These days, “satsuma” usually refers to a variety of mandarin, often mistaken for a tangerine. But Satsuma Avenue is named for the satsuma plum. Said plum, a red-fleshed variety, was grown at the southernmost tip of this street by Carl Alfred Frieburg (1866-1936), a Swedish immigrant who came to Toluca around 1891 to manage Charles Forman‘s fruit orchards. Frieburg later became a successful grower himself, owning some 65 acres here, and his name was on the 1916 tract that introduced Satsuma Avenue to the world. According to his daughter Elna, when local leaders offered to name the street around the corner from Satsuma in Frieburg’s honor, the humble Swede suggested it be called Valley Spring Lane instead. And so it was.
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