I assumed it was simply named after the American state and as there were other streets near the stadium named after places, such as Kippax Street, I suppose I felt it all made sense. As I got older I remember thinking ‘but those streets behind the Kippax are named after British towns not American states. It doesn’t make sense.’
By the end of the 1980s, I’d written my first book on City and, as a bit of a ground obsessive, I started to question further where the name came from. I dug out old maps of the area and worked backwards to a time before the stadium was built. There was a farm slightly south of where the stadium would be built called Demesne (pronounced De-main) and I saw someone suggest that the name had come from that, but as there’s also Demesne Road nearby that did not add up.
Then I found an older map showing Maine Road under a different name: Dog Kennel Lane. What a name! Imagine the chants: ‘Walking down Dog Kennel Lane to see Joe Mercer’s Aces!’ or ‘We are City, we are City, super City from Dog Kennel.’
Finding that name on those maps set off a whole area of research I’d never planned to undertake.
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In 2003, I wrote ‘Farewell To Maine Road’ and at that time I took the opportunity of revealing that the actual street Maine Road had originally been known as Dog Kennel Lane. I explained that the name ‘Maine Road’ did not appear on maps until the 1870s.
I outlined a few theories on where the name came from, such as one story which focused on Mancunian soldiers who, together with members of the prominent Lloyd family, had volunteered for war in America and could possibly have fought in Maine – but I admitted: ‘all of this is pure conjecture, but it is known that Lloyd Street was named after the family, and it is clear the renaming of a road during this period was a very deliberate act and there must have been a reason. It would be entertaining to discover where the original ‘Dog Kennel Lane’ got its name.’
In the years that followed I performed a lot of detailed research and eventually came up with the answer to both the questions: ‘How did Maine Road get its name?’ and ‘Where did the name Dog Kennel Lane come from?’
As suspected, the Maine Road name was named after the US State of Maine. But that this was a compromise between the authorities, landowners and others with a vested interest in the area. The road was almost to be called ‘Demesne Road’, as some have suggested, but the local authority did not want that. Presumably they didn’t want confusion with the other Demesne Road. In the end Maine Road was agreed, but why?
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The following newspaper quote explained:
‘Dog Kennel Lane took its name from the kennel where hounds were kept. It stood on the right-hand side at the bend about a thousand yards from Moss Lane, opposite to the road which tracked off to the left and led to Demesne Farm. The common name of this lane is so ‘common’ and unattractive that when the Temperance Company bought the Trafford land they asked the local board to change the name to Demesne Road, and the subject was compromised by calling it Maine Road out of compliment to the Temperance principles of the petitioners.’
So the name Dog Kennel was considered ‘common’ and ‘unattractive’.
That newspaper article needs explaining. So here goes… The Temperance movement had been growing since the 1850s and Manchester played a lead role. The idea of the movement was to discourage people from drinking alcohol. After a series of campaigns of voluntary abstinence failed in the States, the Temperance movement changed its approach.
On 2 June 1851 the State of Maine passed the first recognised prohibition law, and two years later the United Kingdom Alliance was founded in Manchester, calling itself a legitimate political party and pledging to badger Parliament to outlaw liquor in England.
The ‘Temperance Company’ mentioned in the article was actually part of the movement and had bought some land (the ‘Trafford land’ mentioned) at the top of Dog Kennel Lane – this area is covered today by the buildings on the western side of Maine Road, close to the junction with Moss Lane East, and stretching all the way to Princess Road. They wanted to create a better standard of living and within that area they erected buildings in keeping with their approach to life.
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Incidentally, one of their buildings, the Temperance Billiard Hall (built in 1904), was the first of its kind to be built in Manchester and still stands today but is now a factory outlet store on the corner of Westwood Street and Moss Lane East.
To those developing the area, especially the Temperance leaders, the ‘Dog Kennel Lane’ name was seen negatively and so the selection of the name ‘Maine Road’ was made. Maine, due to the State’s role in the Temperance movement, was viewed as a significant name and recognition of the movement.
So the name Maine Road does not refer to the American War of Independence but it does refer to the US State and the part that Maine played in the Temperance movement.
Initially, only the top section of the road was renamed but gradually as housing was developed southwards the new name replaced Dog Kennel Lane.
The lane itself used to be much larger in length than Maine Road. At the bottom of Maine Road, just after the stadium site, the lane had a bend which then took the lane across what became Princess Parkway. Once the street was renamed and terraced housing was built during the late 1800s and early 1900s, Maine Road ended as it does today and the rest of Dog Kennel Lane was built over. The name disappeared on maps for good.
While doing this research I also investigated the land our old ground was built on. That was owned by the Chadwick family, sometimes they were referred to as the Chaddock family, going back. In 1760 all of the Maine Road ground site, plus most of the area east of Dog Kennel Lane/Maine Road down to Demesne Farm and across to Heald Place was part of ‘Chadwick’s Tenement’ – described as ‘49.5 Lancashire acres of farm land’ at the time.
The family were believed to have owned this land from around 1500 to the early 1800s. By 1857 the land was owned by someone called Mr Broadie but within the following few years areas were sold off until by 1903 all that was left was a farm house, Moss Grove Farm, on the corner of Moss Lane East and Maine Road. That was demolished shortly afterwards and by 1910 terraced housing covered the site.
The Maine Road stadium was built on the site of a former brickworks, presumably that had been needed for the large building activity that took place in the area for many years before the ground’s construction.
Although Maine Road was a new football venue, football had been played around the street at various times over the years with some of Manchester’s earliest games occurring at fields off Dog Kennel Lane and Maine Road.
Today much of Maine Road itself is still there but the stadium site is now covered with modern housing and a school. The centre spot survives, now known as Gibson Green after former groundsman Stan Gibson, and memories remain.
For more on Maine Road and City’s history follow Gary on Twitter: @GaryJamesWriter or check out his website: www.GJFootballArchive.com.
