As conversation heats up surrounding the fate of Murphy Street, it may be disconcerting to learn that there is no Murphy Street. There never was.

Instead, that block between Evelyn and Washington avenues is officially called South Murphy Avenue.

But to hear locals tell it, it doesn't make much difference.

"I think that it's better to call it Murphy Street, because that's how everyone refers to it," says Joe Antuzzi, president of the Sunnyvale Downtown Association. Chiyo Winters with the Sunnyvale Historical Society agrees.

"They're just used to it, even though its technical name is Murphy Avenue," she says. But according to maps in the society's possession, the nickname may not have appeared out of nowhere. In the 1890s, the road branching out from Murphy Station through the young town not yet known as Sunnyvale was called Main Street.

John Pilger, Sunnyvale's public information officer, was able to confirm the namesake through an appearance of one of the society's maps in the book Sunnyvale, from the City of Destiny to the Heart of Silicon Valley by Mary Jo Ignoffo. But Sunnyvale was incorporated in 1912, and no city records can back up the name. As far as the city's concerned, Murphy Street has always been South Murphy Avenue.

So, why then has the name stuck around? Walt Disney named the main neighborhood at Disneyland "Main Street, U.S.A." to evoke the old-time feeling of his hometown. Perhaps the reasoning was to keep a slice of the "town" part of Sunnyvale around while the surrounding orchards fell and high-tech companies sprouted up?

"It just sounds better than Murphy Avenue," Antuzzi says. After asking around the Sunnyvale communications office, Pilger says the consensus is that "Street" better describes the block since it's cut off by the railroad tracks and station at one end and the Sunnyvale Town Center site on the other. After all, Murphy Street describes a very specific place in Sunnyvale.

But there are a few for whom business is a concern when it comes to names. Murphy Street Smoke Shop, located at 114 S. Murphy Ave., has carried its name for 20 years. Sue Kuo, who works at the shop, says that its name used to be A&G Smoke Shop, for the corporation that owned it.

Upon purchase, the current owners decided to rename the shop to something a little more accessible. Since they heard from neighbors and passersby that they were located on Murphy Street, that's what they went with. "They didn't know it was Murphy Avenue until after they'd filed the papers with the city," Kuo says. "They didn't think of it as Murphy Avenue."

While the post office and newspaper style guides dictate usage of the official street name, Murphy Street is still the catchphrase that springs to mind when discussing downtown Sunnyvale. At least, it does for most people. "People who have lived here a long time call it Murphy Avenue. I call it Murphy Avenue," Winters says. "The newer people call it Murphy Street."