Cuarta is the Spanish feminine translation of “fourth”, in this case referring to cuarta calle: “fourth street”. So was La Cuarta Street originally known as 4th Street? Yes it was – and as another street as well. First, about Fourth: maps from the time are nonexistent, but 4th Street was probably laid out in late 1887 on the East Whittier townsite; newspapers first mentioned it in 1893. (The folks behind East Whittier were not the original Whittier Quakers but a group of Michiganders: see Michigan Avenue.) La Cuarta Street itself was named in 1941 on the Friendly Hills tract as an extension of 4th Street – the Friendly Hills developers wanted its name to fit in with their Spanish-themed avenues, e.g., Enramada. Meanwhile, back on the original Whittier townsite, the western stretch of La Cuarta was christened Short Street back in 1887. Both Short Street and 4th Street kept their names all the way until 1966, when the entire thoroughfare became La Cuarta. See 2nd Street for the tortuous history of East Whittier’s ordinal streets.
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