Street names, neighborhood names, city names–they all started out as an idea, a project, a dream. We use them every day as directions, addresses, places to go, but we don’t really think about how they came about. First there were the ranchos. Their names are still part of the landscape. San Vicente Boulevard harks back to the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica, the ranch granted to the Franciscdo Sepulveda in 1839. Rancho Buenos Ayres became Bel Air; a play on developer Alophonzo Bell’s name as well as a bow to the original rancho. Bell traveled extensively in Italy and gave the streets in his new community the names of his favorite Italian towns. The alphabet streets in Pacific Palisades were transformed from letters to the names of Methodist ministers. The streets of the Palisades area of Santa Monica are named for the daughters of the developers. There’s a story behind each name and many of the stories are in my books. If you are interested in the history of your community these books are a good place to start.
Images of America-Pacific Palisades