"Why's it called Mt. Washington?"

That's the question that prompted this site. There are several theories of how the neighborhood got its name, but none have much evidence beyond happenstance. Examples include railroad historian Donald Duke, who for the Electric Railway Historical Association of Southern California, says "[o]n what I believe is good authority" that the name comes from Colonel Henry Washington, who conducted surveys in Southern California in the 1850s. This claim is made and echoed elsewhere, including by the Arroyo Seco Neighborhood Council, the Mount Washington Alliance, and many realtors websites).

The Col. Washington theory has two issues.

1. If Washington named it himself: why? Washington surveyed Southern California from the Colorado River to the Pacific Ocean, including the noted Henry Washington Survey Marker in San Bernardino National Forest. Why choose an otherwise unassuming, 900ft high hill when he could choose any number of other, more imposing or beautiful (sorry neighbors) hills, even in the Los Angeles region?

2. If someone named it for Washington: who, and why?

That second question leads to the theory posited on this site. A theory that Mt. Washington is not named for Col. Henry Washington. It is a theory - not an answer. Like the Col. Washington theory, there is no smoking gun - nothing that tells us exactly why Mt. Washington got it's name. 

It starts by knowing when Mt. Washington got it's name. And the answer is the Spring of 1906.

Mt. Washington is probably named for Mt. Washington, New Hampshire

Before 1906, Mt. Washington went by other names: it was part of Rancho San Rafael; Andrew Glassel and Alfred Chapman took control of the Rancho and further subdivided it, keeping the portion that would become Mt. Washington before selling it to George W. Morgan and Albert H. Judson, who together later subdivided the neighboring community of Highland Park). With Morgan came a progression of names as developers scooped up and developed portions of the hill: an 1884 map of the City shows the southern portion of the hill as the "Hunter-Highland View Tract," the northeast section as an "Addition to High Park Tract" and the majority of our hilltop community as split between Judson/Morgan and William Hunter. In August of 1902, a little more than a year after commencing building what would become Manhattan Beach, John A. Merrill and I.H. Preston formed the Riverside Heights Company and bought "about 700 acres" of what would become Mt. Washington[1] During all of this time, there is no reference to "Mt. Washington" to be found.

Then, on March 29, 1906, the Mount Washington Company was incorporated. [2] Robert Marsh and his father, Joseph Marsh, budding real estate developers and brokers responsible for sub-developments from downtown to Venice, teamed up with Elmer E. Cole, a financier, oilman, and real estate baron. They added partners John Howze, John H. Purdy, Samuel G. Wood and Arthur Hawes.

In the following week, Cole purchased 568 acres of what is now Mt. Washington for $430,000 [3] from Charles Stimson [4] and transferred the property into the newly formed Company. [5]

On April 3, 1906, the Los Angeles Times carried a headline echoed by papers across the city that week: “RIVERSIDE HEIGHTS HEREAFTER MOUNT WASHINGTON.” [6].

Why had these investors renamed their purchase?

The Marsh’s and Cole could have met before they arrived in Los Angeles – there is no record of their discussing it (or why they chose the name Mt. Washington either, for that matter). They both came from the East, but took different paths before landing in Los Angeles as it blossomed as a city at the turn of the 19th century.

Joseph Marsh began heading West just shy of 30 years old, with his wife, Martha, and daughter, Florence, in tow. He spent a decade in the milling business in and around Charleston, Illinois, which is where Robert was born in 1874. Robert was 2 when the Marsh’s moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and it was there that Robert received his education while Joseph worked in manufacturing. A decade later the family finally moved to Los Angeles and put down roots for good. In 1898 Robert married Cecile Lothrop in Alhambra and, alongside his father, was soon one of the most successful developers. It was Robert Marsh who would lead the construction of the Mt. Washington Hotel and Incline Railway and built the first homes advertised as “Mt. Washington.”

Elmer E. Cole, began his career as a traveling salesman selling cutlery. In 1887, at the age of 23, he moved first to Minneapolis, where he married Laura M. Mayhew, had two boys, and began a career in real estate that would next take him to the Northwest before settling permanently in Los Angeles at the turn of the century.  In Los Angeles, Cole opened brokerage offices and dealt in stock, bonds, and mining properties, finding great success for five years before turning his attention solely to real estate in 1905.

While Cole and the Marsh’s may not have met prior their arrivals in Los Angeles, they shared a common background: Joseph and Elmer were born around 125 miles from one another. Directly in-between them, and only 20 miles south of Elmer’s hometown, stands Mt. Washington, the defining geological landmark of New Hampshire and perhaps the entire Northeast.

These sons of New Hampshire, in their first (and only) venture together, chose to name their new development in Los Angeles Mt. Washington, which just so happens to be the most famous landmark of their home state.

It should also be noted that Harry Medved, writing for the Pasadena Star-News (November 26, 1993, page 33) stated: "Mt. Washington is a mere anthill compared to the windy New Hampshire peak it was named after. The landscape reminded its developer Robert Marsh of the verdant Presidential Range in the White Mountains (which shows you how radically the Highland Park neighborhood has changed).

Medved's assertion, while seemingly correct, has two issues. First, there is still no smoking gun of Marsh actually stating as such (Medved does not produce his source and none has been found by us yet). Second, the Mt. Washington of 1906 was not likely vedant in any way resembling the Presidential Range, let alone Mt. Washington New Hampshire. It was, instead, a much rougher, barren hill, with few trees and scattered homes.

[1] Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1902, Part II, page 2. The article also notes that Merrill "is said to be have made a special study of grading and improving hill property . . ." and that Preston had formerly represented Morgan's interests in the hill. Interestingly, Merrill already had business interests in the area: as Vice-President of the Pacific Art Tile Company in Tropico. The December 12, 1909 issue of the Mt. Washington Eagle also notes that Merrill had purchased a completed home in Mt. Washington, still standing at 815 Elyria Drive.

[2] Confirmed via the California Secretary of State's website, found at: https://bizfileonline.sos.ca.gov/search/business

[3] Los Angeles Evening Express, June 11, 1906, page 13; the Los Angeles Times put the price at "Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollars or More" - Los Angeles Times, April 3, 1906, Part II, page 6.

[4] Highland Park Herald, April 7, 1906, page 1.

[5] Los Angeles Times, June 10, 1906, Part V, page 1. This article states Cole transferred 564 acres. It is unclear if Cole retained that land or this figure (or the one from April 3, 1906) is incorrect.

[6] Los Angeles Times, April 3, 1905, Part II, page 6.