In 1871, James De Barth Shorb, son-in-law of Benjamin D. Wilson laid out 1,000 acres of twenty-acre lots on the land that Wilson had purchased for a reported $2.50 per acre. This first Alhambra Tract was the area between the Arroyo de San Pasqual and the Old Mill Wash. It was here that the street names were inspired by Washington Irving's "The Alhambra," which Wilson's daughters had been reading at that time. Alhambra is an Arabic word, al-hamra'u, meaning "red." It referred to the coral tint of the plaster on the walls of the palace, The Alhambra, for which our city was named.

Boabdil - previously the name of Main Street. The name was changed in 1902, reportedly because people could not pronounce Boabdil. Boabdil was the last Moorish king to occupy the palace named "The Alhambra" in Granada, Spain. He was a rather weak and vacillating king - so history records. He revolted against his father Abul Hassan and seized the throne in 1481. His reign lasted only ten years because he was defeated in battle by the forces of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabelle who financed the voyage of Christopher Columbus one year later in 1492. Boabdil was captured but set at liberty on condition he become a vassal of Spain.

Lindaraxa* - a lovely garden at The Alhambra named for the beautiful Lindaraxa, daughter of Muhamed's faithful adherent, the alcayde of Malaga. The Hall of the Two Sisters, Lindaraxa and Zoraydes, is paved in white marble. Originally, the street called Court Lindaraxa was changed to Lindaraxa Park in 1902.

Alabama (Street) - known in Arabian history as Ibn-l-Ahar. His name was generally written Alhamar. Toward the middle of the 13^th century he commenced the building of the splendid palace, The Alhambra, supervising the construction of it himself. When he died in 1272 his body was enclosed in a silver coffin and buried in The Alhambra in a silver sepulcher. Further construction and addition of several wings of the palace continued throughout the years, fostered by the reigning monarchs who occupied the magnificent structure.

Granda Street - is, of course, named for the place where The Alhambra is located in Spain.

Incidentally, it would seem that the street names Washington and Irving deserved more importance than assigning them to merely one-block long streets off Wilson (Atlantic), but such was their fate. Other streets in the first Alhambra subdivision were also given names from "The Alhambra."

Vega (Street) - means a green meadow, a plain. This referes to the area around The Alhambra - the Vega of Granada.

Almansor (Street) - is from Al-Mansur meaning victorious. It is a surname assumed by a large number of Arabian princes who were part of the Moorish dynasty.

Hidalgo (Street) - is a Spanish title of nobility. The gentlemen are referred to as "Don," i.e., Don Francisco, etc.

Valencia Street - had been Court Delora until 1909 when the name change conformed more with the surrounding streets of Spanish names.

Cordova Street too was changed in 1909. It had been Park Drive.

El Molino Street - needed no changing. It was always El Molino because of El Molino Viejo - The Old Mill.

Halstead Circle refers to the Halstead family name - the pioneer Alhambra family that purchased ten acres from Benito Wilson in 1877, calling their property the Orienta Rance. Hence, the name Orienta Drive located off Vega just north of Main Street.

Hoeffer Drive - a one-block long street located one block south of Alhambra Road between Vega and Alahmar, was named for the Hoeffer Family who resided there. Dr. Hoeffer was a physician.

Champion Place - another one-block long street that borders on the arroyo at the eastern boundary of Alhambra, runs one long block north of Main Street. It was named for the Champion family who settled there. Owen Champion still occupies the family home.

With the purchase of 2500 additional acres to the west, Wilson and Shorb opened the Alhambra Addition, which was subdivided into five and ten-acre lots. The western boundary of this area was Wilson Avenue.

Wilson Avenue, which was named for Don Benito Wilson who founded the city of Alhambra, was changed to Atlantic Blvd. in 1930. The State of California planned to designate the street as a major highway continuing through East Los Angeles and on to Long Beach. However, it was the only section of road in this  plan that was not called Atlantic. In order to qualify for the State funds and have the highway designation, the City of Alhambra agreed to rename the street. Thus, the founder of our fair city was deposed. We had already lost our sense of history.

Four blocks of Wilson Avenue still remain in the west end of San Marino. Pasadena can boast of a Wilson Avenue at the western border of the Cal Tech campus, continuing northward to Washington Blvd.

Chapel Avenue - was named for the Methodist chapel, which had been built on the northeast corner of Chapel and Boabdil on land that had been donated by B. D. Wilson. People just became accustomed to referring to the street as Chapel becamuse of the church.

