Johanna Avenue was born John Street on 1907’s Hansen Heights tract, owned by Dr. Homer Hansen (1872-1960; you may recognize his “Dam” name). It received a gender switch in 1918 when Hansen Heights was annexed by the City of Los Angeles: there was already a John Street in L.A., so this one had to go. Anyway, since Homer Hansen clearly named several streets on his tract after relatives – see McBroom Street for more – it follows that John Street was named in memory of his father. John Hansen (1838-1906) spent most of his life in Hocking County, Ohio – first as a teacher and then, after fighting in the Civil War, as an attorney. He gave up law for steel when his brothers asked him to represent their steel manufactory at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago. This led to a job managing a steel mill in Vinton, Iowa until he moved to Sunland with his wife Mary (née McBroom) in 1904. Side note: Dr. John Ebert Hansen (1880-1942) was Homer Hansen’s brother, so John Street might have honored him as well. He and his wife Maude settled in West Hollywood.
Find it on the map:
