Many north Redondo streets were laid out in 1906 by William H. Carlson, who named them after famous Gilded Age businessmen. Given this this context, Fisk Lane surely honors James “Jim” Fisk Jr. (1835-1872), although his legacy was pretty much trash in 1906. After profiting off the Civil War, the unscrupulous Vermonter moved to New York and became a stockbroker in 1865. Along with his partner Jay Gould – Redondo’s portion of Artesia Blvd. was initially called Gould Lane – Fisk attempted to corner the gold market in 1869, which resulted in crashing said market and sparking a nationwide financial crisis: the original “Black Friday”. The two swindlers somehow evaded prosecution, but Fisk couldn’t evade the bullets of Edward Stokes, his rival for the affections of divorcée Josie Mansfield. It’s been written that Mansfield and Stokes had attempted to blackmail Fisk – and when he wouldn’t cave in, an enraged Stokes murdered him.
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