Naming Rose Drive... Summer Holidays in the 1870's

Samantha Doebler

The early settlers of Bloomington noticed all the beautiful Spring flowers appearing on the hillsides three weeks earlier than anywhere else around the area. They wanted to re-name their community. In 1875, Joseph W. Carpenter surveyed the area, made a map and officially changed the name to Bloomington. So, when you drive down Mulberry, Manzanita, Lupin or Marigold, please take a moment to remember our history and from where these lovely plant and flower street names came. The early pioneers saw them blooming all over and oh, what a sight that must have been!

When we needed to find new flower names for 1470 and 1550 West streets, we went to the pages of The History of Bloomington. And the history did not disappoint. Summer holidays were celebrated in the big fruit orchard in the Bloomington gardens, near the modern Fire Station. A platform was built and decorated with red, white and blue bunting. There were songs, speeches, and poetry. Lars James Larson, for whom they originally named the community of Bloomington, “Jamestown,” was usually asked to recite the Declaration of Independence, which he could do by heart. One year, the young ladies decided to decorate with roses. They gathered the blooms early in the morning and left them standing in tubs of water in the cool shade. Just before the program, they went to arrange the bouquets, only to their disappointment, they found that the chickens had eaten all the rose petals. So, now you know how the name for Rose Drive came to be, thanks to the young ladies decorating and hungry chickens!