Yeager Place

Named for realtor Charles A. Yeager (1875-1938), who partnered with Fred Spencer Gallagher on the 1922 Hollywood Highland Ave. tract (see High Tower Drive). I couldn’t find much background on Yeager, except that he came to Los Angeles from the Midwest around 1903 and was a car salesman before getting into real estate. In 1911, he married a young widow named Lillian W. Ossing (née Gentry, 1872-1946), who has more of a story to tell: Born in Illinois, she spent most of her early life in St. Louis. In 1904, she suffered a double tragedy in which her first husband Theodore and their nine-year-old daughter Myrtle died within two months of each other. She moved to L.A. around 1906, shaved a few years off her age, and worked as a stage actress; photos of her often made the local papers. She was also a landowner and subdivider, both before and after her life with Charles. The couple lived in Hollywood.