Hartzell Street

Named for Joseph Crane Hartzell (1842-1928), a Methodist bishop from Illinois. In 1870, Hartzell was elected pastor of a church in New Orleans and there became an outspoken ally of the black community – indeed, he and his wife Jennie (1844-1916) were early civil rights campaigners. Hartzell later became famous for his two decades of missionary work in Africa. (He had argued that a black bishop would be more appropriate, but his church wasn’t as progressive as he.) The elderly Hartzell died after burglars entered his suburban Cincinnati home, tied him up, and beat him; they made off with his gold watch and $15. Hartzell Street was named in 1926 while the bishop was still alive. This neighborhood has mostly alphabetical streets (except for “J”) that are mostly named for notable Methodists, as Pacific Palisades founder Charles H. Scott was a Methodist pastor himself.