Konemac Street

October 13, 1931 Milwaukee Journal

 

Here's a news item to file under "fanciful" or "urban legend."  While the naming of a street for a famous baseball manager made for great copy during the 1931 World Series when baseball was still America's pastime, it doesn't add up. 

 

I have an old map of the Twin Cities dating back to 1878, well before Connie Mack's first forays into professional baseball as a player in 1886 and the street name was the same, though it was spelled then as "Konemak."  If I had to guess, I'd say it was an Indian word and later evolved to its present form, for whatever reason.  Perhaps the final "c" replaced the "k" to somehow make this story fit better along the way, or perhaps the map maker was just careless and it was never changed back.  (I have another map from 1907 and the street is spelled as "Konemac" then.  

 

It makes a nice story though.