LOS ANGELES COUNTY’S 86 CITIES

Los Angeles was the first city in the county to incorporate--in 1850--with Diamond Bar trailing 139 years later, to become the 86th city earlier this year. Many of the communities were carved out of the large ranchos that dominated the area in the early 19th Century. Here is how each community was named and the date of its incorporation.

Agoura Hills (1982)--In 1924 the town was called Independent Acres, but the name was later changed to Picture City in honor of Paramount Picture Corp., which purchased the property. The name Agoura comes from the Pierre Agoure family, whose ranch encompassed 16,880 acres of Rancho Las Virgenes.

Alhambra (1903)--Named by the city’s “founding father,” Benjamin D. Wilson, who also was known as “Don Benito.” Wilson bought the land for $2.50 an acre in 1874 from the Indian widow of landowner Hugo Reid. Wilson’s daughters had been reading Washington Irving’s “The Alhambra,” about the legends of the Moorish palace in Spain, and suggested the name for its romantic quality.

Arcadia (1903)--Named by Herman J. Unruh, manager of Elias Jackson (Lucky) Baldwin’s Rancho Santa Anita. The 8,030-acre rancho was purchased in 1875 for $200,000 from Harris Newmark, who had bought it a few years earlier for $85,000. Records are not clear, but the community may have been named for Dona Arcadia Bandini Stearns, regarded as one of the most beautiful belles of Los Angeles in the mid-1800s.

Artesia (1959)--In 1869, Abel Stearns, a great landowner and one-time husband of Dona Arcadia Bandini Stearns, sold 1,600 acres of his Rancho Los Coyotes to a Mr. Gridley. In 1875 the Artesia Land Co. was formed and purchased 550 acres of present-day Artesia. The community was so named because of its abundance of artesian wells.

Avalon (1913)--One of the first names applied to this Santa Catalina Island community was Roussillon Bay. In the mid-1850s, it became known as Timms Landing, Timms Cove and Timms Bay, reflecting the influence of Augustus W. Timms, a major competitor to shipping magnate Phineas Banning. In 1887, George R. Shatto and his wife bought the island for $200,000 and decided on the name Avalon because it was the legendary Elysium of King Arthur--a Celtic paradise where Arthur and other heroes are taken after death.

Azusa (1898)--Derived from the Gabrielino Indian word asuka-gna, meaning “skunk hill.” A nearby boom town called Gladstone--named in 1887 after British statesman William Ewart Gladstone, who happened to be visiting at the time--enjoyed brief prosperity before being added to Azusa’s turf.

Baldwin Park (1956)--Named for Elias Jackson (Lucky) Baldwin, owner of the 8,030-acre Rancho Santa Anita. Lucky, whose fortune stemmed from the discovery of vast silver deposits, was known as a hard-headed opportunist and one of the biggest tycoons in the West.

Bell (1927)--The area was known as Obed until 1898, when James G. Bell and his son, Alphonzo Edward Bell, founders of the town, changed the name to match theirs. The Bells were prosperous farmers, cattle ranchers and developers who also founded Santa Fe Springs and Bel-Air.

Bellflower (1957)--The community was named in 1909 by developer Frank E. Woodruff. It was suggested by William S. Gregory, who owned an orchard of Bellflower apples.

Bell Gardens (1961)--In 1930, vegetable gardens that had been developed by Japanese entrepreneurs were subdivided and named after nearby Bell.

Beverly Hills (1914)--Oil tycoon and city founder Burton Green named this community after Beverly, Mass., a quaint Atlantic coast town 25 miles north of Boston. Green, who had read that President William Howard Taft was planning a vacation in the East Coast Beverly, adopted that name for his new community of lush parks and tree-lined streets in the hope of luring the President there. By 1911, only six houses--on one-acre lots--had been built on the 4,539 acres of lima bean fields. Back then, the homes sold for $300 to $1,000.

Bradbury (1957)--Named for Lewis and Simona Bradbury, who moved to the San Gabriel Valley from Oakland for a breath of fresh air. (Lewis had severe asthma.) They purchased the land from Rancho Duarte around 1900.

