Street/Place Names

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Click on any letter, above, to visit specific section of Street/Place Names

	L
	Laburnum Gardens
	Origin descriptive.
	Lined with Laburnum trees, Laburnum Gardens was constructed circa 1931 as an access road off Tod Road to service a mini, 6-lot housing development that never materialized. 1 Three of these lots were subsequently purchased in 1940 to extend the playing fields of Willows School. Laburnum Gardens was incorporated into Tod Road in 1958.
1 This development was the dream of architect Percy Leonard James, whose home was situated on the property. Another Oak Bay architect of renown, Francis Mawson Rattenbury, also had pretentions as a developer. His 1927 proposal for a "St George and the Dragon Hotel" — to be built on a portion of his Beach Drive property — never materialized, although eventually approved by municipal council.
	see Percy Leonard James
	Lafayette Street
	Origin unknown.
	Information welcomed
	Lansdowne Road
	Origin uncertain, possibly after Lord Lansdowne who, in 1885, was the first Governor-General of Canada (1883-1888) to visit BC without travelling via the United States, although the original spelling of the road, in Saanich, was "Landsdowne."
	"Landsdowne" Road existed in Saanich 1 long before it did in Oak Bay. In Oak Bay there was a wagon trail called Deans' Cross Road that connected Geordie Deans' "Oak Hill" farm (at Richmond Road) to Cadboro Bay Road. Some time after Oak Bay incorporated (1906), Landsdowne Road was extended into Oak Bay. By 1918, the spelling was modified to "Lansdowne."
1 The original Landsdowne Road in Saanich extended between Cedar Hill Road and Mount Tolmie Road (Richmond Avenue) but was renamed Hillside Avenue when the road extended east of Richmond Avenue and into Oak Bay.
	Larch Street
	Origin unknown.
	Former name of Plumer Street prior to c 1928
	Information welcomed
	Larkdowne Road
	Origin uncertain, possibly descriptive after the skylarks that thrived in the tall grass of the vacated fairgrounds.
	Named by the Hudson's Bay Company
	Laurel Street
	Origin unknown.
	Former name of Victoria Avenue south of McNeill Avenue until 1921
	Information welcomed
	Lincoln Road
	Origin unknown, possibly after Lincoln, England.
	Lincoln Road in the Uplands extended south by incorporating Seagull Street in 1921. Seagull Street was originally called Second Street
Today there is no trace of the original Lincoln Road in the Uplands. The section north of Lansdowne Road disappeared in the 1930s with the creation of Norfolk and Exeter Roads to service downsized lots. The section south of Lansdowne Road to Dorset Road disappeared with the creation of Uplands Park in 1946.
	Linkleas Avenue
	Origin unknown.
	Information welcomed
	Longbranch Avenue
	Origin unknown.
	Former name of Currie Road until 1923
	Information welcomed
	Lorne Terrace
	Origin unknown.
	Originally called Gonzales Avenue but renamed in 1928
	Information welcomed
	Lulie Street
	Origin likely after St. Lulie
	Originally called St. Lulie Street. Renamed to avoid confusion with St. Louis Street
	Lyn Crescent
	Origin unknown.
	Information welcomed

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