Named in 1887 for hotelier/rancher Andrew Henry Denker (1840-1892). The Prussia native immigrated to the U.S. in 1858 and was in California by 1865; for some years, he split his time between Los Angeles and Kern County. He and fellow German American Henry Hammel would make their fortune running DTLA’s United States and Cosmopolitan hotels, but history remembers them for purchasing Rancho Rodeo de las Aguas in 1883. There they grew a variety of vegetables and grains while plotting a residential community called “Morocco”. But it was not to be: Denker – whose Paris-born wife Louise was the sister of Hammel’s own spouse Marie – died just two years after Hammel, and in 1906 their heirs sold the ranch to Burton E. Green and partners, who felt that “Beverly Hills” was a catchier name than “Morocco”. While it’s unclear if Andrew Denker owned land where Denker Avenue began (near Jefferson), he had property all over the city and was frankly the only Denker in town (along with his wife and five kids), so he’s surely its namesake.
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