Burbank (1911)--In 1867, Dr. David Burbank, a dentist from New Hampshire, purchased a section of Rancho Providencia from two Anglos, one of whom was James G. Bell, for 37 1/2 cents an acre. In 1870 Burbank bought a section of Rancho San Rafael. After 16 years of operating his two tracts as a sheep ranch, he sold the property to the Providencia Land, Water & Development Co., which turned it into Burbank.

Carson (1968)--Part of the Rancho San Pedro and one of the few Spanish land grants to remain for generations in possession of the same family--the Dominguez family--which to this day has extensive land holdings in the area. The community was named for George Henry Carson, who married one of Don Manuel Dominguez’s six daughters and managed the rancho after his father-in-law’s death. The name Carson is said to have won out over Dominguez simply because it was easier to spell.

Cerritos (1956)--Part of a land grant turned over to Manuela Nieto in 1834. The city’s name was changed on March 1, 1966, from Dairy Valley to Cerritos, which means “the little hills” in Spanish.

Claremont (1907)--Henry A. Palmer, land owner and investor in the Pacific Land & Improvement Co., a subsidiary of the Santa Fe Railroad, suggested the name, which also was the name of a district in Oakland, where he once lived.

Commerce (1960)--Originally known as Billy Goat Acres, the area that was destined to become Commerce served as an anchor station along El Camino Real (The King’s Highway), a trail blazed by Father Junipero Serra to connect the missions between San Diego and Sonoma. In 1887, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railway built its main line in Commerce. Later, industrial leaders banded together with residents to encourage commerce and decided the name should be changed to match that goal.

Compton (1888)--Purchased in 1865 for 36 cents an acre by John Temple, who quickly unloaded it for a whopping $5 an acre to G. D. Compton, for whom it is now named.

Covina (1901)--One theory has it that the founder of Covina, Joseph Samuel Phillips, who subdivided part of his 2,000-acre holdings into present-day Covina, gave the community its name, which translates as “cove of vineyards.” It is said that Phillips considered that a fitting name for the region because it was ‘cove-like’ compared to the nearby mountains and had many abandoned vines, which had been planted by Costa Rican immigrants. But, some historians say the name Covina closely matches a word in the language of the Gabrielino Indians.

Cudahy (1960)--One square mile of Rancho San Antonio was purchased in 1906 by the Michael Cudahy family, of meatpacking fame.

Culver City (1917)--Named for Harry H. Culver, a civic leader and developer who came from Nebraska in 1914 and subdivided part of the territory from the Ballona land grant.

Diamond Bar (1989)--Named in 1918 by Fredrick Lewis, whose owned part of Rancho Los Nogales. Lewis’ branding iron had the symbol of a diamond over a bar.

Downey (1956)--In 1873, John Gately Downey, an Irish immigrant and governor of California from 1860 to 1862, subdivided with James McFarland a portion of the Santa Gertrudis rancho and gave this town his name.

Duarte (1957)--While patrolling the San Gabriel Mission property in the 1830s, Andres Avelino Duarte, a Mexican army corporal, would frequently stop to water his horse at the San Gabriel River (where Arrow Highway is today). He became enamored of the land west of the river bank and eventually came to own almost 7,000 acres.

El Monte (1912)--Named Lexington in 1851 by Capt. J. A. Johnson, who hailed from Lexington, Ky. It was renamed in 1868 by Spanish settlers who referred to it as “The Monte” because of its high meadows and abundant willows.

El Segundo (1917)--The phrase used by a Col. Rheem to describe Standard Oil Co.’s second refinery, which means “the second” in Spanish. (Standard’s first refinery in California was in Richmond.)

Gardena (1930)--Local legend has it that Spencer R. Thorpe, credited with starting the first settlement, named the town because he thought it was a beautiful garden spot.

