x
Breaking News
More () »

ABIA Map Mystery: Why are some of the street names misspelled?

Ever notice the map on the floor of the airport by baggage claim? Next time you're there, see if you can spot a few of these modern-day differences.

AUSTIN — Next time you walk through ABIA, take a look at the floor near baggage claim three.

You’ll spot a map of the city of Austin, but it may look a bit different.

“It was all done as an enhancement to the architecture and helping to present the nature, character, and history of Austin,” said Jim Halbrook, a spokesperson for ABIA.

It’s a rendition of a map from 1839. If you look closer, you’ll notice more differences aside from the city’s growth.

“Travelers looking at this map might notice some things a little different than the way they're used to seeing names in downtown Austin shown on a modern map,” said Halbrook. “Some of it is because the street names have changed entirely. For example, the east-west streets are all named after trees. However, some of the names are spelled the way they were spelled in 1839, which is different than the way it's spelled now.”

Some of the odd spellings include “La Baca” and “Brassos”.

Mike Miller, a city archivist at the Austin History Center explained it’s an artistic rendition of the Waller Map.

“This shows the original one square mile of land of the city as it was subdivided and used to sell lots to finance the building of a capitol here in Austin,” Miller said.

Miller explained there are a few differences in the spellings now.

“You see things like the spelling of ‘Guadaloup,’ which is what we call it, but it's spelled almost like cantaloupe,” said Miller.

Miller said misspellings are more common than people would think.

“Anglo settlers come here, and they're giving information to a French mapmaker, and they're probably referencing things they either heard in Spanish or saw written in Spanish to influence the name of the streets,” Miller told KVUE. “So you have multiple languages issues happening, which is probably what happened with why these street names look different.”

Before You Leave, Check This Out