You're far more likely to get a street named after you if you're a land developer than a politician. But if you're both, you're in like Flint... or at least, Flintridge.

Frank Flint became a millionaire in the 1880s land boom in Southern California. He was a banker whose biggest client was the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1897, those railroad interests had him appointed U.S. Senator. But the election of Theodore Roosevelt ushered in a progressive era that required Flint to run for his seat. Instead, filmmaker John Newcombe says Flint got out of politics and into real estate.

"Somewhere around 1912, he became obsessed with [the] developing wealthy suburb of Pasadena, one of the most fashionable addresses in the country. He purchased 1,700 acres of La Canada and named it after himself, much to the chagrin of most residents of La Canada."

John Newcombe, who produced the documentary "Rancho La Canada: Then and Now," says Flint hired the best architects in the country to build mansions all over Flintridge. Frank Flint died in 1929, but his name lives on both in La Canada-Flintridge and Flintridge Avenue.

(Airdate for this story: 2/23/08)