The Origin of San Pedro Street and Place Names
Ever wondered how your street was named? Here are some of the more famous ones. We will add to this list periodically, and we would love to add to the site any information you wish to email to us about other San Pedro streets:
Alma Park & Street: Alma Park was donated by George H. Peck and named for one of his daughters.
Amar Street: Edouard Amar was one of many French born immigrants in Los Angeles. He started raising sheep in the hills along Gaffey Street beginning in about 1875. Amar eventually had about 30,000. Sometimes the sheep strayed into residences, schools and the downtown business area. Amar was honored by the French community as the head of the Los Angeles Bastille Day parade July 14, 1889. French immigrants imported Merino sheep to improve the wool.
Averill Park & Avenue: Herbert O. Averill developed the Vista del Oro area with his brother-in-law, H. L. Weymouth.
Bandini Street Elementary School & Bandini Avenue: Juan Bandini was a ranchero owner from Mexico who once served as Secretary to Mexican Governor Pio Pico, but supported the revolution against Mexican control of California. His daughter, Arcadia Bandini, married three prominent Californians: The first, Abel Stearns, was the biggest landowner and rancher in Southern California. When Stearns died, she married Robert Symington Baker, the wealthy cofounder of Santa Monica. When Baker died, she married John T. Gaffey, the San Pedro Realtor and developer. See a fuller biography of Juan at SanDiegoHistory.org/bios/bandini/bandini.htm
Bolker Place: Named for Joseph Bolker, one of the developers of the Highlands area, now more often referred to as the Taper area. Mr. Bolker was once married to Christina Onasis.
Bynner Drive. Named for Bynner Martin, an early editor of the San Pedro News Pilot. The street was originally named 7th Street.
Cabrillo Avenue: As anyone who took California history should remember, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo was a Portuguese navigator, sailing under the flag of Spain. In 1542 he was the first European to land in California. On his trip he named San Pedro Bay the “Bay of Smokes,” marking the first Air Quality report.
Carolina Street: The street was named for one of the daughters of Ramon Sepulveda.
Dana Middle School: The school was named for Richard Henry Dana, author of Two Years Before the Mast.
Dodson Middle School & Dodson Avenue: James H. Dodson, Sr. married Rudecinda Sepulveda in 1881. He was twice Mayor of San Pedro and was postmaster for many years. The Dodson house is a Los Angeles City Historical Monument, located at 859 W. Thirteenth St. It was given to Mrs. Sepulveda de Dodson by her family upon her marriage.
Elanita Dr.: The street was named for one of the daughters of Ramon Sepulveda.
El Rey Road: The street name was originally 4th Street, but the residents of the street in the new tract conducted a contest and El Rey was selected.
Englander Street: Named for Ira Englander, one of the developers of the Highlands area, now more often referred to as the Taper area. Ira was the producer of the movie Running Brave, starring Robbie Benson.
Kerckhoff Ave.: William G. Kerckhoff was a lumber dealer, banker and ship builder during the early days of San Pedro. He was a partner of George Peck in some of his development ventures. He helped to found the Pacific Light and Power Company, the forerunner to the Southern California Gas Company.
Leland Park & Street: Leland Park was donated by George H. Peck and named for his son.
Malgren Avenue: John N. Malgren was a longshoreman for the Southern Pacific. He received the first property deed in San Pedro in 1882 in the Nob Hill area.
Meyler Street: Captain James J. Meyler and Captain Amos A. Fries worked for the Army Corps of Engineers and negotiated the contracts and then engineered the construction of the San Pedro Bay breakwater. The effort began in 1899 and was completed in 1911. Until the breakwater was completed, San Pedro was a mudflat with no natural harbor, which greatly limited imports and exports.
Patton Avenue: Patton Avenue is named for George H. Patton, Jr., father of the famous World War II general. Patton was an attorney with landowner and developer clients in the Harbor area. He would bring his son to San Pedro and let him fish and play at the beach when he met with clients in the area. Patton’s daughter, Anne, married Phineas Banning’s son, Hancock. She was a founder of the Assistance League. A branch of the Assistance League runs the Weymouth Corners post office and gift shop and uses the proceeds to benefit harbor area youth. It is the only non-profit post office in the U. S.
Peck Park & Street: George H. Peck was a conductor on the Southern Pacific Railroad. He settled in San Pedro in 1886 and became a successful real estate developer, contractor and banker. His San Pedro home still stands at 380 W. Fifteenth St.
Rena Park: The park was donated by George H. Peck and named for one of his daughters.
Sepulveda Blvd. 17 year old Jose Dolores Sepulveda settled in the San Pedro area, which belonged to the Dominguez family. He was granted grazing rights to the San Pedro area in 1810 and called it Rancho Los Palos Verdes. The family continued to occupy the property even after a member of the Dominguez family petitioned to take back Rancho San Pedro. Juan built a home near Gaffey Street and Anaheim Avenue and his brother Jose Loreto Sepulveda built his home near what is now Gaffey Street and Capitol Drive. Mexican Governor Pio Pico granted the Sepulveda family rights to Rancho Los Palos Verdes (including most of San Pedro) in 1846.
Taper Avenue School and Taper Avenue: Named for Mark Taper, Jr., one of the developers of the Highlands area, now more often referred to as the Taper area. The Mark Taper Forum is named after Mark’s dad.
Toberman Settlement House: Los Angeles Mayor James Toberman and his wife Emma began the Homer Toberman Mission in 1902 after their son Homer, who died at age 29. The mission was started with a $25,000 grant and administered by the forerunner of United Methodist Women. The agency was located first in Echo Park, then in Boyle Heights, and settled in San Pedro in 1937 and renamed Toberman Settlement House. More information is available at TobermanSettlementHouse.org/old/history1.htm
Weymouth Street & Weymouth Corners: H. L. Weymouth developed the Vista del Oro area with his brother-in-law Herbert O. Averill.
Stephen M. White Drive. Stephen M. White was the first U. S. Senator born in California. He was an attorney in Los Angeles who was elected County District Attorney and State Senator before entering the U. S. Senate in 1893. He was a strong supporter of the effort to build a Los Angeles harbor in San Pedro, where it was free from the influence of the Southern Pacific Railroad. While he was ultimately successful in his efforts to secure a federal subsidy to build a San Pedro harbor, the effort sapped his frail health and he died in 1901 before the harbor was completed.
Information for the above has primarily come from San Pedro, A Pictorial History by Henry P. Silka and the San Pedro Bay Historical Society, Harbor Heritage by Oliver Vickery and Los Angeles A to Z by Leonard Pitt and Dale Pitt. We have put in internet resources when we found them. However, it is amazing how little of San Pedro’s history is on the web. That is part of what motivated this effort.
Caren & John Greenwood