When Pomona was first laid out in 1875, its founders named nine streets after themselves (see Pomona Blvd.) and eight after the women in their lives. All but two of the latter were renamed. Elizabeth Street, which honored Elizabeth Thomas (1834-1926), was the first to go. According to lore, a postmaster couldn’t pronounce “Elizabeth” – how does one fail to pronounce “Elizabeth”? – so he started calling it “Main Street”. By 1882, Pomonans knew it as both Elizabeth and Main. Although the City didn’t make Main Street official until 1920, Elizabeth Street was all but forgotten by 1900. This may have inspired Pomona’s Board of Trade to demand, five years later, that the other streets with “silly feminine names” (their actual words) be changed. After much colorful debate in the press, the Board ultimately got their way – mostly. In 1907, Ellen Street became Park Avenue; in 1908, Libbie became Monterey Avenue. 1917 saw Louisa, Elmina, and Imogene mutate into Locust, Elm, and Linden, respectively. Only Rebecca Street (named for the wife of Board of Trade member C.E. White) and Eleanor Street were left unsullied.
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