30.Aug.2017 Allard Avenue
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Allard Avenue is a short thoroughfare running parallel to Drake Avenue, connecting Main Street and John Street. It is likely named after William or Ann Allard, Irish immigrants who were early residents. In the earliest iteration of the street, it simply was a dead end, but eventually it connected to John Street (which at the time was a dead end with its entrance at Weyman Avenue).
The Standard Star series on street names from the 1930s conjectured that Allard is a corruption of Allaire, the last name of a prominent Huguenot family. A fair conjecture. In fact, I considered the same theory. The problem with that theory, however, is that the Allaire estate was on the other side of town.
The Standard Star also maintained that its theory was supported by a lack of known Allards in New Rochelle. But records available now (but not easily available at the time) show that Allards did live in New Rochelle around the time the street was named. Tax info published in the late 1800s New Rochelle Pioneer identify a William Allard living on Allard Avenue. Not much information is available about William Allard, but census information reports that he was born in Ireland and lists his occupation as “laborer.” Census documents also report that he was married to Ann Allard.
The 1868 New Rochelle Map (showing the unnamed street) does not depict any Allards living on the street. Yet it does show one residence owned by “A. Allen.”
Census records do not show any Allens living in the vicinity. Yet the entry for the Allards is close to the entries for the other names recorded nearby for the street such as R Walsh, apparently a carpenter who had a shop T the end of the street, now where John Street currently exists. I suspect that the identification of “A. Allen” on the map is a mistake — and instead the real error here is the corruption of Allen from Allard.
