Motor was originally known as 4th Street, back when Palms – then called The Palms – was its own town. Los Angeles annexed Palms in 1915, and since L.A. already had a 4th Street, this one was rechristened Motor Avenue in March 1916. Why “Motor”? The most plausible theory is that it was simply a nod to the trendy motorcar; Palms had no automobile companies to serve as inspiration, although some 4th Street blacksmiths might have become mechanics by then. Anyway, Motor originally ran between Washington Blvd. and present-day Manning Ave. Its northern section, connecting to Pico, didn’t open until 1924. This debunks the myth that the street’s name stems from movie folk “motoring” between MGM (originally Triangle Film Corporation, co-owned by Thomas Ince) and Fox, since Motor was named years before Fox arrived at Pico.
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