As many streets in this neighborhood share an aviation theme, owing to Westchester’s proximity to LAX, it’s safe to assume that Yorktown Avenue does as well. But what exactly is its namesake? Aviation Field Yorktown was a Naval flight training school that operated near Newport News, VA in 1919-1921, and it remains a Navy base to this day, but this street more likely honors the USS Yorktown, a World War II aircraft carrier. Launched in 1936, she was destroyed by Japanese forces at the Battle of Midway in June 1942 – three months after Yorktown Avenue was named. There were two previous USS Yorktowns from earlier eras; all took their name from Yorktown, VA and the Revolutionary War battle that took place there in 1781.
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