Sylvan Street

The erstwhile Virginia Street was renamed by city ordinance in August 1917 – presumably to avoid postal conflicts with Hollywood’s Virginia Avenue. “Marginia Street” was actually going to be the new name until someone suggested Sylvan instead. The word means “wooded”, which the central SFV definitely wasn’t, so what’s the deal? I can’t say for sure, but it’s possible that the “Syl-” comes from Sylmar and the “-van” from Van Nuys, as this roadway was originally laid out between Kester and Hazeltine and thus it intersects with Sylmar Ave. and Van Nuys Blvd. But there’s a snag: Van Nuys Blvd. was still called Sherman Way at the time. (Not the same Sherman Way as the one today, obviously.) An alternative inspiration: the National Sylvan Theater, an outdoor performance venue that opened near the Washington Monument in D.C. earlier in 1917 and made the news even in sleepy little Van Nuys.