Dr. Homer A. Hansen (1872-1960), for whom Hansen Dam would be named, owned most of present-day Shadow Hills in 1907 when he laid out the Hansen Heights tract and honored his loved ones with street names. McBroom Street is thus a nod to his mother Mary (1838-1926), born Mary Margaret McBroom in Logan, Ohio. She and her husband joined their son soon after he came to Los Angeles in 1903; records show that she passed away in Sunland. She might also be the inspiration for nearby Mary Bell Avenue, but I’m not positive. Meanwhile, John Street – now Johanna Avenue – surely honored Hansen’s father, Maude Avenue was a gift for Hansen’s first wife, and Helen and Marian avenues were named after Hansen’s nieces. (Marian is now part of Wheatland.) Naturally, there was also a Hansen Street on the tract; it later became Sunland Blvd.
Find it on the map:
