“Sylmar” is a Latin portmanteau that sort of means “forest sea” (sylva mare), but the company behind the name defined it as “sea of green” in their newspaper ads. In fact Sylmar was originally a brand of olives and olive oil, grown on a 1,200 acre olive grove where the neighborhood of Sylmar sits today. The grove was planted in 1895 by the Los Angeles Olive Growers Association, run by Daniel O’Connell Miltimore (1838-1901) and Mattson A. Morrill (1870-1946); the Sylmar brand was first advertised in 1902. A settlement grew around the “Sylmar Olive Ranch” and adopted its name by 1907. (Some say earlier.) The L.A. Olive Growers Association became the Sylmar Packing Corporation in 1922, whereas Sylmar Avenue – which, ironically, doesn’t actually reach Sylmar – was named in 1917.
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