Tree-lined Melrose Avenue as seen near Western Avenue circa 1910. Wow – what a difference to today.
Trees were planted in the early 1880’s and felled on the right side in 1922 and on the left side in 1923. In this photo you can see street curbs were already installed, and a house is tucked in on the left. According to the Water and Power.org, where we found this photo, Melrose was a favorite street for horse and buggy rides on Sundays.
Melrose Avenue was named by ranch owner E. A. McCarthy in 1887 after his hometown of Melrose, Massachusetts. The McCarthy Ranch occupied most of the area bounded by Western to Wilton, and Melrose to Santa Monica Blvd.
