Santa Monica has no unlucky 13th Street; it’s called Euclid instead. This wasn’t always the case. The city was content with 13th Street until February 1907, when property owners petitioned the Board of Trustees to rename it. Although the trustees expressed “considerable amusement” at this superstitious request, they granted it. So… why Euclid? Well, although there are streets named after the ancient Greek mathematician all over the U.S. (and plenty in L.A. County: see Euclid Avenue), and Euclid’s landmark geometry tome Elements did consist of 13 books, in this case it appears that Santa Monicans wished to honor John Euclid Miles (1851-1924), who went by “J. Euclid” and was running for city council at the time. (He won.) Miles was an Ohioan who had only been in Santa Monica for five years, but he invested heavily in local real estate and had become chummy with the city’s elite by 1907. For all I know, it was he who suggested “Euclid” as 13th Street’s new name. Stranger things have happened.
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