As you might guess, Coeur d’Alene Avenue has ties to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. The street was named by John W. Flink (1866-1925), a Swede who came to the U.S. in 1887 and eventually settled in a mining community east of Coeur d’Alene. The area was a hotbed of mining activity and Flink got rich off his various mineral finds – lead, zinc, and so on. He married fellow Swede Anna Linn (1882-1972) in 1900 and the childfree couple moved to Ocean Park four years later. Flink and his partners established the Coeur d’Alene Place tract here in 1905, laying out its titular street as well as a Flink Avenue (renamed Harding in 1923). The Flinks relocated to West Adams around 1913. Coeur d’alene means “awl heart” in French – an awl is a strong needle used to puncture leather – and was supposedly coined by 19th century French fur traders as a nickname for Northern Idaho’s Schitsu’umsh tribe, who were said to be sharp negotiators. (Get it?) This became the basis for the city’s name.
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