Inspired by the car? Probably: Cadillac Avenue was christened in 1915, when Detroit had already been producing Cadillacs for thirteen years and models were being sold in DTLA and in Hollywood. This street was named by city ordinance – there’s no record of it having any identity before that – so some anonymous bureaucrat or civil engineer presumably picked “Cadillac” as the name was familiar to drivers and also had relevance in L.A.’s emerging car culture. There were no Cadillac factories or dealerships along this road at the time; in fact it wasn’t platted for development until 1923. The Cadillac Automobile Company itself took its name from Antoine Laumet de la Mothe, sieur de Cadillac (1658-1730), who founded Detroit in 1701. The firm was purchased by General Motors in 1909 and has existed as GM’s luxury brand ever since.
Find it on the map:
