Wisconsin census question - street name

December 29, 2014 6:44 PM

I'm looking at a 1940 census sheet, and it says that my relatives lived on "JB Street" in Superior, Wisconsin, but my Googlefu is broken. Does anyone know how I can find out what JB might stand for?
posted by roomthreeseventeen to Travel & Transportation around Wisconsin (8 answers total)

Best answer: This is only a guess, but could it be what is today Belknap Street? It was named for John Belknap, one of the early developers of Superior.
posted by brbmaroon at 7:02 PM on December 29, 2014

Response by poster: My question may be premature. Argh I think it actually might say "John Avenue". Is it normal for ancestry.com to read a street name wrong?
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:04 PM on December 29, 2014

Best answer: Yes, absolutely. You should always check the original record if possible, a lot of the text conversion is automated and not always accurate.
posted by brbmaroon at 7:05 PM on December 29, 2014 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Is it normal for ancestry.com to read a street name wrong?

Yes. The transcribers don't always have the local knowledge to fill in hard-to-read names. The index they create is for searching, and you should always look at the original record.
posted by Thing at 7:08 PM on December 29, 2014

Best answer: If it helps, here's a current list of street names in Superior.
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:12 PM on December 29, 2014

Best answer: If you cant see the images on ancestry, I think you can see them here. Alternatively, you can use that site to drill down to default street names via the "Census Search" tool.
posted by whatisish at 7:15 PM on December 29, 2014

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone!
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 7:18 PM on December 29, 2014

Best answer: You can view 1940 census enumeration district maps for Superior here.
posted by Knappster at 9:20 PM on December 29, 2014