Lafayette Street
From Worcester Activist wiki
On that first visit to Worcester in 1824, Lafayette rode in a black carriage drawn by four snorting gray horses.
True, it was nearly 50 years after the Revolution, but the city hadn’t forgotten. Attics and trunks were combed for miscellaneous uniforms and equipment which Worcester patriots had worn in the war. They turned out to line the streets and welcome a hero.
Residents leaned from bunting-draped windows, fluttering handkerchiefs. Huzzas, resounding cheers and applause greeted Lafayette, now an elderly man.
Lt. Col. Samuel Seward led the escorting guard of honor. The procession stopped in front of Gov. Levi Lincoln’s home, where speeches were made. Later they went inside, where the General and Governor stood side by side to receive callers.
Lafayette came again the following year- this time for coffee. His coach clattered in from Albany and stopped at 2 a.m. in front of the Exchange Coffee House. Grooms swarmed about the carriage to change horses.
Lafayette went inside for breakfast, came out soon after to resume his trip to Boston to attend laying of the cornerstone of Bunker Hill monument.
When a new street was opened about this time, memory of his visit was still fresh and Lafayette street was named for him in 1853.
It reaches from Millbury street west to Southbridge street.
The core of this article comes from A History of Your City Streets.
