It’s not named for Santa Catalina Island – at least not specifically. When Redondo Beach was laid out in 1887, most of its east-west streets were named after precious stones while most of its north-south streets were given Spanish female names, e.g., Catalina (the Spanish form of Catherine). Each set of streets followed a rather slack alphabetical order, with some letters skipped over (no “F”-themed gem between Emerald and Garnet; no “K”-named dama between Juanita and Lucia) and some represented twice (Agate and Amethyst; Guadalupe and Gertruda). And some of those street names have since been erased: adios Benita, Margarita, Marguerita, Prudencia, Rebeca, and Ramona! At any rate, it’s a myth – or let’s say half-myth, half-coincidence – that those north-south streets honor the daughters of Rancho San Pedro landowner Manuel Domínguez. He only had eight girls (six of whom survived him), not twenty-plus, and four of their actual names (Adelaida, Dolores, Leonor, and Victoria) aren’t represented here in Redondo.
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