“Rosemead” – originally “Rosemeade” – was coined in 1889 by Leonard John “L.J.” Rose (1827-1899) for his 880 acre ranch: the future city of Rosemead. Born in Bavaria, Rose immigrated to the U.S. in 1839 and got rich running a dry goods store in Iowa. After a disastrous attempt to wagon out west in 1858 – tribal attacks killed eight in his party – L.J., his wife Amanda, and their children (who would eventually number nine) succeeded two years later, with Rose setting up the 1,950 acre Sunny Slope ranch in today’s East Pasadena. Here Rose became famous for his oranges, his wines, and his racehorses. A man who loved living large, Rose sold Sunny Slope at a huge profit in 1886-1887 but quickly spent the money on other mortgages, gambling, a DTLA mansion, bad investments in Ventura and Arizona, and the Rosemeade ranch. (He also served in the California state senate at this time.) Crushed by debt, Rose committed suicide by overdosing on morphine pills behind his mansion. His ranch was bought by Henry Huntington in 1905, who subdivided it as the Rosemead tract and the rest is history. Rosemead Boulevard itself was laid out by 1926.
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