The Museum of the San Fernando Valley Blog presents an interesting history on the naming of today's Toluca Lake. Basically, it was General Charles Foreman of Texas (by way of Nevada) who bought a ranch and named it such (but there's a bit more too it, including some rivalry with JB Lankerhsim and his development to the north of what would become Toluca Lake Park and then, Toluca Lake. Check out the full story here.Many of the stories of how communities in LA got their names are lost, but it's nice to know some history is carried on.
(Who knew that blogs could be so useful as online archives/museums!?)
I hope they tell us about Moses Sherman and Sherman Oaks, how Reseda was once called Marian (named for the daughter of Valley subdivider Harrison Gray Otis who later married Harry Chandler), how Northridge was once Zelzah and changed to be called North Los Angeles and then Northridge, or how Charles Weeks named Winnetka in an effort to create an utopian community in the West Valley!
Picture of General Charles Foreman from the Natural History Museum slide show on Minerals.
5 comments:
I wonder what, if any, the connection is between Winnetka here in LA and the Winnetka, IL where I went to high school.
And which one is "Big Noise from Winnetka" named after?
And how is this related to Toluca Avenue, just west of downtown in City West? This was where the Pacific Electric's "Toluca Yard" was located, as well as the entrance to the subway tunnel that ended at the Subway Terminal Building.
Zach,
If I remember correctly, Winnetka was named after another Winnetka somewhere in the midwest. Maybe that's the one.
Oops: Marian Otis, daughter of Valley subdivider Harrison Gray Otis, was married to Harry Chandler. Otis Chandler didn't come along for a couple of generations; he was her grandson.
Thanks, Kevin. The posted is corrected based on your comment. That Chandler/Otis lineage always confuses a bit because of Otis Chandler - two last names equal the name of one person.
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