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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