As a surname, Markland is uncommon but not unheard of; there were a few folks named Markland residing in Los Angeles County when this street was laid out in 1948. But as I found no connection between any of them and Montevista Knolls, the 65 acre subdivision that introduced Markland Drive, my cautious bet is that the “Mark” in question is the subdivision’s developer S. Mark Taper (1901-1993) – yes, the selfsame benefactor of the Mark Taper Forum at the L.A. Music Center. (See Taper Street for his biography.) One of the heaviest hitters in Southland real estate, Mark Taper and his company Biltmore Homes set up Montevista Knolls with partners George D. Riddle, an architect, and David Salot, a fellow developer (see Betty Lane). Markland originally ran for just two blocks, between Findlay and Ferdinand avenues; the rest of the present-day roadway was then known as 1st Street, except for the portion east of Wilcox: that was called Sherwood Street.
Find it on the map:
