Just last week I wrote a column about the politics of street names and the effort to create even more confusion along Robinson Avenue by creating a third name along the short stretch through downtown with “Thunder Drive.”

Tulsans, not to be outdone, got into an even bigger fuss over one of their most well-known streets, Brady Street, when history showed it was named for Tate Brady, once a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The Brady District — a great urban arts and entertainment district — opposed the street renaming while civil rights advocates urged the Tulsa City Council to pick a new name in light of the city's troubled racial past.

They changed it to “M. Brady Street” on Thursday, saying it will now honor Civil War photographer Mathew Brady, who had no ties at all to Tulsa.

That makes sense, right? But before Oklahoma City starts mocking Tulsa, let's look at Sheridan Avenue, perhaps the most visible important street downtown. From 1889 until 1961, the street that is now home to Film Row, Devon Energy Center, the Myriad Gardens, Continental Resources and is the main drag through Bricktown was known as Grand Avenue.