There are streets all over Southern California named for U.S. Presidents. L.A. has Washington, Adams, and Jefferson Boulevards. And there's a Gerald Ford Drive in Rancho Mirage. Even Lakewood got into the act.

Lakewood was an instant city, created in three short years in the early 1950s.

According to DJ Waldie, the public information officer for the city of Lakewood and author of "Holyland: A Suburban Memoir:" "In that era, developers were given pretty much free hand to name the streets as they saw fit. There were some restrictions imposed by the county engineers office, and there were some post office regulations."

Lakewood developer Louis Boyer wanted to honor the current First Family and Vice President, but the post office said both Dwight and Eisenhower were out because other cities had already claimed the names.

"But he was allowed to name a street Mamie," says Waldie, "and allowed to name a street Nixon. He wanted to name a street after Adlai Stevenson, but Stevenson lost so heavily in the 1952 election that he dropped that idea."

Stevenson lost again by a landslide in 1956. So there's no Stevenson Street in Lakewood.

(Airdate for this story: 9/15/07)