Formerly called Vine Street, this was renamed in 1909 after the City of L.A. annexed the Hollywood-adjacent Colegrove, which had its own Vine Street. The new name was an homage to James Franklin Burns (1831-1921), known as J. Frank Burns, who lived on the street. This wasn’t just some random resident: at this point in his life, Burns had already served as superintendent of schools, justice of the peace, city treasurer, county sheriff, and chief of police! The New York-born, Michigan-raised Burns rode to SoCal by oxcart in 1853 with his first wife Lucretia and began his career in public service as a schoolteacher at Mission San Gabriel. His union with second wife Sarah led to divorce in 1886 (adultery on her part) and then controversy in 1891 when Sarah came out of nowhere to sue him: she claimed that they had in fact remarried later in 1886 and were living happily together when he married third wife Josephine in 1889. After months of courtroom theatrics, it was ruled that Burns was not in fact a bigamist. The ex-lawman spent his later years as a private detective. He and Josephine moved to this street in 1905.
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