What’s a Russian name doing on an El Sereno byway? Easy: Novgorod Street was introduced in 1905 on the Newton Park tract – and novgorod is Russian for “newtown”. Newton Park was developed on land formerly owned by the late Mary Hulda Titus Newton (1848-1904). The subdividers weren’t Russian, but the Russian cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Veliky Novgorod made the news often enough back then, so clearly someone knew the word and its English translation. After the City of Los Angeles annexed El Sereno in 1915, most of Newton Park’s streets were renamed in order to avoid duplication with other L.A. streets. Thus Castro Ave. became Castalia Ave., Ridge Place became Renovo Street, Rosecrans Ave. became Rosemead Ave., Titus Ave. became Tampico Ave., and Newton Ave. itself became Pueblo Ave. Only Novgorod and Drysdale kept their names.
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