Alas, goths, there’s no cool story behind Gothic Avenue. It was originally sunny Santa Barbara Place; the gloomy new name was established in December 1916 by city ordinance. (After Los Angeles annexed the Valley, duplicate street names like Santa Barbara had to be abolished; ironically, L.A.’s Santa Barbara Avenue ultimately lost its own name: it’s now Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.) “Gothic” was probably just chosen from a brainstormed list of potential street names. At that time, the term primarily referred to architecture – although it was also a brand of men’s shirt collars.
Find it on the map:
