We can probably scratch Pontius Pilate off the list of this street’s likely namesakes, which leaves us with two candidates. First we have David Willard “Dave” Pontius (1869-1955), a Pacific Electric Railway executive. Born in Ohio, Pontius entered the railroad industry as a telegraph clerk in 1887. He moved to California in 1891 to play in a brass band but trains remained his primary vocation. He became VP and general manager of the Pacific Electric in 1921 and was its president from 1929 until 1937. Our second candidate is Dr. Bert Byron Pontius (1876-1943), no relation, an Akron, OH dentist who moved to Sawtelle in 1921 with his wife Olive and 12-year-old son Bert Jr. As they were actual Sawtellians, whereas Dave Pontius had no particular ties to this area, I give them the edge, even if Bert Pontius wasn’t nearly as prominent as Walter Armacost and A.J. Stoner, Sawtelle bigwigs who earned their street tributes. Pontius Avenue was named in 1925. (The Pontiuses didn’t live on it.) It was earlier known as 1st Street, Shiloh Avenue (some Sawtelle streets were named after Civil War battles; one still is), and 101st Avenue.
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