In the mid-to-late 1800s, as more towns sprang up on nearly all the available land, developers looked for ways to name many new streets at once. It was very common to give streets a series of names, such as numbers, family names, plants, or the names of investors who backed the development project.
One of the most common names for new towns was after a U.S. president, and that was certainly the case with Riverside.
In 1874, Samuel Cary Evans combined three development projects, including the young colony of Riverside, to form the Riverside Land and Irrigation Company. He needed to sell thousands of acres of land, and built a boulevard through the company's lands. It was called Magnolia Avenue, and stretched from present-day Arlington Avenue south to the Home Gardens neighborhood. At right angles to the boulevard, streets were named after U.S. presidents.
Generally, the names were in order, but curiously, Riverside's street names have the presidential order incorrect, and some have changed over the years.
The series begins, naturally, with Washington. The next president was John Adams, but he is omitted in the street naming. The next two presidents were Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, but the order of their streets is reversed. Similarly, the two presidents after Madison were James Monroe and John Quincy Adams, but their streets are reversed as well (Adams Street in Riverside represents John Quincy Adams, not his father, John Adams).
It is unclear why the two sets of streets are reversed, but given the respect shown to presidents at the time, such a mistake seems odd. Starting with Jackson Street, named after President Andrew Jackson, the remaining streets are in presidential order until Grant Street, the last street being Grant Street, because he was president in 1874 when the Riverside Land and Irrigation Company map was created.
Two of the streets named after the president have since been renamed.
First there was Johnson Street. In 1901, Johnson Street didn't exist and zoning officials in the area were looking to build one. At the time, President William McKinley was assassinated and in the aftermath many places were named after the slain president. In Riverside, Johnson Street was forgotten and McKinley Street was built instead near present-day Corona. Similarly, during the construction of the 91 Freeway, planners chose to put exit ramps at Tyler Street and Taylor Street. However, this would have been confusing, so an effort was made to rename Taylor Street to La Sierra Avenue, as we know it today.
If you have an idea for a future Back in the Day column about a local historical person, place or event, please contact Steve Lech and Kim Jarrell Johnson at backinthedaype@gmail.com.