Stoneman Avenue - undoubtedly got its name from General George Stoneman who, after his retirement from the military, became a Governor of California. He had purchased 400 acres from Wilson and built a ranch home hear the present Mission Road and the location where El Molino curves to meet Granada. His sister Rebecca Stoneman, a former teacher of the Wilson children, had purchased a twenty-acre plot and built a cottage near Garfield Avenue and Alhambra Road. The name, Stoneman, was most appropriate. However, City records show that Stoneman was known as Union Street until 1908. The block to the north near Alhambra Road was called Obispo Street and the section near Mission Road was called Orange Avenue. To follow a linear pattern, all the streets so aligned were named Stoneman in 1908. Some old maps show it as Gardenia Street.

The same occurred with Monterey Street. In town it was known as Chataqua. One section was called Goff Avenue. The section near Mission Road was Vine Avenue but all became Monterey in 1908.

Commonwealth Avenue was known as such in town but as tracts developed westward there were numerous names. In Dolgeville, at the west end of Alhambra, it was Walnut Street or Pepper Street and one section was even named Toreador Street. When it was extended to Fremont Avenue from Palm Avenue in 1911 and all the other sections were cut through to form one long street, it all became Commonwealth.

Bay State Street was called Avenue for its one block from First to Garfield but changed to Bay State Street when it was cut through to Chapel Avenue in 1933. Rufus Bishop who had moved west from Massachusetts named this street where he built his new family home for that State, "The Bay State."

Before there were numbered streets each had a name. However, First Street was always so-called, probably because it was the first street west of the center of town and for directional purposes seemed to have acquired the name that stayed. The one exception was the section that continued north of Alhambra Road, which had been named Katherine Street. It ceased to exist when Garfield School was built.

Alhambra Road has always retained that name through the Years.

Second Street was called Borker until 1908. To honor the 22nd United States President, Democrat Grover Cleveland, upon his election to office, John Harbert named the street on which his house was located Cleveland Avenue. It remained so until 1908 when it was renamed Third Street.

Not to be outdone, Capt. F. Edward Gray, a Republican, named the street we know as Garfield Avenue in honor of the 20th President, James A. Garfield.

Fourth Street was called Winsor Avenue until 1905. Here again, some sections were called Walnut Avenue. All became Fourth Street, but first, it was Fourth Avenue until 1909 when it finally became Fourth Street. It appears on one very old City map as Clairvaux. Evidently that name didn't last long because of the difficulty in spelling it.

Fifth Street was Charles Street, then 5th Avenue and finally 5th Street in 1908.

Sixth Street was Ynez, honoring a Shorb daughter by that name but it was changed to Sixth Street in 1908. Ynez remains the street name as it continues in Monterey Park.

Seventh, Eight and Ninth Streets did not require changes because they were not dedicated streets until after the City of Alhambra was incorporated and numbered street names were in use.

Olive Avenue had been Murray Avenue in town and Eleventh Avenue between Hellman Avenue and Valley Boulevard. The changes were made in 1908 and 1923.

Curtis Avenue was Graffen Avenue in town until 1908. The section in the south part of town was Twelfth Avenue and changed in 1923. When the section near Hellman Avenue was subdivided in 1926, it was called Midwick Drive while the unincorporated portion south of Hellman in L. A. County territory was called Harrington Street. Finally, all were named Curtis when the area became a part of Alhambra.

Railroad Avenue in Dolgeville was appropriately named because the train tracks ran alongside it heading north. It became Raymond Avenue in 1909. At Valley Blvd. it was called Nineteenth Street but that was changed back to Raymond Avenue in 1923.

Twenty-first Street was named Date Avenue in 1923. Somehow Electric Avenue was always so-named.

Cypress Avenue in Dolgeville was changed to Primrose Avenue in 1908 and the southern end at Valley Blvd., which had been called Twenty-Third Street also, became Primrose in 1923, continuing south across Valley Blvd. into the Granada Park area as that was developed in 1931.

Fremont Avenue, which finally was given that name in honor of Gen. John C. Fremont in 1914, had been a continuation of Fair Oaks. The southerly end had been Coyote Pass Road, then Monterey Pass Road. Now it is Fremont Avenue to just south of Garvey where it curves to meet Monterey Pass Road.

Valley Blvd. seems to have had more changes than any other street. It was El Monte Road until 1909 when it was changed to San Bernardino Road. That lasted until 1913 when it was changed to Ocean-to-Ocean Highway. It was finally changed to Valley Blvd. in 1923. It is also recorded on some maps to have been Pomona Valley Road at one time but Alhambra City records start with El Monte Road.

