Old Hawthorne, California

Wonders never cease!

I was perusing the Feedback forum of the alumni website of Hawthorne High School and posted at the top was this 1938 map of the City of Hawthorne:

This was the first time I've ever seen this map and I was surprised by a few things it reveals. I consider Hawthorne my "hometown" since I lived there for over 20 years. I didn't live in the City of Hawthorne, but in a Los Angeles County strip called "Liberty Acres." We still had a Hawthorne mailing address, though. The big difference was that we didn't vote for Hawthorne's elected officials and were unable to fire off fireworks on Independence Day. The residents of the city were able to fire off fireworks as the city had their own fire department. I thing they are still able to (unless things have changed since I moved out of the area).

First, Hawthorne was a much smaller town back in 1938. The city had since annexed several surrounding areas to make it the size that it is today.

Second, the street names are not numerical as they are today, the streets south of El Segundo Blvd. had the names of most of the original thirteen states. I emailed the map to a friend who lived on 129th Street between Inglewood Ave. and Hawthorne Blvd. If she had lived there in 1938, she would have lived on Maine Ave.

Lastly (unless I notice something else), the address/block numbering was different. I lived on the 4900 block of 129th Street (between Shoup Ave. and Oceangate Ave.). But back then, the block was the 6000 block. 

I am curious as to who changed the street names and the block numbering and why.

Well, you learn something new everyday!