When the Walnut Lawn tract was opened here in 1906, promotional photos showed that the property did indeed feature an abundance of mature walnut trees. Tract owner William Paul “W.P.” Whitsett was a Midwest transplant who had purchased 36 acres in December 1905 and announced Walnut Lawn just one month later. Whitsett, who naturally named neighboring Whitsett Avenue as well as Walnut Drive, advertised his tract relentlessly and was wholly dedicated to its growth until he was hired in January 1911 as sales manager for the brand new town of Van Nuys. (See the San Fernando Valley’s own Whitsett Ave. for more.) From the Petty Racist Department: Rival developer Ralph Rogers, squabbling with Whitsett over the layout of houses and streets, erected a “spite billboard” on his own adjacent tract, depicting a laughing mule and a statement that his tract was for “colored people only”, jeopardizing his own potential sales to white customers just to scare off Whitsett’s. The ruse failed.
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