In more recent years the Alhambra Gardens area, site of several Alhambra City water wells at Mission Road and Granada Avenue, was made available to residents who wished to grow their own flowers and vegetables at a City-owned plot. The street at that location was named Clay Court for John W. Clay who served as Director of Alhambra City Water Department for many years.

When James De Barth Shorb was subdividing the area south of his vineyards and the Southern Pacific tracks, he named the streets for his family members - Marguerita, Edith, Ethel, Benito, Campbell, Ynez. Newlands, the middle name of his son, Norbert, was given to the street we now know as Glendon Way. Ramona Avenue was changed to Shorb Street in 1908 and the name given to a more important thoroughfare, Ramona Boulevard that became Ramona Road after the freeway construction. Yorba and Nina (Marguerite's middle name) were short streets between Valley Blvd. and Front Street but were vacated in 1923. De Barth was a short street in the Dolgeville Tract between Fremont Avenue and Date Avenue off Orange Street. It was vacated as the industrial area developed.

Hellman Avenue was the name given that street by James De Barth Shorb. It was named for Isaias W. Hellman who had assisted Shorb financially in his enterprises.

San Marino Avenue was named for the large San Gabriel Valley ranch owned by James De Barth Shorb. His birthplace and ancestral home, known as "San Marino," was located in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

During World War II, Alhambra City Commissioners were petitioned to change the name Benito Street to something else since, "now is not the time to honor Benito Mussolini". They were not aware that the street was named for Benjamin (Benito) Wilson Shorb, grandson of B. D. Wilson, the founder of Alhambra.

Mission Road was known as San Gabriel Road, probably because it lead to the famed San Gabriel Mission. I have no date when the change was made but either name is appropriate for the road on the "El Camino Real," The King's Highway.

When Dolgeville was annexed by the City of Alhambra in 1908, several of the streets bore names that had already been assigned to Alhambra streets. These were changed or, if they were extensions of Alhambra streets, the names continued on westward as was pointed out previously.

Creamer Street, named for J. A. Creamer a pioneer builder who designed and supervised construction of the San Gabriel Winery, was changed to Vine Street in 1908.

Bonita Street was changed to Acacia in 1908.

Cedar and Pine Streets were changed to Spruce Street in 908.

Maple Street was changed to Larch Street in 1908.

Chestnut Street had been Koenig until 1908.

Grand Avenue had been Plum Street.

It is interesting to note that portions of Pine Street had been Huntington Drive until that thoroughfare was realigned.

The story is told that Dos Robles Place was so-named because of the two large oak trees that were growing where the one-block long narrow street between Huntington Drive and Alhambra Road was dedicated. To preserve the oaks, the street was widened at those two places to create a roadway around the trees. The trees stood for many years but finally, when they became hazards, they were removed.

As the southwest portion of Alhambra was subdivided, streets were named by subdividers except for those that were continuations of previously named streets. A few streets did exist and were renamed, such as, Addie Avenue which became Edgewood Drive from Hellman Avenue to Front Street in 1928.

Laguna Street was changed to El Paseo in 1939.

When the tract west of Garvey Avenue was incorporated by Alhambra in 1939, M Street became a continuation of Montezuma Avenue.

In 1944, 180 acres of the famous Midwick Country Club was sold to Charles M. Cooper of Los Angeles. Operation of the golf course continued for several years but the polo field area was subdivided and construction of homes began. In addition to the use of "Midwick" to name Midwickhill Drive, the streets in that tract were named for famous polo player�s - Pedley, Roark, Whitney, Guest, Hitchcock, and Carwile. As the golf course portion was subdivided and lots sold, streets were named for famous golfers - Sarazen, Snead, Wetherhead, Hagen, Stranahan, Melhorn, and the championship golf course, Baltusrol. Other famous names are Essexfells, Hathaway and Siwanoy

Obviously, those who named our streets through the years had an interest in horticulture when we find street names such as Acacia, Birch, Cherry (Lane), Chestnut, Cypress, Date, Elm, Lemon, Maple (Court), Olive, Orange, Orange Grove (Avenue), Palm Pepper, Pine, Pine Valley, Poplar and Spruce for the trees. The flowers were not completely forgotten with Azalea, Camellia Drive, Las Flores, Mimosa, Primrose, Violetta and even Tea Garden Lane.

Several streets and subdivisions are being researched and more street names will be added as their origin is learned. We will be most grateful for any help or suggestions.

Prepared for presentation at the Alhambra Historical Society monthly meeting Wednesday, April 25, 1990.