In 1897, the City ordained that I Street be rechristened Irolo Street. There could only be one namesake: Irolo, a small town in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. Neighboring H Street was simultaneously changed to Hidalgo Street, so there you go. (The latter would later be absorbed into Normandie Avenue – more on that in a second.) Irolo was then just a depot village with no relevance to Los Angeles, although some local capitalists may have recognized its association with Hidalgo’s silver mines. My guess is that someone on that 1897 street name commission, whose members were explicitly seeking out Spanish/Mexican influences, read it somewhere and thought it sounded pretty. Anyway, Irolo Street’s relationship with Normandie used to be simple: Normandie was south of Pico and Irolo was north. But after a series of clumsy decisions, the streets now sort of swap identities above Olympic, Normandie disappears between Wilshire and 7th, then Irolo disappears north of 7th. Got all that?
Find it on the map:
