There are Placentia Avenues in Brea, Fullerton, and the city of Placentia. Ginny King says, "The name Placentia was given by one of our pioneers, a Mrs. Sarah McFadden, 1876." King is author of the book "The Street Where You Live: Why Did They Name It?"
Placentia is Latin for "a pleasant place to live." There used to be a Placentia in Italy. But these days, its Italian name is used: Piacenza, a town founded by the Romans on the banks of the Po River.
Here in California, Union Oil christened one of its largest tanker ships "La Placentia" in 1921 and nearly everyone in the town of Placentia contributed toward a silver tea service for the captain's table. The ship was scrapped the year World War II ended. But in Orange County, Placentia Avenue lives on.
(Airdate for this story: 12/2/07)
Comments (1)
Placentia is not derived from Spanish but from Latin. I grew up there and remember this from history books written about the town. There are other Placentias including one in Canada and an ancient Roman city now known in Italian as Piacenza. There was also a palace in London known as the palace of Placentia that was demolished in the 1600s.
The assumption that Placentia is from Spanish, I believe comes from it's location in Southern California. It is actually Ms. King who is mistaken and not Sarah McFadden.
Posted by Martin | on February 26, 2008 1:33 AM