Named for Thomas Horace “T.H.” Dudley (c. 1867-1934), banker, landowner, and twice mayor of Santa Monica. Hailing from Leicester, UK, Dudley immigrated to Bakersfield in 1889 and got into real estate. He then came to Santa Monica in July 1896 for his first wife Mary’s health; sadly, she died just a week later at 22. Three years later, Dudley married wealthy widow Matilda Brooks Ryan (see Brooks Avenue) and assumed management of the land and businesses that her late husband Francis had owned with Abbot Kinney. In 1902, the same year Dudley Avenue was named on Matilda’s old property, the couple partnered with Kinney to found Ocean Park Bank. T.H. would preside over several more local banks during his lifetime. Elected mayor of Santa Monica in 1907, he held the post for five years, then served two more in 1914. His marriage with Matilda eventually cooled: a week after their divorce was finalized in 1922, he wed tennis champ Louise Riddell Williams (1884-1958).
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