Welcome to L.A. Street Names, the origin stories of street names across Los Angeles County, from the shortest cul-de-sacs to the longest boulevards. Mysteries solved, myths debunked, scandals exposed, history revealed. This is an ongoing project with more than 1,700 streets – and growing. See FAQ for more information.
Featured Major Street
Winnetka Avenue
It’s not true that Winnetka was named by chicken farmer Charles Weeks (1873-1964) in honor of his hometown of Winnetka, Illinois. For starters, Weeks was actually from Swayzee, Indiana. And although he did indeed establish a poultry colony here on Winnetka Avenue in 1922, the street was named by 1916, long before he came to L.A. (Weeks’s colony was originally called “Runnymede No. 2”, after his first Runnymede poultry colony in East Palo Alto, so at least we know he named Runnymede Street.) Then quite rural, this neighborhood was alternatively known as Weeks Colony and Weeks Community until February 1935, when it was officially dubbed Winnetka, after the street. (Weeks and his family had shoved off to Florida by that point.) The original Winnetka – a posh, village-like suburb of Chicago – obviously inspired whoever named this street. But it wasn’t Charles Weeks.