Streets in Westchester

Westchester is the section of the City of Los Angeles which contains the Los Angeles International Airport, often referred to by its baggage code, LAX.  The community of Westchester was so named, and began rapid growth, during and after World War II. Because of the airport, and the various aviation firms located nearby (Douglas, North American, Hughes, &c), many of the streets in Westchester have an aviation theme.

• Airlane Av - an air lane is a designated route used by commercial and general aviation; also called an  air corridor.
• Bleriot Av - Louis Blériot (1872-1936) French pioneer aviator; first to fly a heavier-than-air craft (of his own manufacture) across the English channel (July 25, 1909)
• Croydon Av - Croydon, England, a residential suburb of Greater London. Aircraft manufacturing was once important in Croydon, and it was the location of London’s main airport before World War II. But the airport was heavily damaged in the war, and was replaced by Heathrow; the Croydon airport finally closed in 1959. Today Croydon is part of Greater London and is a major retail center.
• De Haviland Av - Sir Geoffery de Havilland (1882-1965) British aeronautical engineer and designer manufacturer of airplanes. The De Havilland company became a member of the Hawker Siddeley group in 1960, but lost its separate identity in 1963. Today it is part of BAE Systems plc, the British aerospace and defense business.
• Earhart Av - Amelia Earhart (1898-1937) American aviatrix; first woman to cross Atlantic Ocean by airplane (1928); lost on Pacific flight (July, 1937)
• Fleetwing Av - The Fairey Fleetwing was a British single-engine biplane built for reconnaissance duties in the 1920s. Only one was built.
• Goebel Av, Pl, Ct (streets that no longer exist) - Colonel Arthur C. Goebel (1895-1973) was a World War I flyer and later a aviation stunt man.
• Hoxey Av (street no longer exists) - Named for Archibald “Arch” Hoxsey (1884-1910), a star pilot for the Wright Flying Team; he was also once a pilot for Theodore Roosevelt; died in a crash, 1910.
• Ingleport Av (street no longer exists) 
• Jenny Av  (original street does not exist, but a new Jenny Av has replaced it) - Named for the airplane the Curtiss “Jenny”, built by Glenn Hammond Curtiss [who seemed to like double letters in his names], and named for his wife, Jenny.
• Kellyfield Av (street no longer exists) - Named for Kelly Field, originally a USAAC training base near San Antonio, Texas; became Kelly AFB; now Kelly Field Annex, reduced in size and part of Joint Base San Antonio.  Nearby were also Randolph Field and Brooks Field, also USAAC bases; Randolph Field is now Randolph AFB, but Brooks Field is now Brooks City-Base, no longer an Air Force Base.
• Flight Av - the subject of aviation!
• Kittyhawk Av - Kitty Hawk, on North Carolina’s outer banks, site of the first heavier-than-air flight, by the Wright Brothers, December 17, 1903
• Glider Av - a heavier-than-air unpowered airplane
• Yorktown Av - May have been named for one of several U. S. Navy ships, USS Yorktown: possibly one of two aircraft carriers that served in World War II
  • USS Yorktown (CV-5), the lead Yorktown-class aircraft carrier commissioned in 1937 (sunk in 1942 after the Battle of Midway)
  • USS Yorktown (CV-10), an Essex-class aircraft carrier commissioned in 1943 (museum ship since 1975)
• Bellanca Av - Named for Giuseppe Mario Bellanca (1886-1960), Italian aviator and aircraft manufacturer; a competitor to Charles Lindbergh in his quest to be the first to fly nonstop between New York and Paris.
• Wiley Post Av - Wiley Hardeman Post (1898-1935) was the first pilot to fly solo around the world. He helped develop one of the first pressure suits, and he discovered the jet stream.
• Will Rogers St - William Penn Adair “Will” Rogers (1879-1935) was a part-American Indian cowboy, vaudeville performer, and humorist. Although not an aviation pioneer, he is included because he was killed with Wiley Post near Barrow, Alaska, when Post’s plane took off in 1935.
• Liberator Av - The B-24 Liberator heavy bomber was a World War II bomber built by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego.
• Ramsgate Av - Ramsgate is a coastal town in Kent, England, and was the site of an early aerodrome. Later it was established as an RAF station, RAF Manston, and later as Kent International Airport, which is no longer operating.
• Piper Av - May have been named for the Piper Aircraft Company, historically one of the “Big Three” manufacturers of general aviation aircraft. (See the Wikipedia article.)

Some of the streets in the neighborhood of Loyola Marymount University (LMU) are named for Jesuit colleges.

• Fordham Rd - Fordham University, Bronx, NY
• Gonzaga Av - Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA
• Loyola Blvd - There is a Loyola University in Chicago, and another in New Orleans, and a Loyola College in Maryland.  The LMU campus was Loyola University until it merged with Marymount College.  Originally, it was St Vincent’s College, oldest institute of higher learning in Los Angeles, founded in 1865. St Vincent’s College closed in 1911, and was taken over by the Jesuits. It moved to the Westchester campus in 1929, and became Loyola University the next year.  In 1968, Marymount College moved from Palos Verdes to the Loyola U campus, but continued to operate separately.  In 1973, the two were merged as Loyola Marymount University.
• Holy Cross Pl - College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA
• Regis Wy - Regis University, Denver, CO; there is also Regis College, Weston, MA, a Catholic women’s college, but not Jesuit run.
• Georgetown Av - Georgetown University, Washington, DC
• Creighton Av - Creighton University, Omaha, NE
• Villanova Av - Villanova University, located in a suburb of Philadelphia, PA, is not a Jesuit college, but run by the Order of St Augustine.
• Colegio Dr - Colegio is the Spanish and Portuguese word for “school.”

Other streets:

• Naylor Av - Named for Tiny Naylor’s, a coffee shop and car hop (drive-up restaurant), which was located at the northeast corner of Manchester Av and Sepulveda Blvd; Naylor Av was located one block east of Sepulveda Blvd. There is also a Naylor Walk, which is essentially a pedestrian-only extension of Naylor Av, from 85th Pl to Manchester Av. Tiny Naylor’s was named for W. W. “Tiny” Naylor, a Los Angeles restaurateur.
• Westlawn, Stewart, Kenyon, Chase, and McConnell Avenues are named for preexisting streets farther north.