Where The Streets Have No Name... That Can't Be Easily Explained

Cecilia Rasmussen, the columnist behind the L.A. Times' "L.A. Then and Now" column, tackled the topic of city street names in Sunday's paper.

Much of the trivia was new to me: I didn't know, for example, that in 1967 the city considered changing the name of Fairfax Avenue into Koufax Avenue, to honor Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax.

Likewise, one of downtown's key streets, Grand Avenue, was once known by the pleasant "Charity Street." But that inspired a revolt in the 1880s, as residents decided they didn't like saying they "lived on Charity."

More tidbits:

South Los Angeles has Rochester Circle, which doesn't honor the city in New York but Jack Benny's sidekick Rochester. Eddie Anderson, an early African American performer who lived on the block, portrayed him.

Gregory Way and Peck Drive, which intersect in Beverly Hills, aren't tributes to the actor in "To Kill a Mockingbird," even though he lived in Beverly Hills. Peck Street was named for contractor Clair L. Peck, and Gregory for an early 20th century resident whose accomplishments are now lost to history, according to the Bureau of Engineering files.

In 1906, the posh burg's founder, Burton Green, had a street named after him, Burton Way. But Arnaz Drive in Beverly Hills owes its name not to Desi Arnaz — who, with his wife, Lucille Ball, revolutionized television comedy — but to Don Jose de Arnaz, a landholder in 19th century Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

The city's shortest street, Powers Place, southwest of downtown, extends just 13 feet. It was named in 1910 for contractor Benjamin Powers.

The lowest is Seaside Avenue on Terminal Island, 10 feet below sea level, according to an official at the Bureau of Street Services.

In 1897, Mayor Meredith Pinxton "Pinky" Snyder suggested changing the names of such streets and avenues as Arapahoe, Juanita, Cerro Gordo and Santiago because, he said, "newcomers cannot spell or pronounce" such names, according to a Times story of the era. Angelenos were highly insulted; the names survived.

Eighty years later, Mary Dziadula (pronounced Ja-du-la), a self-described "little old lady from Burbank," became a major force in naming a new, two-block-long downtown street Gen. Thaddeus Kosciuszko Way (pronounced cause-choose-ko), after the Polish-born hero of the Revolutionary War.

In 1971, Jazz Age megaphone crooner and actor Rudy Vallee attempted to have a short section of his street in the Hollywood Hills, Pyramid Place, renamed "Rue de Vallee" — French for "Vallee's Way." When the neighbors objected, he called them "disgruntled pukes." But the city agreed with the neighbors. Vallee put up his own sign, christening his long driveway Rue de Vallee.

Rasmussen also includes some facts you probably already know, such as Sepulveda's place as the city and county's longest street -- 40 miles! (Now that we've walked all 16 miles of Wilshire, how about Sepulveda for an encore! Who's with me? Hello? Anyone?)