Emperor Avenue

Emperor, Muscatel, and Sultana avenues were all named in 1906 on the Sunny Slope Vineyard tract north of Longden. You probably recognize muscatel as a type of wine (made from the muscat grape) and sultana as a white grape variety also called Thompson Seedless. You may not know that emperor is also a variety of grape. These three streets were named as part of the tract’s vinicultural theme – and in fact there was a fourth: Zinfandel Avenue, rechristened Ardendale in the 1920s. The tract itself was carved out of the massive Sunny Slope estate that had belonged to the late L.J. Rose (1827-1899), namesake of Rosemead Boulevard.