Like several other streets laid out in 1887 on the Ramona townsite, Marguerita Avenue probably – if not decisively – honors one of the eleven children born to landowners James De Barth and Sue Shorb (see Shorb Street). Margaret Nina Shorb (1871-1875) was less than four years old when she passed away from unknown causes; a newspaper blurb marking her death called her only an “interesting child”. She shares a tombstone with her infant brother Benito. So why did the Shorbs dub this avenue “Marguerita” instead of “Margaret”? Maybe to avoid conflicts with some other Margaret-themed street in the area. Maybe it was their daughter’s nickname. Or maybe it refers to someone else, but given that most of the other Shorb kids received namesake streets, I do think this one memorializes poor little Margaret.
Find it on the map:
