A list of street names in Inuvik and a description of their origins.
Adam Road:
Named after Father Joseph Adams, Roman Catholic Priest who co-designed and helped build the Roman Catholic "Igloo Church", the most photographed building in Inuvik.
Airport Road:
Named because the road leads to the Inuvik Airport.
Alder Drive:
Named for the tree which is common to the area.
Arctic Road:
Named after the "C.G.S. Arctic" which travelled in the Arctic waters from 1906-1911.
Arctic Street:
Named after the Arctic Circle which is 200 km south of Inuvik.
Bay Street:
Named after the Hudson's Bay Company.
Berger Street:
Named after the Berger Inquiry.
Bompas Street:
Named after William C. Bompas, the first Anglican Bishop of the Mackenzie Region in 1884.
Bonnetplume Road:
Named after the Bonnetplume family which lived in Fort McPherson and the Arctic Red River areas since the 1890s. One member of the family was Stephen Bonnetplume, who was a member of the first RCMP Patrol between Dawson City, Yukon and Fort McPherson in 1904-1905.
Boot Lake Road:
Named after the lake which the road overlooks. The lake was named "Boot" because the lake is in the shape of a boot.
Breynat Street:
Named after the Roman Catholic Bishop Breynat who, in 1901, became the first head of the Vicariate of the Mackenzie.
Camsell Place:
Named after Julian Camsell who was the Chief Factor for the Hudson's Bay Company post at Fort McPherson in the 1890s.
Carmichael Drive:
Named after the Carmichael family who were among the first families to live in Inuvik.
Carn Road:
Named after the Carn Construction Company.
Cemetery Road:
Named because the road leads to the town cemetery.
Centennial Street:
Named to commemorate the 100th birthday of the NWT.
Council Crescent:
Named after the Council of the Northwest Territories, which during their 15th session, proclaimed Inuvik as a community on July 18, 1958.
Distributor Street:
Named after the paddle wheel steamboat the "S.S. Distributor". The ship was owned by the Hudson's Bay Company and was the largest board on the Mackenzie River in 1918.
Dolphin Street:
Named after the ship the "Dolphin" which was one of the four ships used by Sir John Franklin for the second expedition to the Polar Sea in 1825-1827.
Duck Lake Road:
Named after the lake which the road runs beside.
East Channel Road:
Named after the East Channel of the Mackenzie River which the road runs beside.
Firth Street:
Named after John Firth who lived in Fort McPherson where he was an employee/manager of the Hudson's Bay Company from 1871-1920. In 1912, John Firth established the posts of Aklavik and Kittigazuit for the Hudson's Bay Company.
Franklin Road:
Named after the Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin.
Future Road:
Named because the road was to be built in the future.
High Road:
Named because the road runs along high ground.
Industrial Road:
Named after the industrial subdivision which is serviced by the road.
Inuit Road:
Originally named "Innuit Road" after the Peterhead whaler "Innuit" which first sailed in 1857 but was wrecked in 1859. The spelling was changed to "Inuit" in the 1975 By-law 305 which was the first by-law to officially adopt the names of the streets in Inuvik.
Jak Zheii Place:
This name reflects the area's historical significance as a popular berry picking location. It is the Gwich’in word for "Blueberry".
King Road:
Named after Cliff King who was a teacher in Inuvik for over 30 years.
Kingalok Place:
Comes from the word "qingalik" which means "king eider duck" in Uummarmiut dialect of Inuvialuktun.
Kingmingya Road:
Comes from the Inuvialuktun word meaning "cranberry" which is a common bush in the area and historically was an important food source for the people of the Beaufort Delta.
Kugmallit Road:
Comes from the word "Kogmollicks" which was the name the whalers of the late 1800s called the Mackenzie Inuit.
Lagoon Road:
Named after the lagoon which the road runs beside.
Low Road:
Named because the road runs along low ground.
Gwich'in Road:
Named after the Gwich'in people of the region.
Mackenzie Road:
Named after Sir Alexander Mackenzie who visited the site where Inuvik now sits on July 19, 1789 on his historic trip down the Mackenzie River.
Mackenzie Square:
Named after Sir Alexander Mackenzie School which stood at the centre of town from 1959 - 2014.
Marine By-pass Road:
Named because it is the by-pass road that connects the Dempster Highway to the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk highway leading to the Arctic coast.
Millen Street:
Named after the R.C.M.P. Constable Spike Millen of the Arctic Red River detachment who led the fourth attempt to capture Albert Johnson, the "Mad Trapper of Red River" in January 1932. Constable Millen was killed in the gunfight by Albert Johnson.
Muskrat Street:
Named after the animal which is common to the area and is the prime animal trapped by people in the Mackenzie Delta.
Nanuk Place:
Comes from "nanuk" which means a "polar bear couple" in the Uummarmiut dialect of the Inuvialuktun and after the 1922 film by Robert Flaherty "Nanook of the North".
Natala Drive:
Comes from the English translation of the Gwich'in word "natialis" which means "the place where several small rivers come together", referring to Point Separation which marks the beginning of the Mackenzie Delta.
Navy Road:
Named after the Royal Canadian Navy who were amongst the original inhabitants of Inuvik. The Canadian Armed Forces maintained a station in Inuvik from 1961-1986. Lion Street, one of the original streets, became part of Navy Road in the 1970s to avoid confusion.
No Name Lake Road:
Named after the lake which the road runs beside.
NT Road:
Named after the Northern Transportation Company Ltd. (NTCL)
Ookpik Street:
Named after the popular Inuit handcraft and is the English translation of the word "ukpik" which means "snowy owl" in the Uummarmiut dialect of Inuvialuktun.
Raven Street:
Named after the bird which is common to the area.
Reliance Street:
Named after the ship the "Reliance" which was one of the four ships used by Sir John Franklin for the second expedition to the Polar Sea in 1825-1827.
River Road:
Named after the Mackenzie River which the road runs beside.
Ruyant Crescent:
Named after Father Max Ruyant, Roman Catholic Priest who, for 25 years, operated the Grollier Hall student residence in Inuvik. This road is now renamed as "Jak Zheii Place".
Shell Lake Road:
Named after the lake which the road runs beside.
Spruce Hill Drive:
Named after the tree which is common to the area.
Tank Road:
Named after the fuel tanks which the road runs beside.
Tower Street:
Named after the CBC antenna towers located adjacent to the road.
Tuma Drive:
Named after Amos Tumma (1889-1975), a well-known Inuit who lived in the Delta and finally in Inuvik.
Tununuk Drive:
Named after Tununuk Point on the south tip of Richards Island which was an ancient burial ground.
Union Street:
Named after the ship the "Union" which was one of the four ships used by Sir John Franklin for the second expedition to the Polar Sea in 1825-1827.
Veteran's Way:
A portion of Distributor Street that was renamed in 2007 in honour of Canada's war veterans.
Water Street:
Named after the location of the water intakes on the Mackenzie River which provides Inuvik with water during the winter months.
Willow Road:
Named after the bush which is common to the area.
Wolverine Road:
Named after the animal which is common to the area.