Named in 1875 in memory of Philip Sichel (1822-1868), an early Los Angeles merchant. Facts are hard to come by, but we know he was born in Bavaria, immigrated to the U.S. in 1845, and was in L.A. by 1850. One of only eight Jewish men living here at that time, Sichel ran a hardware and crockery store with a fellow named Fleishman, although other accounts have his brother Julius as Fleishman’s partner. At any rate, Sichel became prominent enough to be elected to City Council in 1862 and was briefly on the County Board of Supervisors. It’s likely that he sailed to Europe in 1858 to marry a woman named Fanny Aron or Aaron (1831-1927?), then returned to L.A. with her. They had four kids: Maurice, Julia, Albert, and Charles. The Sichels moved up to San Francisco in 1868, where Philip died of an aortic aneurysm while playing cards.
Find it on the map:
