A rather generic name today, Pine Crest Drive once had a more colorful moniker: Jennie Belle Avenue, named in 1902 on the Oak Hill Park tract by prolific developer Ralph Rogers (see Nolden Street). Landowner Jennie Bell(e) Walrath (later Countess de Certeau, 1868-1954) was the street’s original namesake. In 1925, Ernest Irving Freese and other residents lobbied City Council for the Pine Crest name. Their argument was that, since the roadway had recently been “improved”, it made sense to adopt the arboreal theme of the old Oak Hill Park tract as well as the 1906 Pine Tree tract, another Rogers enterprise.
Find it on the map:
