13. Waverly Place
Every street has a story but Waverly Place has an entire book. When the road first opened in the late 1820s, it was called Sixth Street. However, it had long been the custom to have commemorative street names, and the landowners in the area were unwilling to give up that practice. In 1833, the residents of the neighborhood petitioned the city to change the street’s name to “Waverley” Place, after the popular novel by Sir Walter Scott. The name was a memorial to the author, who had died the previous year.
While the title of the book is “Waverley” (spelled with an e before the y), the name on the street signs today is “Waverly” (with only one e). This alternate spelling is the result of a transcription error in the municipal records. The mistake was never corrected, so “Waverly” became the official spelling. Despite this, both spellings can be seen on maps and property listings, even as late as the 1920s.