Have you ever wondered about the names of some of the streets in Bangalore like I always have?
Who was Langford of Langford Town, what did Mr. Lavelle do to have a road named after him, did Mr.Mayo build the Mayo hall and is the avenue road in Ulsoor the meanee version of the other avenue road? Although many of them have been renamed to honour celebrated Indians in the post- independence era, still most of the old Bangaloreans and auto rickshaw drivers can recognise Lavelle Road easier than Subbaraju road ( Ya, it has been renamed that after corporator Subbaraju)
Well here are some interesting trivia before they go and change the other names too!!
1. Lavelle Road was named after Michael Lavelle, an Irish soldier who made his money in the Kolar Gold Fields.

2. Langford Town/Road was named after Col.Pierce Leslie Langford whose residence was located on that road once.

3. Mayo Hall is supposed to remind you of Richard South Bourke, the then Viceroy, who was the Earl of Mayo.

4. Meanee avenue road gets its name after the battle of Meeanee (Miani) where Charles Napier defeated a Baluchi army (1843)

5. The house of the British resident of Mysore was located on Residency Road – it is currently the residence of the Chief General manager of The S.B.I.

6. The names given to the roads in the Cantonment were according to the military arrangement and campus. Thus, there was Artillery Rd., Brigade Rd., Infantry Rd., Cavalry Rd., etc. The South Parade (presently Mahatma Gandhi Road) was to the south of the Parade Ground. St.Mark’s Road gets its name from the St.Mark’s Cathedral.

7. Kumara Park takes its name after the residence of Dewan Seshadri Iyer which he called Kumara Krupa after his family deity.

8. Austin Town is now Kittel nagar after Ferdinand Kittel who compiled the first Kannada dictionary and Thomas Town is B.I.Rice nagar after the archaeologist.

9. Ali Asker was the grand father of Dewan Mirza Ismail who imported horses from iran – remember Ali Asker Road?

10.Jayanagar came into existence in 1948 and has been named after Maharajah Jayachamrajendra Wodeyar.

11.Tata Silk farm gets its name from the silk business that flourished in that area from 1896.

12.Did you know that the shopping area around South Parade ground (Now M.G.Road) was once called Blackpally? (after the Black death in 1898-99)

Thanks: Arul Mani, India Today, March 2006 and www.discoverbangalore.com]