By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
Signs refer to the same street as Bougainville
on one and Bougainvillea on another.
Bougainville is the largest of the Solomon Islands, named after French explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville, and was the scene of a particularly hairy military campaign in 1943 and 1944. A street in the Aliamanu area is named "Bougainville Drive" in honor of the battle. Same street,
different name
Bougainvillea is a popular South American flowering plant, and is also named after de Bougainville. A street in the Aliamanu area is named "Bougainvillea Drive" after the flower.
Confused? The signs for the street when it runs through the military housing area refer to it either as "Bougainville" or "Bougainvillea." Maybe the drive is honoring the explorer rather than the flower or the battle, and simply keeping its options open.
"According to our records, the street is named Bougainville Drive," said Karen Spangler, who's writer and editor of the Navy housing newsletter for the area. According to the street listings in the phone book, there is no Bougainvillea Drive on Oahu. But there are Bougainville streets, circles, places and roads.
It's not a city street in that area, so the street signs are most likely created by the Navy's public-works department.
By Ken Ige, Star-Bulletin
But there's always a but. Here's where it gets complicated. There is a Bougainvillea Loop. It's an extension of Bougainville Drive; the name changes at the intersection of Aliamanu Drive.
Makes sense, sort of. The other Navy housing streets in that area are named after flowers as well.
We say "sort of," because older maps list it as "Bougainville Loop."
Just be thankful you're not the postman for that area.
Burl Burlingame, Star-Bulletin.
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