This 1914 street is believed to honor early landowner Jonathan Rensselaer Scott (c. 1810-1864). I support this theory, although he died half a century earlier, as Scott Road traces the border between the original 1887 Burbank townsite and Jonathan Scott’s old acreage. Scott was a lawyer from Cortland County, NY who, in 1844, left his first wife Edith and their three children for a married woman: Harriet Glenny. They and Harriet’s daughter Mary hid out in Missouri for a few years, then came to Los Angeles in March 1850. Harriet died a month later, apparently in childbirth. Scott then wed Mary Cox, sister-in-law of L.A. mayor John G. Nichols, in 1851; they would have five kids together. In spite of his scandalous background, Jonathan R. Scott was one of L.A.’s most prominent attorneys and even served as justice of the peace and county supervisor. In 1857, he reportedly swapped 5,745 acres of his La Cañada property with the Verdugo siblings, who gave him 4,603 acres of Rancho San Rafael. This latter chunk of land is where you’ll find Scott Road today. Family footnotes: Scott’s stepdaughter Mary went on to wed Alfred Beck Chapman and his daughter Emily married realtor Du Ray Smith Sr.
Find it on the map:
