Originally called Harrison Avenue, this was one of many San Fernando Valley streets that were renamed in 1916, a year after the City of Los Angeles annexed the Valley. (L.A. already had a Harrison Avenue in Boyle Heights, so it couldn’t allow another; ironically, that Harrison doesn’t exist anymore, obliterated by the 10 freeway.) Engineers with the City probably chose “Hatteras” as the new name because it starts with the same two letters as “Harrison” – simple as that. (They did that a lot.) As for the inspiration, it could only be Cape Hatteras in North Carolina’s Outer Banks: its name stems from a native tribe and/or village once located on present-day Hatteras Island.
Find it on the map:
