Hub Street was originally called Boston Street. When the town of Garvanza was annexed by Los Angeles in 1899, the roadway’s name had to be changed to prevent conflicts with L.A.’s own Boston Street. “Hub Street” was a clever replacement: In an 1858 essay for The Atlantic, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. wrote, “Boston State-House is the hub of the solar system.” It was a playful jab at Bostonian self-importance, and as a result the city of Boston was soon nicknamed “The Hub of the Universe” and then simply “The Hub”.
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