Named for James A. Garfield (1831-1881), 20th President of the United States, who was in office for less than five months when he was shot by a political fanatic at a Washington D.C. train station. (Historians believe Garfield was actually killed by his doctors, thanks to their surgical bungling and their germ-ridden hands.) Now over 18 miles long, Garfield Avenue began rather humbly in Alhambra and was reportedly named in March 1881 to coincide with Garfield’s inauguration. The earliest mention I found of the street, however, was exactly one year later: March 1882. If this was the real date, it means it was named in memoriam. That makes more sense to me. In any event, a Captain F. Edward Gray (1844-1928) is credited with the idea. Gray was a Civil War veteran from Massachusetts who bought a 30 acre ranch in Alhambra and became a horticulturalist. He was also, like Garfield, an ardent Republican.
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