Songfest Drive, Sideview Drive, and Metro Street were all named on a 1949 tract subdivided by E. Kline Stickney and Paul Wampler Garvey. Although both men would sneak their names into other nearby streets – see Klinedale Avenue and Wampler Street for bios – I couldn’t find any specific reason behind Songfest, Sideview, or Metro. In the 1940s, “songfests” were popular community gatherings featuring amateur singers and public singalongs. You’d find them all over SoCal – indeed, all over the country. The term likely derives from Sängerfest, a more formal German American singing competition that was held annually in Philadelphia since at least 1846. Stickney and Garvey each had faint German/Pennsylvanian roots, but none strong enough to suggest personal connections to this event. As for Sideview and Metro, the former might have alluded to the street marking the west side of that 1949 tract, the latter just a cool-sounding name that was available.
Find it on the map:
