Between 1918 and 1925, during L.A.’s protracted acquisition of the city of Sawtelle, the streets in this neighborhood went through an identity crisis, going from ordinal numbers (1st Street, etc.) to Civil War battlefields (see Corinth Avenue) to a new set of ordinals (101st Avenue, etc.). Finally, on July 29th, 1925, Sawtelle’s street names were set in stone. Call it an educated guess, but I believe five of these names – Beloit, Butler, Colby, Cotner, and Purdue – are for universities, in keeping with the collegiate theme that was earlier established a few blocks west (Harvard Street, et al). Beloit College is in Beloit, WI; Butler University is in Indianapolis, IN; Colby College is in Waterville, ME; Cotner University was in Lincoln, NE (it closed in 1933); Purdue University is in West Lafayette, IN. Why these specific schools? Maybe they were the alma maters of the bureaucrats or civil engineers who christened the streets. Or maybe their names just hadn’t already been used.
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