Doling out details on the Dales

Editor’s note: Reader Kristin Grant asks what’s the deal with Elissalde. It’s in a subdivision called “The Dales” with streets like Ferndale, Cloverdale, Cherrydale. What gives?

It sounds like the assumption bug bit our reader.

But fear not! This question has to do with proximity. Driving down Morning Glory Avenue near the lakes of LSU, you will in fact see a string of streets suffixed with “-dale.” Drive further, and the road sign shines, “Elissalde St.”

And all we can think is, “Who were the ad wizards behind this one?”

Turns out that in between Elissalde and “The Dales” is Christian Street, which has no “-dale” ending. Could this be a clue?

Further investigation with our detectives at the City-Parish Planning Commission shows the name and spelling is correct according to their records. With very little history attached to the name except for a Wikipedia site on a French rugby player from the ’90s, we were stuck in the mud.

After numerous nights with pots of coffee and chewing unlit cigars, the lead detective dropped a wrecking ball on our tower of clues.

Elissalde is located in the Zee Zee Gardens subdivision. And while “The Dales” are commonly known as such, these streets are in a subdivision called University Gardens. Since these subdivisions neighbor each other and both end with the letters a, l, d and e, it could be a common mistake for city-folk to turn on “Elissdale” instead of “Elissalde.” Case closed. And remember: don’t assume—ask 225.