Named in 1876, presumably to mark the United States Centennial, by Prudent Beaudry (c. 1819-1893) on his so-called Park tract. (He also laid out the nearby Park View tract a year earlier.) Beaudry was just finishing up a two-year stint as mayor of Los Angeles; apparently no one saw his owning large portions of the city as a conflict of interest. At any rate, the proud French Canadian (whose younger brother Victor likely co-developed this tract) often gave his streets names that would appeal to the patriotic American: along with Centennial Street, the Park tract also introduced Custer, Boston, and Philadelphia streets (the latter since erased by the 101 and/or 110 freeways) and extended Beaudry’s earlier Bunker Hill Avenue.
Find it on the map:
