Street Name Change: Recognizing Your Community’s Influences

Getting a street name change is a rigorous process. It includes having to canvass support of and obtaining signatures for the modification. Yet, it is one of the greatest honors one can receive in their hometown. Pictured here is a photo taken in 1993, just before a row of shotgun houses in Louisville, KY were demolished to make way for a new commercial district. It is believed that these homes were built in 1880 along what was then known as Walnut Street — On December 7th, 1978 a city alderman (last name Gray) achieved a great feat, when his efforts resulted in the street name being changed from Walton Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard in honor of the Louisville, Kentucky native.