This street was named by the founders of East Whittier – Michiganders all. John Pitts Sanborn (1833-1915), former customs collector and political boss of Port Huron, MI, was the ringleader; his fellow investors were his cousin Fredrick, Fredrick’s mother Mahitable, and Judge Nahum E. Thomas, all of Port Huron. (The Sanborns would settle in SoCal while Judge Thomas stayed behind.) And there was a fifth partner, based in Detroit: Simon Jones Murphy (1815-1905), a millionaire lumberman originally from Maine. Murphy, accompanied by his wife Ann, would soon spend his winters in East Whittier, enhancing his fortune with oil, water, and real estate investments. He was a key player in Whittier’s development and his name lives on in Murphy Ranch Park. The East Whittier townsite was announced on December 31st, 1887; it was previously and briefly marketed as “Ramirez” – a nod to the late José María Ramirez, who had sold the land to one Pierre Nicolas, who then sold it to Sanborn, et al. Michigan Avenue was named by 1891 along with California, Ocean View, Catalina, and Euclid avenues.
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