Named in 1875 in memory of Philip Sichel (1822-1868), an early Los Angeles merchant, by his fellow countrymen. Facts are particularly scarce in this case, but we know that Sichel 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 one Israel Fleishman – although other accounts have Sichel’s brother Julius as Fleishman’s partner. (It’s plausible that both were.) At any rate, Sichel was prominent enough to be elected to City Council in 1862 and he briefly served on the County Board of Supervisors as well. Personal details indicate that he sailed to Europe in 1858 to marry Fanny Aron or Aaron (1831-1927?) and promptly brought her to Los Angeles. 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. The family then relocated to New York.
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