Francis “Frank” Biggy (c. 1845-1918) once owned land on this spot. Or rather his wife Bridget (1846-1910) did – that’s what the courts decided. But let’s back up: The Biggys, Irish immigrants both, got married in Los Angeles in 1881. The following year, Frank bought 20 acres here from the ubiquitous John Strother Griffin… with $2,000 of Bridget’s money. Biggy Street was named by 1887, the year Frank Biggy Jr. was born. Then things took a turn. By 1897, Bridget was suing Frank Sr. to stop him from selling the property. She divorced him a year later, citing extreme cruelty and claiming that he was “generally no-account”. She got the land and their son. After Bridget’s death, Frank Jr. inherited those 20 disputed acres (plus one additional acre), so Frank Sr. sued him for parent support. Frank Jr. responded that his father was a wastrel, so Frank Sr. sued again in 1912 and won an allowance of $25 a month. To say there was bad blood amongst the Biggys would be an understatement.
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