Alameda is Spanish for “tree-lined avenue” (derived from álamo: “cottonwood tree”). L.A.’s Alameda Street was officially named on February 2nd, 1855, but the road (or even some other road) may well have been informally known as an “alameda” before that. Like the city’s other early streets, Alameda started near the old plaza and ran for a few blocks. It currently tops out at just over 20 miles and stretches from Chinatown down to Wilmington. Railroad tracks have run alongside much of Alameda since 1869, when the Los Angeles and San Pedro Railroad – SoCal’s first locomotive railway – was opened to the public. The LA&SP was purchased by the Southern Pacific four years later; today, the Alameda Corridor Transportation Authority owns the tracks.
Find it on the map:
