The Reseda neighborhood was born in 1911 as a town called Marian, in honor of L.A. Times secretary Marian Otis Chandler (1866-1952), whose father Harrison Gray Otis and husband Harry Chandler were subdividing the Valley. Reseda Avenue (later “Boulevard”), named a year earlier, was one of the first streets on this massive subdivision. Since Reseda odorata is the Latin name for a fragrant flower called mignonette (imagine if this street went by “Mignonette”!), some say Reseda was named for the flower. Not impossible, since other 1910 Valley streets were named for trees – don’t bother looking for Maple, Oak, or Palm avenues, they’re long gone – but back in those days, “reseda” was much better known as an olive-like shade of green that was popular in women’s fashion. Such a verdant word would have reflected the Valley’s pre-industrial landscape, so I posit that the name stems from the color, not the plant. In any event, the town of Marian was renamed Reseda in 1922 when residents wanted a post office and Marian – or something like it – was already taken.
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