Named for Gerónimo López (1829-1921), who once owned a 700 acre ranch in these parts. As with many early Angelenos, López’s biography is a jumble of facts and hearsay, but he was born in Los Angeles and allegedly served under Andrés Pico during the Mexican–American War; in fact López claimed that it was he who carried the news of Pico’s surrender to U.S. troops in 1847, after witnessing Pico and John C. Frémont sign the Treaty of Cahuenga. López and his second cousin Catalina López (1831-1918) married in 1851 and had thirteen children together. The family settled near Mission San Fernando in 1861 and built an adobe that also served as general store and stagecoach stop; they were among the Valley’s very few residents at the time. Around 1884, the Lópezes moved into another adobe, built by Catalina’s brother Valentín, which still stands on Pico Street. As rancher, postmaster, shopkeeper, school trustee, and congenial party host, Don Gerónimo was a pillar of early San Fernando society. Lopez Canyon was named by 1895, its eponymous road in 1928.
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