It’s not named for fish. Las tunas is Spanish for “the prickly pear cactuses” and refers to an adobe called Las Tunas, which is located near Mission San Gabriel and did indeed once have a thick hedge of prickly pear. Some say the adobe is the oldest surviving house in the county, built as early as the 1770s for the mission’s padres while the mission itself was under construction. The original tunas were part of the mission’s botanical garden, planted in the early 1800s by Father José María de Zalvidea (1780-1846). The house was purchased in 1880 by Irish-born civil engineer Gervaise Purcell (1844-1925), who might deserve credit for the “Las Tunas” name. He did subdivide the Las Tunas tract in 1886, which established the prickly name around town. Despite its historic status, the Las Tunas Adobe remains in private hands; hidden away on a cul-de-sac, it is rarely open to the public. As for Las Tunas Drive, a half-mile north of the house, it was named by 1912.
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