Two different guys were purported to have been Wilton Place’s namesake. The street itself originated in 1901 as just two short blocks between Pico and 16th (now Venice) on the W.G. Nevin tract, owned by railroad executive William G. Nevin. Four “Places” were laid out on the tract, from west to east: Wilton, Gramercy (see that entry for more on Nevin and his family), St Andrews, and Manhattan. The 1923 obituary for Walter James Horne, real estate speculator, claimed that Wilton Place was named after his son Walter Wilton Horne (1890-1975). Sixteen years later, the obituary for Canadian-born paving contractor George R. Wilton (1860-1939) insisted that he was the street’s honoree. Who to believe? I’m going with Horne: He was listed as a co-owner of the W.G. Nevin tract and also controlled property immediately west of Wilton Place, whereas I found no evidence that George Wilton paved the W.G. Nevin tract or had any connection to its developers. As for Walter Wilton Horne, our probable namesake, he was a realty operator and yachtsman who spent most of his life in Long Beach. His middle name was his London-born mother Caroline’s (1858-1933) maiden name, so Wilton Place is arguably for her.
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