Welcome to L.A. Street Names, the origin stories of street names across Los Angeles County, from the shortest cul-de-sacs to the longest boulevards. Mysteries solved, myths debunked, scandals exposed, history revealed. This is an ongoing project with more than 1,500 streets – and growing. See FAQ for more information.

Featured Major Street

Pickering Avenue

Whittier
Aquila H. Pickering and family c. 1870

The city of Whittier is the brainchild of Aquila Hurford “A.H.” Pickering (1820-1899), who named this street for himself in 1887. Born in a Quaker (a.k.a. Friends) settlement in Short Creek, OH, Pickering moved to Salem, IA in 1841. There he worked as a merchant, married his first wife Ruth, and had six children. The family relocated to Chicago in 1863 and Pickering became a big man in town – not least because of his 6’6″ height. A successful corn dealer, he soon joined the Chicago Board of Trade and was even elected alderman. Tragedy struck in 1878 when Ruth Pickering died while the couple was sailing to Liverpool; A.H. married second wife Hannah two years later. After spending a couple of winters in SoCal, Pickering sought to establish a Quaker colony here. In spring 1887, he and partners Jonathan Bailey, Hervey Lindley, John H. Painter, and Thomas Newlin, operating as the Pickering Land and Water Company, purchased the 1,259 acre John M. Thomas ranch and rechristened it Whittier in honor of a Quaker poet. Pickering lived here for only a year or two, then returned to Chicago. At 78, while heading to a family vacation in Maine, he was killed by a train in Swampscott, MA.

Featured Offbeat Street

Cheremoya Avenue

Hollywood, Hollywood Hills
The Rapps' Hollywood pineapple field c. 1900

Cheremoya and Tamarind avenues were both named on the Hollywood Pineapple tract in 1906. All these tropical fruits – above all the pineapple – were grown right here in Hollywood by orchardist John B. Rapp (1847-1936), his wife Elizabeth (1851-1928), and their seven kids. The German-born Rapps, who came to what was then called the Cahuenga Valley in 1879, owned and farmed this land; earlier in 1906, they sold part it to Jesse Martin Roberts and Sanford Rich, who then set up the tract. Incidentally, Rich (1840-1930) was the first mayor of Hollywood back when it was its own city. Either he and Roberts didn’t know how to spell “cherimoya” or that was the accepted spelling in 1906.