Fickett Street

Named by Charles Rice Fickett (1837-1905) on an 1876 tract he owned with Walter J. Mathews. Born and raised in Maine, Fickett established a career there as a carpenter. He then moved out to Northern California in the 1860s and settled in Oakland, which is where he likely first crossed paths with Mathews, a budding young architect. Fickett finally came to Los Angeles in 1874. Here he became a successful contractor, supplying carpenters and plasterers for several major buildings and making enough money from his business to buy a few racehorses. Indeed, most of what is known about Charles Fickett comes from old newspaper racing columns; details of his personal life are hazier. All that’s clear is that in 1889 he married Agnes Davidson, a young widow with a toddler named Hal. The 1900 census showed the three of them living in El Monte, with Fickett’s occupation listed as “farmer”.