This was one of over 300 Los Angeles streets renamed in 1897 by a special commission appointed by City Council. Most of the targeted streets had duplicate and/or multiple names and thus required new identities. But Alimo Street, rechristened Maceo Street by said commission, was a curious case: it was the only Alimo in town. Why change it? Maybe someone thought it looked too much like Aliso Street? At any rate, these men sought to add more Spanish names to L.A.’s streetscape in tribute to the city’s past, but as I found no Maceos living here at that time, it’s entirely possible that the commissioners were combing through newspapers for ideas and came across Antonio Maceo (1845-1896), the Afro-Cuban general who fought and died in the Cuban War of Independence: his name popped up in the local press hundreds of times in 1896. (Cubans consider him a national hero.) This is just an educated guess, of course – there’s no way of knowing at this point. But if true, Rivera and Velasco streets might have also been inspired by generals in this war.
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