In December 1926 two City
Ordinances were proposed to the La Verne City Board of Trustees (the governing
body that preceded the City Council) regarding street name changes (No. 106)
and building numbering (No. 107). These ordinances were approved and adopted at
the Board’s meeting of January 3, 1927, and published in the La Verne Leader on
January 6, 1927.
Ordinance No. 106 called for the changing of South 1st
Street to Walnut Street and South 2nd Street to Orange Street. Here
is the Leader article from January 6, 1927:
Ordinance No. 106 affected the people in only a
few blocks, but No. 107 affected those people as well as every other building
owner in the city. It called for a new numbering system throughout the city.
The previous numbering system was similar to what San Dimas had and still has,
a three (in a few areas, four) digit number with an east-west or north-south
designation. Now, all numbers would be four digits. Here is the Leader article
regarding Ordinance No. 107, published on January 6, 1927:
This article from the Leader, published on
February 24, 1927, gives more details about the numbering system and how to
determine the number of a building. There are a couple of errors in the sixth
paragraph. It should read “Numbers on the north and west sides of the street
will be odd, and those on the east and south will be even.”:
To help in my own research, as well what others
may be doing, I have created a document that indicates La Verne building
numbers before and after the 1927 numbering change. I haven’t completed it yet
and there are no doubt errors in some of what I have done. Sometimes it
appears that there was more than one number assigned to a building. Some buildings
were built in 1926 and I have no record of the old number. Where there were
vacant lots before 1927, and subsequent building took place, I have indicated the year of construction in parentheses. I hope to find
more information as new sources come to my attention. I welcome any information
or questions my readers might have. I intend to revise this from time to time,
but here is what I have found so far (Six Pages):