Why were the streets named after states?
St. Cloud historian Bob Fisk explained that in the early days of laying out the City of St. Cloud, Florida; One Col. McElroy was a main player in the Seminole Land and Investment Company. The SLIC had advertised and brought Union Civil War veterans to the new community. Col. McElroy first named the downtown streets, running north and south across numbered streets, for states who participated in the War on the Union side (New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, etc). Later, as the city spread more to the east and west, former states in the Confederacy were added (Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi,and so on). Mr. Fisk also points out that in 1895, a Mr. Fitzgerald had surveyed and planned a similar town in Georgia. In that case, the streets were named for Generals on both sides of the conflict. The local fire department was on Sherman Street.