Glendale (1906)--Known as Riverdale in 1874, this community ran into an identity crisis early on--the Post Office refused to recognize the name because there was already a Riverdale in Fresno County. At a meeting of settlers in 1883, Riverdale was changed to Glendale, following the proposal of a woman artist from Chicago. In a sense, the name is somewhat redundant since glen means “a narrow secluded valley” and dale also means “valley.”

Glendora (1911)--The name was coined in 1887 by Chicago manufacturer and town founder George Whitcomb, who combined the term glen (to connote the adjacent terrain) with the last two syllables of the name of his wife: Leadora.

Hawaiian Gardens (1964)--Credit for naming this community belongs to an enterprising (but unknown) businessman who turned a bamboo shack into a refreshment stand at the corner of Carson and Norwalk boulevards in 1927. Travelers on the Santa Fe Trail often said the stand resembled a Hawaiian garden. The name stuck.

Hawthorne (1922)--This city received its name around 1906 after Laurine H. Woolwind, daughter of H. D. Harding, one of the town’s founders, suggested that the community be named for novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Hermosa Beach (1907)--From the Spanish word for beautiful, the term was used by the Hermosa Beach Land & Water Co. in 1901 to advertise the property. In an appeal to the more snooty settlers, Hermosa Beach used to call itself, “The Aristocrat of the California Beaches.”

Hidden Hills (1961)--A 2,000-member community west of Woodland Hills, it was named by A. E. Hansen because the hills shield the area from nearby roads.

Huntington Park (1906)--Named in 1903 by developers E. V. Baker and A. L. Burbank (apparently no relation to dentist David Burbank) for Henry E. Huntington, promoter of most of the electric railroads in Southern California and best remembered as the patron of the Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino.

Industry (1957)--Undeveloped land in the La Puente Valley became incorporated for the main purpose of industrial development.

Inglewood (1908)--In 1887, this land was part of the Centinela and Sausal Redondo ranchos, of which Daniel Freeman owned about 25,000 acres. Freeman wanted to name the town Centinela, but he sold 11,000 acres to a land company, and it is said that the town was named by the sister-in-law of one of the promoters, N. R. Vail, who was visiting from Inglewood in Canada.

Irwindale (1957)--Named in 1899 by a citrus grower whose last name was Irwin and whose daughter’s name was Dale.

La Canada Flintridge (1976)--La Canada means valley, glen, or dell in Spanish. Flintridge was part of the La Canada and San Pasqual ranchos and named by U.S. Sen. Frank Putnam Flint in 1920 when it was subdivided.

La Habra Heights (1978)--Part of the La Canada del Habra land grant in 1839. Habra means gorge or pass, referring to the passage through the Puente Hills. “Heights” was added to distinguish the community behind the hills from La Habra in Orange County.

Lakewood (1954)--Philanthropist Ben Weingart purchased 3,500-acres of the old Rancho Los Cerritos in 1949, eventually supplying thousands of baby-boom families with low-cost housing. Many think that the name “Lakewood” comes from Bouton Lake, which was formed in 1895 when oil drillers accidentally opened an artesian well. However, because many early residents of the area hailed form the East Coast, others believe the community was named after Lakewood, N.J.

La Mirada (1960)--A Spanish word meaning glance or gaze. The area was an olive grove when it was subdivided in 1953. The community incorporated as Mirada Hills, but the voters changed their minds--and the name--that same year.

La Puente (1956)--This community apparently got its name because of some early handiwork by members of the Gaspar de Portola expedition, which camped near San Jose Creek on July 30, 1769. In order to cross the creek, the group had to build a bridge, or puente.

La Verne (1906)--Known in 1886 as Lordsburg, for real estate investor I.W. Lord, who laid out the town. In 1917, after Lord’s death, the name was changed to La Verne, a French term meaning “growing green” by Mrs. L. H. Bixby, whose family owned a large citrus ranch.

Sources: The Dictionary of California Land Names by Phil Townsend Hanna; California Place Names by Erwin G. Gudde; Chambers of Commerce, libraries and historians throughout Los Angeles County; Los Angeles Times History Center.