CV Street Name Origins – Part 3

Moving down, below Foothill Boulevard, we get into the Montrose area and lower La Crescenta.

Montrose Avenue Named for the town of Montrose obviously, but the Montrose name has several origin stories, none of which have been proven. Robert Newcombe catalogues the various theories in his book “Montrose.” There is the story that it was named for the Sir Walter Scott novel “The Legend of Montrose” or that it was so-named Montrose, or Mountain Rose, by rose-growers in the area. Another story is that the developers held a naming contest and the winner chose Montrose for his hometown of Montrose, Pennsylvania. Yet another says that it was named because of its shape, the curving streets being the rose petals and Montrose Avenue the stem.

None of these hold up to scrutiny. There is even the idea that as the developers came up here from their offices in downtown LA, they would have repeatedly passed Montrose Avenue in Echo Park. No one really knows!

Honolulu Avenue This oddly named street was the brainchild of a Mr. Lambert, an early developer in Montrose. Lambert grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii, the son of missionaries. For many years Montrose merchants celebrated “Honolulu Days,” a series of sidewalk sales with a Polynesian theme, including hula dancers.

Waltonia Drive and Florencita Drive J. Frank Walters of the Holmes-Walton Company developed Montrose, thus “Waltonia.” A partner in the company, his wife was named Florence, thus “Florencita.”

Wickham Way This short street in the shopping park is named for George Wickham, Glendale mayor from 1949 to 1951, the years when Montrose was being annexed by Glendale.

Verdugo Road and Verdugo Boulevard This is an easy one. Named for Jose Maria Verdugo, who acquired Glendale, Burbank and the Crescenta Valley as a land grant in 1784, called Rancho San Rafael.

Sparr Boulevard Heading down below Montrose we find Sparr Boulevard. It’s hardly a boulevard, more like an alley, that runs parallel to Verdugo Road on the east side (by Montrose Park). It was named for Mr. Sparr, who owned the Sparr orchards that later became Sparr Heights.

El Lado Drive At the bottom of the Crescenta Valley, we find El Lado running perfectly parallel to the side of Verdugo Creek. Appropriately named as El Lado in Spanish is literally “the side.”

Urquidez Avenue It’s down near La Crescenta Nursery. This ran through the last land holdings of the Urquidez family, who claimed direct lineage from the illustrious Verdugo family. Until very recently, descendants of the Urquidez family still lived here.

Emanuel Drive, Eilinita Avenue, Dolorita Avenue, Camann Street and Shirleyjean Street  Across the street from Urquidez Avenue and the La Crescenta Nursery is Oakmont Woods. It was developed in 1950 by Hyman Minkoff. Emanuel Street was named for his business partner Emanuel Fagen, but the rest of the streets were named for Minkoff’s four daughters. Shirleyjean Street was named for daughter Shirley Jean Minkoff, Camann Street for Camille, Eilinita Avenue for Eileen, and Dolorita Avenue for Dolores. As each daughter married, they were given a house as a wedding present by their generous dad. You would think they would choose a house on their named street, but no. Shirley Jean picked a house on Eilinita Avenue, Camille moved to Emanual Drive, Eileen picked one around the corner on La Crescenta Avenue, and Dolores took the old ranch house built in 1913.

Beaudry Boulevard, Beaudry Terrace These two streets wind up into the Verdugo Mountains near the Oakmont Country Club. They are named for Victor Beaudry. Victor and Prudent Beaudry were French-Canadians who were early settlers in Los Angeles. They had extensive real estate holdings in Greater Los Angeles, and Victor owned the Verdugo Mountains.

Whiting Woods Road, Whiting Manor Lane The Whiting Woods neighborhood was originally owned by LA businessman Perry Whiting. His mansion was at the top of Whiting Manor Lane.

That pretty much covers what I know for street name origins in La Crescenta/Montrose. Next week I’ll touch on La Cañada and a little bit of Tujunga, along with any info I get from readers.

  mike lawler