Who was Seymour? Nobody. This street was first christened Modjeska Avenue in 1911 in memory of the famous stage actress Helena Modjeska. It was changed to Sycamore Street in 1912, shortly after City Council approved of Modjeska Street in Echo Park. Couldn’t have two streets with the same name in those days! But someone must have pointed out that Sycamore Street conflicted with Hollywood’s Sycamore Avenue, so it had to be renamed again. Some genius figured that “Seymore” was a fair substitute for “Sycamore” and the street took that name in October 1912. (Thankfully it wasn’t developed yet, so there were no residents who had to endure this nonsense.) Seven years later, the spelling was officially corrected to Seymour Street – and yet it was still identified as Modjeska Avenue in city directories until 1918!
Find it on the map:
