Some California Place Names That Puzzle

There are some redundant and silly California place names, sometimes in Spanish and sometimes caused by the combination of Spanish and English words.

As pointed out in a previous post, La Brea Tar Pits means “The Tar Tar Pits.”

Also from the redundancy file is El Cerrito Hills: “Little Hill Hills.”

Mt. Tamalpais State Park contains a place called Portrero Meadows. That would be “Meadow Meadows.”

(Jayne’s sister perhaps?)

In San Mateo, a major thoroughfare is Alameda de las Pulgas. Translated that’s “Mall of the Fleas.”

San Hacienda, a street in Buena Park, means “St. Farm.”

San Juan Capistrano’s Paseo Cerveza is “Beer Boulevard.”

No doubt there are more.

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