Why am I not listing this as plain old Herbert Avenue? Because in 1918, when this little horseshoe-shaped road was laid out, it was explicitly divided into “North” and “South” segments; indeed, the City of L.A.’s street inventory still indexes them under separate names. Pretty pretentious, if you ask me. Anyway, the Herbert in question is Herbert Emanuel Culler (1886-1959), who in 1918 was married to San Pedro overlord George Peck‘s daughter Rena (1887-1971). He owned this tract with his father-in-law. The Indiana-born Culler had moved to Redondo Beach with his parents and brother by 1903. Four years later, he tied the knot with Rena Peck. They had two kids, Herbert Jr. and Betty-Jane, but separated in 1927. At divorce proceedings, Rena claimed that her ex was an abusive drunk who had “undue familiarity with other women”. Both remarried: Rena to Walter Lone Anderson in 1930 and Herbert to Gladys Cross in 1932. Betty-Jane Culler (1920-2011), who later became Mrs. Clarke Mallery, moved into Grandpa Peck‘s house in Manhattan Beach – he’d cofounded that city in 1901-1902 – and was a charter member of its historical society.
Find it on the map:
