Woodley Avenue is named for Frank Erwin Woodley. Bill Robertson, director of L.A.'s Bureau of Street Services, says Woodley was many things, but was primarily known as a career politician.

"He was a county supervisor and state legislator."

Woodley came west from Wisconsin after finding the law and the cold Midwest winters were bad for his health. He settled in Riverside, then in Porterville to raise oranges. Frank Woodley dabbled in mining. He organized a water system for the area.

Eventually, Woodley headed off to Sacramento to serve in the state legislature. In 1914, California's progressive governor Hiram Johnson appointed him to fill out the term of a county supervisor in Los Angeles, where Woodley had never lived!

But his constituents didn't seem to mind his carpetbagger credentials. They re-elected Frank Woodley to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, where he continued to serve until 1926.

(Airdate: 3/7/2009)