Likely named for Allan Cameron Jr. (1864-1916), foreman of Lucky Baldwin‘s vast Rancho La Puente holdings. Born near Inverness, Scotland, Cameron immigrated to Northern California with his family in 1873. Baldwin hired Cameron’s father as foreman in 1884 and the clan moved to La Puente, but Dad was sickly and passed away just three years later, leaving 23-year-old “Al” to inherit his job. Cameron Avenue was named in 1907 near its present-day intersection with Lark Ellen Avenue. Baldwin died two years later and Al Cameron was promoted to manager of his late employer’s warehouses. Around 1912, Al, his wife Lucy, and their three sons retired to their own farm in San Benito County. Social reform postscript: Al’s sister Donaldina Cameron (1869-1968) famously freed over 3,000 Chinese women and children from sexual slavery in San Francisco.
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