HOLLYWOOD HISTORY
Hollywood street name origins
Santa Monica Blvd. in 1906, looking west from Western Avenue
By Allan R. Ellenberger
Have you ever wondered the origin of many of the street names in the neighborhood that you travel on daily? In many towns and cities the names date back to its beginning; the same is true of Hollywood. However, you won’t see a Chaplin Avenue, Garbo Street or Garland Way here. Hollywood street names originated before the movies came to Tinseltown with the founding fathers. Though you may not recognize many or any of the names, here is a list of Hollywood streets and their namesakes:
Ambrose Street — Ambrose Gregory, rancher
Barton Avenue — Barton Jones, grandson of Cornelius Cole
Beachwood Drive — Albert Beach, subdivider
Bronson Avenue — Marcus Alonzo Bronson, realtor
Cahuenga Avenue — Cahuenga Indians
Carlton Way — Carlton Warner, son of subdivider
Carmen Avenue — Carmen Lopez, son of Pres. Lopez, rancher
Cole Avenue, Cole Place — Senator Cornelius Cole
De Longpre Avenue — Paul De Longpre, artist
El Centro Avenue — Center of Cole Ranch
Eleanor Street — Eleanor Cole, daughter of Seward Cole
Eulalia Street — Mrs. Eulalia Grass
Finley Avenue — Rev. Finley, Methodist minister
Gardner Street — Dr. Alan Gardner
Gower Street — George T. Gower, rancher
Gregory Street — Ambrose Gregory, rancher
Harold Way — Harold Warner, son of subdivider
Havenhurst Avenue — W. H. Hay
Highland Avenue — Highland Price, wife of Walter Price, the blacksmith
Hudson Avenue — Thomas Hudson, rancher
Ivar Avenue — Ivar Weid, owner of Weid Ranch
Lodi Place — Lodi, New York; birthplace of Cornelius Cole
McCadden Place — W. C. McCadden, subdivider
Melrose Avenue — E. A. Melrose, rancher
Nichols Canyon — Mr. Nichols, rancher
Ogden Drive — Mary B. Ogden, pioneer
Santa Monica Blvd. — Road leading to Santa Monica
Selma Avenue — Selma Weid, daughter of Ivar Weid
Seward Street — Seward Cole, son of Cornelius Cole
Sunset Blvd. — Road leading to ocean and sunset
Taft Avenue — B. Y. Taft, developer and realtor
Townsend Street — Maiden name of Cornelius Cole’s mother
Vine Street — Through Cornelius Cole’s vineyard
Waring Avenue — Capt. Howard Waring, son-in-law of Cornelius Cole
Whitley Avenue — H. J. Whitley, subdivider
Wilcox Avenue — Harvey H. Wilcox, founder of Hollywood
Willoughby Street — Willoughby Cole, son of Cornelius Cole
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