the commissioners of the district of columbia mandated a new system of naming streets in 1901. streets running north and south would continue to be numbered. north of florida avenue, streets running east and west would be named after famous americans. the streets would be given one-syllable names in alphabetical order. when the one-syllable series ended, two-syllable names would be used, and then three-syllable names. only in the northwest quadrant was a "fourth alphabet" necessary. this fourth alphabet uses botanical names without regard to the number of syllables: aspen, butternut, cedar, etc. verbena street nw is the last in this series before the maryland state line. south of the center city, a similar system would be used with streets named after famous americans or prominent geographical locations. in 1905, the streets east of rock creek park, north of florida avenue, and west of north capitol street were renamed in conformity with the single street-naming system. eventually all street names in the district of columbia were made to conform to a single street-naming system.