This was originally known as Glen Eyrie Avenue, its name taken from the 1905 Glen Eyrie tract. Eyrie is a Gaelic variant of “aerie”, a nest for a bird of prey – typically the eagle. In 1923, after Eagle Rock was consolidated into the City of Los Angeles, over fifty local streets had to be rechristened, mostly to prevent postal conflicts with like-named roadways elsewhere in the city. Since L.A. didn’t have anything called Glen Eyrie, the why behind this name change went unreported, but I suspect someone with City Council or the Eagle Rock Board of Trustees felt that “Eyrie” was too confusing to spell and/or pronounce, so the somewhat homophonous “Iris” was chosen instead. It’s unknown if anyone was aware of the Glen Iris neighborhood in Birmingham, AL.
Find it on the map:
