L.A. Street Names – Los Angeles Street Names – their origins, their histories, their meanings

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 2,100 streets – and growing. See FAQ for more information.

Featured Major Street

Tournament Road

Santa Clarita

This is a tale of two Tournament Roads. The first was mentioned in newspapers in March 1966 – and it was the location of the recently-opened Valencia Golf Course. Locals now know the latter as the Valencia Country Club (it went private in 1987) and the street as Tourney Road, not Tournament. Today’s Tournament Road was name-checked in May 1968 during the planning stages of the Vista Valencia golf course, two miles south of its predecessor. Tourney Road popped up in the press nine months later, in February 1969. As the all-powerful Newhall Land and Farming Co. owned both courses – and the Valencia subdivision itself – I assume the name game was played out by its executives sometime in 1968 and was subject to neither public nor municipal approval. It should go without saying that both roads refer to golf tournaments.

Featured Offbeat Street

Jeffries Avenue

Burbank

Named for legendary boxer James Jackson “Jim” Jeffries (1875-1953). Born in Ohio, Jeffries came to L.A. with his family when he was around 7 years old. Here he learned to box, and in 1899 he claimed his first world heavyweight champion title, which he kept for six years. After a disastrous comeback in 1910 – see the first Jeffries Ave. in Cypress Park for more on that bloody chapter in American history – Jeffries retired to raise thoroughbred bulls on his 60 acre ranch here in Burbank. The Jeffries Barn, located across from his house at present-day Buena Vista and Victory, became a popular venue for boxing and professional wrestling. The barn was moved to Knott’s Berry Farm after Jeffries’s death and is now a private venue. Burbank’s Jeffries Avenue was named in 1923.