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1.01

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

House numbering in the unincorporated territory of the County of Los Angeles began in
1920 when the Board of Supervisors instructed the County Engineer to establish numbers
along Colorado Street at Santa Anita Avenue, east of the City of Pasadena. Between 1920
and 1925, the County Engineer received instructions to establish house numbers in other
portions of the County.

In 1925, the Board of Supervisors adopted Ordinance No. 1325 N.S., which was amended
by Ordinance No. 1512 N.S. in 1927. This ordinance made it the duty of the County
Engineer to establish house numbers on all roads in the County and to notify the owners or
tenants of the correct number. The ordinance also requires that the correct number be
properly displayed.

Under the provisions of the ordinance, the County Engineer notified the property owners of
their correct house numbers by mail. Many people failed to observe the notices, and the
utility companies continued to issue numbers which did not agree with those issued by the
County. Confusion in the numbering continued to exist.

To eliminate this confusion, the County Engineer began the practice of making a survey on
the ground, locating the houses, and issuing notices to the tenants to display correct
numbers. The men who made the survey rechecked the district in about sixty days to see
that the changes had been made. This resulted in having all numbers correctly displayed,
and the system was enforced.

In 1933, the Board of Supervisors directed the County Engineer to establish and extend
house numbering in all unincorporated territory of the County. Local systems were
satisfactory as long as the communities were separated from each other by large farm belts
or citrus groves. With the great influx of people into Los Angeles County during recent
years, farm belts and citrus groves disappeared, and the little communities expanded until
they joined one another. The resulting confusion indicated that something had to be done
to eliminate these areas.

In 1973, the House Numbering Ordinance was amended by Ordinance No. 10763. This
ordinance brought mobile home parks under the Unified House Numbering System and
established regulations for the assignment and posting of addresses and the naming of
access ways within the parks.

In 1975, Ordinance No. 1325 was again amended by Ordinance No. 11172 to establish a
regulation requiring apartment house owners to display a plan of the building layout for any
complex containing six or more dwelling units.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works was formed on January 1, 1985,
consolidating the former County Road Department, County Engineer and the County Flood
Control District.