Born in 1912 south of present-day Lassen Street, this was initially dubbed Orange Avenue. (See Lemona Avenue for more.) It was renamed in February 1917, now that the Valley was part of the City of Los Angeles, to avoid conflicts with L.A.’s own Orange Street (now part of Wilshire). Numerous Valley streets were likewise given new identies; a few honored L.A. politicians like mayor Frederic Woodman and councilman John Topham. And so it went with Orange: it was changed to Betkouski Avenue, after city council president Martin Betkouski (1860-1942). Four months later, property owners petitioned for a new name. Was it anti-Polish sentiment? Difficulty in spelling and/or pronouncing “Betkouski”? Or was it because the councilman was then being charged with misconduct? (Nothing steamy: it involved an improper land sale.) No reason was reported, but City Council approved the petitioners’ suggested replacement: Burnet. Unfortunately, there’s no clue as to where it came from. There was no one named Burnet associated with the tract, the Valley, or Los Angeles in general. My best guess is that the petitioners brainstormed various names that started with “B” like Betkouski and settled on this one.
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