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
Lennox Boulevard
Some say the unincorporated community of Lennox was named in 1905 by a transplanted farmer from Lenox, Massachusetts. Aside from the spelling discrepancy, I’m skeptical. Lennox Boulevard itself was originally named Olivia Avenue – at least on a 1908 maps for the Inglewood Rancho tract; newspapers were calling it Lennox Avenue that same year. Two years earlier and mile and a half south, a different tract had its own Lennox Avenue; it’s now 126th Street between Hawthorne and Prairie. So the Lennox name was clearly floating around this part of town by 1906, which gives some credence to that “farmer from Lenox” theory. But there are no further clues. The neighborhood in general began answering to “Lennox” in 1912.