Named in 1905 on land originally owned by Hollywood founder Ida Wilcox, who had become Mrs. Philo J. Beveridge in 1894. At least five other investors helped her subdivide a tract here, but although “Cosmo” was a man’s name at the time – not common but not unheard of – none of these people had a Cosmo in their family trees. So this little street’s namesake remains obscure. By far the most prominent Cosmo in 1905 Los Angeles was British-born sugar broker Cosmo Morgan (c. 1860-1948) but I found no connection between him and this tract or its owners. (His son Cosmo Jr. did grow up to work in Hollywood, particularly in children’s theater; he was posthumously accused of pedophilia.) It may well be that someone actually named Cosmo Street after the ever-popular cosmos flower, believing “cosmo” to be the singular of “cosmos”. It isn’t.
Find it on the map:
