Named in 1923 on the Walnut Square tract, which also gave us Chase, Kenyon, and McConnell avenues. The head owner and seller of Walnut Square was Edward Haas (1863-1942), who hailed from Neosho, MO and maintained close ties with that city even after moving to Los Angeles. (Sidebar: Neosho is believed to mean “clear water” in the Osage language and first referred to the Neosho River in Kansas and Oklahoma.) One of five kids born to German immigrants, Ed Haas made his fortune in the wholesale grocery business: two Neosho buildings, which Haas erected in 1898 and 1906, still bear his name. He also connected with Adolphus Busch, the St. Louis beer baron, and partnered with him on a Neosho ice plant in 1900. Haas never married but instead lived with his sister Minnie a.k.a. “Min” (1859-1943) all his life. The two came to Los Angeles in 1921 and Haas soon became a player in the city’s real estate boom. Why didn’t he name this street after himself? Because he already did so in South L.A.: See Haas Avenue.
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