Harter, Aletta, and Marietta avenues were named in 1923 on a tract co-owned by Alfred Harter (c. 1870-1932) and his wife Etta (née Boyer, 1877-1955). Obviously Harter Avenue takes the couple’s surname and Aletta is a blend of “Alfred” and “Etta”; the “Mari-” in “Marietta” may come from a Mary or a Marie, but since little can be gleaned about the Harters, the source of that name remains a mystery. Alfred was born in Colorado or possibly England to unidentified British parents. A mechanical engineer by trade, he made his living constructing ice factories and cold storage facilities. He married the seventeen-year-old Dottie Fish in 1893, brought her to Los Angeles in 1909, and parted ways with her a few years later. Etta Boyer, an Illinoisan by birth, came to L.A. with her first husband Charles Hyde and their son Charles in 1911. Hyde died five years later. Etta and Alfred tied the knot by 1920, the year Alfred established the California Ice Plant in Culver City. The Harters then relocated to Culver but were back in L.A. when Alfred was felled by a coronary thrombosis. Etta went on to marry a third time.
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