This street was first christened Adams Avenue in 1906 by landowner John Quincy Adams, no relation to the president. After the City of L.A. annexed Eagle Rock in May 1923, some 54 Eagle Rock street names had to be changed to avoid confusion with existing ones in Los Angeles (e.g., Adams Boulevard). Eagle Rock trustees submitted a list of replacement names that November, including Addison Way. Besides “Addison” sounding similar to “Adams”, the trustees were probably also honoring the late Addison E. Lee (1876-1918), a beloved Eagle Rocker who had lived on Adams Avenue for a dozen years until a heart attack felled him at 42. His widow Evalyn (not a typo) continued to live on this street until remarrying in 1948 and moving to Whittier.
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