What's in a name?

Looking at an LA Times infographic, which is mostly talking about the names of the various original land grants and who certain streets were named after. It includes the Pueblo de los Angeles 4 sg Spanish leagues grant, the San Pedro grant, and the Los Palos Verdes grant I talked about last time.

It mentions that Carson St. was named for John Carson, a descendant of Juan Dominguez. John Carson was instrumental in developing what became the city of Caron in 1968. Sepulveda, they claim, is named after Francisco Sepulveda who was an interim mayor that built a house on Olvera St.

In 1839, Francisco Sepulveda was given the San Vicente y Santa Monica grant by the Spanish government in recognition of his services to the crown.. This along with Rancho San Jose de Buenos Ayres was annexed in 1916 as the Westgate addition, about 48 acres. Sepulveda's son was given Rancho San Joaquin, which he sold in 1864 to James Irvine (uh huh) to pay off some debts. He also purchased Rancho Santiago de Santa Ana, another OC holding that contained present day Santa Ana, but lost it later.

I can't find anything about when Sepulveda blvd was laid down, but there's a little bit about the man and his family, and how instrumental they were in LA's founding. Sepulveda also had an investment in the development of the San Pedro port property.

Ever wanted to know a bit about Beverly Hills history? Why we pronounce Rodeo drive the way we do? The Franklin, Coldwater, and Benedict canyon runoff met at about Beverly dr. and Sepulveda. This grant of land was known as Rodeo de las Aguas or gathering of the waters. Maria Rita Valdez de Villa was given this grant by the Spanish in 1838.

The grant was regranted after the California Land Act of 1851, then sold in 1854. Many different attempts at development were made, but eventually it ended up in the Rodeo Land and Water Co. who developed it as Beverly Hills, after Beverly Farms, Mass. The city of Beverly Hills is almost entirely intact from this original grant. It's proximity to Hollywood made it a great place for the stars who made big bucks to build houses.