Orcutt Avenue

Although it seems like a rare surname, there were so many Orcutts in 1910s/1920s Long Beach – Orcutt Avenue was christened in 1923 – that none stand out as a likely namesake for this street. Given LB’s history with oil exploration, it might very well honor Unocal/Union Oil geologist William Warren Orcutt (1869-1942), although he had no clear ties to this area. (See Orcutt Drive in Montebello for a biography.) William’s second cousin Henry Herbert Orcutt (1848-1926) was a grocer who lived in Long Beach with his wife Eva from 1912 until 1918, when they relocated to Whittier to be closer to their sons, but once again I found no connection to this neighborhood.