Helen Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel Ramona, the saga of an indigenous couple trying to survive after California’s 1850 statehood, was such a runaway bestseller that numerous Southland communities quickly added streets called Ramona after the book’s half-white heroine. Ramona’s love interest, Alessandro Assis, a loyal and sensitive sheep shearer from the Luiseño tribe in Temecula, has a few tribute streets as well – including, most likely, this one, named in 1897. But note the misspelling: to judge from old newspapers, folks back then were utterly clueless about whether the character’s name was “Alessandro”, “Allesandro”, or “Allessandro”. It’s not like they couldn’t just check Hunt’s novel for reference!
Find it on the map:
