I found no story behind New Hampshire Avenue’s name; in all likelihood, someone just thought it would make a cute pairing with Vermont Avenue one block east. Vermont Ave. was named by 1882. The first mention I found of New Hampshire Ave. was in a January 8th, 1887 ad for a tract that ran between Vermont and New Hampshire and between Pico and Washington. The tract, probably owned by banker Felix C. Howes (1838-1898), was being offered by a real estate auction firm called the Los Angeles Land Bureau, ironically run by San Franciscans but with one local representative: James Boon Lankershim (1850-1931), a big mover and shaker whose father Isaac had brought the San Fernando Valley to life. None of these men had ties to the state of New Hampshire.
Find it on the map:
