32 



THE CUBA REVIEW. 



Things Queer and Quaint in Cuba. 



By Mary Elizabeth Springer. 

 Street Names of Ha\ana. 



HE American tourist in Cuba, — if indeed, he tours to any extent in 

 Cuba, during the coming season, — in his rambles over old Habana. 

 with camera under arm and "Spanish as She is Spoke,'' in hand, start- 

 ing from the Plaza de Armas, in front of the Presidential Palace, may 

 inquire as to the names of the different streets he passes along, why 

 one is called Obispo, another Obrapia, Tacon, Ena, Empedrado, Te- 

 jadillo, Lamparilla, Amargura, Mercadcrcs, Oficios, etc., in this old 

 portion of the city "intra muros," and why a number of streets "extra 

 muros," outside of the walls, are called after Saints, San Rafael, San 

 jMiguel, San Jose, for instance. 



The nomenclature of streets is an interesting subject to the 

 traveler; the Boulevards, Rues, Strasse, Rambla, etc., of the cities of 

 the continent, that he may have traversed, and in America, the names 

 of by-gone patriots, and then a series of names of trees. Locust, 

 Chestnut, Walnut, Spruce, Pine, etc., as in Philadelphia, the tangled 

 maze of old Boston streets, the capricious names of New York from 

 the Battery along its two nerves which preserve their ancient Dutch 

 names of Broadway and Bowery, soon running off into numbers for 

 the cross streets and alphabetical letters for 

 the parallel avenues ; the broad stately avenues 

 of Washington, and the division of streets by 

 numbers, letters and points of the compass, a 

 system now followed by 

 most every city in the 

 Union, it may interest such 

 a tourist as the 

 one imaginatively < ^ 



cited, to know 



the meanings and reasons 



of the names of Havana 



streets. 



For instance : Plaza 



de Armas, is universally 



known to be the Place of 



Arms, in every Spanish- 

 built town, the central 



square in front of the government 



house. 



Obispo Street, because it used to 



be much frequented by the then 



(1770) Bishop of the Diocese, Morel 



de Sta. Cruz. 



Ena Street, close to the Tem- 



plete, another Havana curiosity, in 



honor of General Manuel de Ena, 



killed at the time of the Narciso 



Lopez invasion of filibusters, in 1851. 

 O'Reilly, wdiich Irish name al 



ways attracts attention, was named 



in honor of General Alejandro 



O'Reilh", who marched into Habana 



by this street at the time of the resto- 



OLD 



CORNER-STONE 

 OF A 



BUILDING IN 

 THE BUSINESS 

 SECTION. 



OBISPO 



STREET, 



HAVANA, 



WITH 



ITS QUAINT 



SIGNS. 



