The Boyle Hotel, the Victorian landmark at 1st and Boyle, opened as the Cummings Hotel in May 1891 – the “Cummings Block 1889” plate on the building denotes the year that construction began – and the man who financed it was this street’s namesake: George Cummings (c. 1830-1903). Early details are hard to confirm but Cummings was allegedly born in Austria with the surname Gerscovich, came to California in 1849 for the Gold Rush, bought a chunk of pasture land near Tehachapi, Kern County in 1854, and flourished as a cattleman. His property would grow to 5,000 acres and become known as Cummings Valley. Cummings came to L.A. in 1860 and married María Francisca del Sacramento López (1850-1930) nine years later. Familiarly known as “Sacramenta”, she was a descendant of a wealthy alcalde (mayor) of Mexican-era Los Angeles and had inherited some of his land in Paredón Blanco: today’s Boyle Heights. The Cummingses established the Mount Pleasant tract on this land in 1875 and built their home here; Cummings Street was named at that time. (There was also a Lopez Street but it became part of Boyle Ave. in 1898.) The couple and four of their six kids moved to Cummings Valley permanently around 1900. Tragically, an ailing George Cummings failed to escape a hotel fire in east Bakersfield and was burned beyond recognition.
Find it on the map:
