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Ballona

Placename in Southern California

Ballona is a geographic place name in the Westside regionofLos Angeles County, California.

Geographic place names:

• Ballona Creek
  • Ballona Creek Bike Path
• Ballona Wetlands
• Ballona Lagoon

Historic places:

• Rancho La Ballona
• Ballona Road (now Washington Blvd.)
• La Ballona Township
• La Ballona station (1870s to 1890s)
• Port Ballona

School:

• La Ballona Elementary School, Culver City

Place name origin[edit]

The origin of the unique toponym Ballona is much disputed and possibly unknowable.^[1] Various theories have been exchanged for more than 150 years.

• 1875: Misspelling of Ballena, Spanish word for whale (various dead whales did wash up near Ballona during the 19th century), or misspelling of Spanish “valle” meaning valley ^[2]
• 1893: An introduction to Southern California in the Los Angeles Herald noted “Ballona, meaning and derivation unknown; not Spanish.”^[3]
• 1939: “The origin of the word Ballona is in doubt.” Discounts whale theory; Cristobal Machado, an heir of the rancho family, suggests it’s somehow derivative of “bay” ^[4]

References[edit]