Electricians and power companies are busy working all over the southeast, given the recent storms. However, the above crew member, working on Bryan Boulevard at New Garden Road last week, appeared to be there due to construction. A business is being built behind Sheetz. 

It is fun to capture the names of roads as the photos situate the scene in Greensboro. Joseph M. Bryan Boulevard was named for a local insurance company executive and Greensboro philanthropist. Mr. Bryan, originally from Ohio, came to Greensboro because his wife Kathleen Price was from Greensboro and her father Julian Price, founder of Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Company, offered his son in law a job. Through the years, Mr. Bryan did so much for Greensboro, donating money for everything from Alzheimer’s research to giving money to local universities. Mr. Bryan had an great work ethic; he lived to be 99 years old and was said to have visited his office right up until the time of his death.

Bryan Boulevard is a limited access loop that connects Benjamin Parkway to Highway 68 and is the main way to get to the Piedmont Triad International Airport. It is Greensboro’s only boulevard named after someone local that we actually call by its name, as opposed to a number (for example, Petty Boulevard is known as Business I-85 and O’Henry Boulevard is known as Highway 29). It  is a nice tribute to name a road after someone who played such a large role in Greensboro’s history and development. We hope people will remember him and students will learn about him and know there is a “Bryan” behind Bryan Boulevard. Hopefully, there is a place in the K-12 curriculum to learn about people who have contributed significantly to one’s own community.

Thanks to this hardworking power company worker, we had the opportunity to reminisce about Mr. Bryan.