Oxnard Street runs through North Hollywood. Bill Robertson, director of L.A.'s Bureau of Street Services, says both the street and the city south of Santa Barbara honor the same man.

"Oxnard Street was named for Henry T. Oxnard. He was a sugar beet magnate in the Ventura County area. Name dates from about 1916 when the Valley was developing into a major beet producer itself."

Oxnard and his three brothers ran the American Beet Sugar Company, with half a dozen processing plants around the country, including Chino and Oxnard. The Southern Pacific Railroad laid tracks right to the factory door. That's why today Amtrak jogs to one side going through Oxnard.

But Henry Oxnard never lived in the town that carries his name. He didn't even want to call it Oxnard. He preferred the Greek word for "sugar."

Bureaucrats in Sacramento had to approve the new name, but the phone line was lousy. Oxnard got frustrated repeating the name over and over again. Finally, the story goes, he said: "Just name it after me."

(Airdate: 2/7/2009)