Two women have been posited as this 1905 street’s namesake – and neither was a Marguerita per se. First up: Margarita Bandini de Winston (1837-1910), whose half-sister Arcadia Bandini de Baker (1827-1912) was the “First Lady of Santa Monica” (her husband Robert cofounded the city). Born in San Diego, Margarita Bandini came to Los Angeles in the 1850s to live with her wealthy sister. Renowned for her striking looks, in 1860 she married Dr. James Brown Winston, surgeon and part owner of the Bella Union, one of L.A.’s earliest hotels. They had eight children. Near the end of her life, the widowed Margarita moved back in with Arcadia, who had long since settled in Santa Monica. Our next candidate is Marguerite Rivers Drake (1893-?), the Arizona-born daughter of Charles Rivers Drake, proprietor of Long Beach’s long-gone Hotel Virginia. She went on to marry and change her surname at least twice (hence the unknown death date), and her daughter Astrea wed a son of entertainer Will Rogers, but more relevant to this case is the fact that she and Adelaide Gillis, namesake of nearby Adelaide Drive, were neighbors (not here but near USC) and socialized together in the 1900s – as did their fathers. So either Mrs. Winston or Miss Drake could have been the “real” Marguerita.
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