Why does Chicago have so many streets named after places in California?
In answer to this question, I will concentrate on California Avenue, Sacramento Avenue and Hollywood Avenue. My sources rather unhelpfully explain that California Avenue was named after the state, and Sacramento Avenue was named for the capital of California. No kidding. Hollywood Avenue was also, of course, named for California’s famous film capital. But, here sources credit real estate developer John Lewis Cochran with naming the street. Readers of this column first met John Cochran one year ago in “Roscoe Street, or Why So Many Chicago Streets Are Named for Towns in Pennsylvania.” He was a tobacco salesman who came to Chicago in the late 19th century was responsible for the planning and construction of the Edgewater and Avondale communities. As described in the earlier column, Cochran was very fond of naming streets after towns he knew, especially the Philadelphia suburbs where he grew up. But in addition to Hollywood and towns in Pennsylvania, Cochran is also credited with naming G
