Norwalk originated as the name of a Southern Pacific railroad station between Downey and Anaheim on January 12th, 1875. The station was built on land deeded to the railroad by Gilbert Sproul (and his brother Atwood) in a mutually beneficial deal: the SPRR got to lay down tracks and Sproul got a station to bring people to the town he was planning. As for the name, modern historians believe “Norwalk” stems from “north walk”, referring to an old trail on Sproul’s property. But I prefer an older theory that railroad brakemen couldn’t pronounce the town’s original name, Corvallis, so one of them suggested his hometown of Norwalk, CT as a replacement. It is at least true that Sproul called his town Corvallis until 1878; the name is Latin for “heart of the valley”, and Sproul either coined it himself or stole it from Corvallis, OR. (He had previously lived in Oregon, but nowhere near Corvallis.)
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