by Matt Kastner If you frequent South Saint Louis, you have no-doubt seen Morganford Road. Stretching north and south from Arsenal at Tower Grove Park to Bayless in South Saint Louis County, the street is quite prominent. That is why it is so perplexing that there is no consistent name given to the street. Is it Morganford or Morgan Ford?
The origin of the street’s name literally comes from the name of a ford. A man by the name of Morgan (first or last name, I don’t know) operated a ford at River Des Peres. The street was named after this man. Despite a recently posted Post Dispatch story to the contrary, Morgan Ford was not a person’s first and last name. It was a literal ford.
I have always used the Morganford spelling myself, as it just seems to fit. Considering the fact that many local organizations and businesses, online mapping services such as Google and Yahoo, and even the postal service recognize this spelling, it seems right. But not so fast. The City of St. Louis officially recognizes the street as “Morgan Ford.” Local business associations along the strip also recognize this spelling. All those street signs with the “Morgan Ford” spelling aren’t typos.
So what is the “official” name? That depends on who you ask. I am temped to start using the Morgan Ford spelling as the City uses that spelling on street signs, but the lack of postal and online recognition of this spelling holds me back. This is a blog after all, so maybe I should keep in sync with the rest of the web-world. Which side of this name battle are you on? Me, I guess I am a Morganford man.
