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
Atlantic Boulevard
Why is one of the West Coast’s longest surface streets named after the ocean on the other side of the country? Look to Long Beach for the answer: Atlantic Avenue was laid out there in 1882 when LB was still called “Willmore City”. Town founder W. E. Willmore – who would eventually go broke and vanish into obscurity – named his main drag “American Avenue” as a tie-in with his American Colony tract, located within his new town. He then flanked the street with Pacific Avenue on the west and Atlantic Avenue on the east – just like the U.S.A., get it? (The geographical context was lost when American Avenue was renamed Long Beach Boulevard in 1959.) Anyway, in the 1920s there was a push for a “highway” connecting Long Beach to Pasadena, so Atlantic Avenue was extended, becoming Atlantic Boulevard north of Bell. Finally, in 1930, it consumed Alhambra’s Wilson Avenue, which keeps only a small remnant of its old name in San Marino.