There’s an old theory that Union Avenue was named in 1876 to mark the U.S. Centennial. That’s cool… except that I found the street mentioned in a November 1875 newspaper. Maybe the people who named it jumped the gun by a few months, or more likely they just chose “Union” because it’s one of those go-to street names for American cities. (Nearly two years earlier, there was an attempt to change Grasshopper Street to Union Street; Grasshopper ultimately became Figueroa.) At any rate, Union started out between present-day 6th Street and James M. Wood Blvd. (Back then they were called Ward and 9th streets, respectively.) It was located on the Fairmount tract, owned by the “Real Estate Associates of Los Angeles”, a group – or union, if you will – of 26 investors. The land’s previous owners were mayors Prudent Beaudry and John G. Nichols. There’s also a good chance that Union Ave. was named earlier in 1875 on the adjoining Fairview tract, owned by merchant tailor Jacob Strelitz.
Find it on the map:
