The original Preuss Road, named for an interesting character named Edward Preuss, was rechristened Robertson Boulevard in 1926, thanks to a petition by Isidore B. Dockweiler. The street’s new namesake: George Domville Robertson (1880-1956), a high-profile real estate developer and a friend of Dockweiler’s. Born in New Brunswick, Canada, Robertson settled in Los Angeles in 1911. His real estate company, very much a family business, moved from DTLA to his eponymous boulevard in 1929-1930. Robertson developed more than eighty major tracts across the Southland over five decades – but this street didn’t adopt his name easily. Two months before it became Robertson, it was set to be called Culver Boulevard – much to the delight of Culver City leaders, who had long desired a Culver-branded thoroughfare connecting Hollywood to Venice (through their own municipality, of course). So when L.A. City Council did a surprise turn and went with Robertson, the miffed Culver Boulevardiers had to settle for renaming the former Putnam Ave. and Del Rey Blvd. in their own city.
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