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Somerset Road

Somerset Road evolved, in large part, from the main pathway leading into the Blake Estate. The path, which wound up the hill from Washington Street to the Blake house, was expanded and designated Blake Road East when the property was first developed in 1916. At the same time, another path, connecting Blake Road East to Greenough Street, was turned into Stanton Road (not today's Stanton Road). By 1921 Stanton had been renamed Somerset, and by 1925 Blake Road East had also been renamed: the lower part became Weybridge Road, and the upper part became part of Somerset. (Compare the original pathway, shown as a thin and faint double line in the 1888 map at left, below, with Blake Road East in the 1921 plan to its right.)

Evolution of Somerset Road

Somerset Road ended at Welland Road when the first houses were built in the 1920s. It was extended across Welland, connecting to Blake Road, in 1939 after the death of Frances Blake and the development of the six acres she had retained. 

Name Origin: The origin of the name Somerset Road is unclear, although two possibilities suggest themselves. It most likely comes from Somerset, England, from whence the Blakes' ancestors first came to the New World in 1630. There is also a Somerset, Vermont, not far from where George Baty Blake grew up, although I have not found any direct connection between this Somerset and the Blakes.