Rue Adolphe Pajeaud

In Antony, just outside of Paris, lies Rue Adolphe Pajeaud, a street with a fascinating past. It wasn’t always called Rue Adolphe Pajeaud, though. Before its renaming, it was known as Chemin des Morues. The name, a little strange for a street, ties to the old, irregular, and often flooded streams of the Bièvre River. Between the ninth and twelfth century, monks from the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés rerouted the Bièvre, creating a four-meter waterfall in the street known as Rue du Moulin. The old stream beds of the Bièvre River, with their sometimes inconsistent water levels, became known as ‘morts-rus’. These ‘dead streams’ were often flooded, as were the roads that ran along them. The road along the former stream beds was known as Chemin des Morues. This became Chemin de la Garenne de Massy. The monks of the Abbey of Saint-Germain did not hunt and had given their hunting rights to the neighboring lords. Therefore, the game reserve, or garenne, belonged to the town of Massy. Later, the Chemin de la Garenne de Massy became Chemin Rural no. 14. It was improved, elevated, and widened as constructions grew. The road was renamed Rue Adolphe Pajeaud after the town council decided to honor a local resident, Adolphe Pajeaud. Adolphe Pajeaud, born in L’Orbrie in the Vendée, was a councilman of Antony, starting in 1896, and became the first deputy mayor in 1908. Receiving the Military Medal for his service as a non-commissioned officer in the Republican Guard, Adolphe Pajeaud later donated a house, located at No. 2 on Rue Jean-Moulin, to the charitable organization of his commune. Rue Adolphe Pajeaud today reflects this dynamic history with a mix of old pavilions, small residences, modern houses, multi-story buildings, and even sixteen-story towers. Rue Adolphe Pajeaud, a street rich with history, lies in wait to be discovered.