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 1,900 streets – and growing. See FAQ for more information.

Featured Major Street

Gladstone Street

Azusa, Glendora, San Dimas
William Gladstone in 1892

Named indirectly for a British Prime Minister and directly for a failed city. The PM in question: William Ewart Gladstone (1809-1898), whose London intrigues regularly made the news in Los Angeles but who was actually out of office when the town of Gladstone was established south of Azusa in April 1887. (He regained the premiership in 1892.) I found no special reason why Gladstone’s founders chose to honor this man – apparently they just admired him and/or his surname. Gladstone Street was also christened in April 1887 but its namesake town would soon go belly-up, thanks to lawsuits from landowners and bad publicity from the Los Angeles Times. Why the Times hate? Because one of Gladstone’s founders, newspaperman Henry H. Boyce, had sold his interest in the Times to publisher Harrison Gray Otis in 1886 – and when he started printing the rival Los Angeles Tribune months later, he became an enemy of the vindictive Otis, who used the Times to destroy Boyce’s nascent municipality.

Featured Offbeat Street

Lorelei Avenue

Lakewood, Long Beach
Ona Munson and Edward G. Robinson in publicity photo for Big Town

Named for someone who only existed on the airwaves. Crime reporter Lorelei Kilbourne was a character on the CBS radio drama Big Town, which ran from 1937 until 1952. Lorelei Avenue was unveiled in 1941 by Mayfair developer Charles Blauvelt Hopper (1880-1964) on his so-called “Columbia Mayfair Unit”, with streets named after CBS radio personalities both real and fictional. Big Town‘s leading man was Edward G. Robinson, who played crusading newspaper editor Steve Wilson until 1943. Although Claire Trevor originated the role of Wilson’s sidekick Lorelei, Ona Munson (1903-1955) played the part from 1939 until 1943 and was scheduled to appear at Lorelei Avenue’s dedication on August 2nd, 1941. We can presume she showed up; she did pose with the street sign in publicity photographs a few days earlier.