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
Main Street
No, Olvera is not the oldest street in Los Angeles. That distinction goes to good old Main Street – well, maybe. (It might also be Aliso or Cahuenga or Wilshire, if you’re counting prehistoric paths.) The most plausible theory holds that present-day Main began as one of the two anonymous roads that led from the original pueblo’s central plaza in 1781. It came to be known as Calle Real, then Calle Principal, then Main Street once the English speakers came to town. A less plausible theory is that surveyor E.O.C. Ord, while mapping L.A. in 1849, made a mistake: the young city’s actual Calle Principal was actually present-day Los Angeles Street, but Ord accidentally ascribed the “Main” name to a lesser street. I doubt that hypothesis myself, but regardless, Ord’s Main is our Main.