)

Some streets are named for the people who owned the land through which the street passed:

• Benton Street – Thomas and Eliza Benton

• Brown Road – Harry and Kimmie Brown

• Coleman Street – Oscar Howard Coleman

• Entzminger Street – Ben and Jessie Entzminger

• Ford Avenue – Milo Sr. & Ella Ford

• Hill Street – Knox Charles (K.C.) Hill

• Holmes Street – Johnnie Lee Holmes

• LaBlanc Lane - June and Mary LeBlanc (street name misspelled)

• LaCour Street – Carey Cari LaCour

• Ligons Street - Harry Dennis Ligons Sr.

• Marblehead Street - Nickname of Ronald Ray "Marblehead" Neuman

• Meremar Lane - Combined names of Meredith and Marcia Voytek

• Moller Street – Charles and Laura Moller

• Nancy Street – Nancy Roberts

• Nelton Street – Combined first names of Nellie and Milton Norcross

• Norcross Lane – Amos and Lucy Norcross

• Prater Street – Dennis Sr. and Melinda Prater

• Taylor Lane – Ellis & Ruth Taylor

• Zylks Road – Melvin “Pete” Giles Zylks

Some streets were named by subdivision developers who were inspired by surrounding nature like birds or trees

• Atascocita - Means "boggy" in Spanish

• Brown Trail – Named for tallow trees in Brown subdivision

• Hickory Lane – Named for trees in Linney Creek subdivision

• Hillcrest Street - Named for location at crest of a hill in Hillcrest subdivision

• Little John Street - Named for Robin Hood theme of Sherwood subdivision

• Meadows Lane – Street in Meadows subdivision

• Mockingbird Lane – Named for birds in Linney Creek subdivision

• Oak Street – Named for trees in Dayton Height subdivision

• Pecan Street – Named for trees in Linney Creek subdivision

• Pine Place – Named for trees in Pine Place subdivision

• Pine Street – Named for trees in Dayton Heights subdivision

• Ranchwood Street - Named for woods in Linney Creek subdivision

• River Oaks Street - Named for prominent subdivision in Houston

• Sherwood Drive - Named for Robin Hood theme of Sherwood subdivision

• Skylark Street – Named for birds in Suburban Acres subdivision

• Sunset Heights Street - Named for great view of sunset from Sunset Heights subdivision

• Timber Lane – Named for woods in Suburban Acres subdivision

• Whitewing Street – Named for prairie birds in Suburban Acres subdivision

• Willow Street – Named for trees in Dayton Heights subdivision

Some streets are named for Dayton citizens who made great contributions to the development of Dayton over an extended period of time:

• Aaron Street – Aaron Chester Holbrook Sr. (developer of Holbrook subdivision)

• Brooks Street – Clarence Brooks (resident champion for Eastgate & French Settlement)

• Bryan Street – Olive Bryan (O.B.) Sterling Sr. (builder of Dayton’s Rio Movie Theater)

• Chester Street – Aaron Chester Holbrook Sr. (developer of Holbrook subdivision)

• Clarence Street – Clarence Dearbonne Sr. (owner of Snuggle Inn of Lowe Woods community)

• Colbert Street – Annie E. Colbert (early teacher at Dayton African-American school)

• Collins Street – Thomas Vaught Collins (investor, mayor, first fire chief)

• Glass Street – Melinda “Lindy” Glass(local midwife)

• Holbrook Street – Aaron Chester Holbrook Sr. (developer of Holbrook subdivision)

• Jamison Street – William Jamison (owner of land used for Suburban Acres subdivision)

• Ladd Street – E. P. Ladd (investor and stockholder for Dayton Lumber Company)

• Lawrence Street – James & Winnefred Lawrence (early settlers in 1920s)

• Lowe Street – Pat Christian Lowe (Liberty County sheriff)

• Luke Street – Luke Walker (local BBQ restaurant owner)

• McBride Street – Martha A. “Lucy” McBride (community and school supporter)

• Milo Street – Milo W. Ford Sr. (local rancher and businessman)

• Park Place – David Allen Parker (home builder, land developer, real estate broker)

• Ripkowski Street – 12 Ripkowski brothers (national record of military service from a family)

• Ross Street – Ross Shaw Sterling (founder Humble Oil/Exxon, Texas governor)

• Slover Drive – James Roy Slover (developer of Linney Creek subdivision)

• Sterling Street – Named for 3 generations of Sterlings (Jim Sterling Sr., Jr., and III)

• Tucker Street – Robert S. Tucker (Dayton lawyer)

• Westwood Street - Randy West (home builder, land developer with David Parker)

Some streets are named for individuals because of their relationship and support given to honored citizens such as wives, daughters, employees, etc.:

• Clayton Street – Clayton Leo Moreau (brother of Wilmer “Bill” Moreau)

• Dale Street – Norman Dale Brown Jr. (grandson of Harry Charles Brown)

• Edgar Street – Robert B. Edgar (employee of Ross Sterling with Dayton Mills Company)

• Elaine Street – Elaine Watel Friedman (wife of Saul Friedman – merchant & builder)

• Emma Street – Emma Dunn Harris (wife of Joe Harris – owner People’s Lumber)

• Esther Street – Esther Friedman-Bionstein (daughter of Saul Friedman – merchant & builder)

• Evelyn Street – Evelyn Holbrook-Waldrop (daughter of Aaron Chester Holbrook)

• Fordland Street – Jessica Ford-Johnson (daughter of Milo W. Ford Jr.)

• Juanita Street – Juanita Holbrook-Rizzo (daughter of Aaron Chester Holbrook)

• Kerr Street – Andrew Erastus Kerr (business associate of investor Ross Sterling)

• Lisa Lane – Troi Lisa Wilson (nickname of daughter of developer Troy Wilson)

• Myra Lane – Myra Slover (wife of Linney Creek subdivision developer Roy Slover)

• Smith Street – Mamie Smith (employee of Mayor Jim Sterling Jr.)

• Stone Street – Howard Lonnie Stone (friend of Mayor Jim Sterling, councilman)

• Susan Street – Susan Friedman (daughter of Saul Friedman – merchant & builder)