Named by and for William “Will” A. Dunn (1873-1951), a traveling salesman who became a Culver City VIP. Dunn, a Bloomington, IL native, was working for the Cattaraugus Cutlery Company – yes, it was he who named Cattaraugus Avenue – by 1899 and was soon put in charge of their West Coast sales force, making him a part-time Californian for two decades. He married Alma Fay Cutting (1883-1966), a Bloomington gal, in 1919 and they soon came to this area for good. According to a later newspaper article, Dunn had actually purchased seven acres here back in 1912 during one of his SoCal sojourns. He eventually sold all but one block of that acreage – where Dunn Drive (named in 1922) meets Washington Boulevard – which he owned until at least 1930. He was also a director of the First National Bank of Culver City and a VP at the Pacific Building and Loan Association, run by Harry Culver himself. (Other officers included Charles Lindblade and Thomas H. McManus.) The Dunns and their four daughters ultimately resided in Westwood.
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