Real estate developer Edward “Ed” Haas (1863-1942) named this street for himself on a 1922 housing tract southwest of Slauson and Wilton that he promoted as “Lincoln Square”. Haas had only arrived in Los Angeles one year prior. He had hitherto spent his entire life in Neosho, MO – see Del Rey’s Neosho Avenue, which he also named, for some background – where he made it big running a wholesale grocery firm. Although he was a confirmed bachelor, Haas didn’t come to L.A. alone: he was accompanied by his older sister Minnie “Min” Haas (1859-1943), by all accounts his lifelong companion. He built them a modest home on Van Ness – one block west of Haas Avenue, but only coincidentally so; the siblings lived much further north, at 3rd Street. The wealthy Haas surely could have afforded something grander, as he would leave an estate worth over $8 million in today’s dollars.
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