Oscar Macy (July 28, 1829 – November 1, 1910) was an American politician, newspaper publisher, and pioneer in Los Angeles County, California. The son of Obed Macy, he was served on the

Los Angeles Common Council The Los Angeles Common Council was the predecessor of the Los Angeles, California, City Council. It was formed in 1850 under state law, when the city had only 1,610 residents, and it existed until 1889, when the city had about 50,400 residents and ...

, served as a county sheriff, and served on the

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors (LACBOS) is the five-member governing body of Los Angeles County, California, United States. History On April 1, 1850 the citizens of Los Angeles elected a three-man Court of Sessions as their firs ...

. He and his father operated one of Los Angeles's historic hotels.

Personal life

Macy was born July 28, 1829, at Maria Creek in

Knox County, Indiana Knox County is a county in the U.S. state of Indiana in the United States. The oldest county in Indiana, it was one of two original counties created in the Northwest Territory in 1790, alongside, St. Clair County, Illinois. Knox County was gradu ...

, and died at the age of 81 on November 1, 1910, in his residence at 519 Plymouth Street in

Boyle Heights Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

(Now part of North Cummings Street). leaving four children, Oscar A. Macy, Estelle and Alice Macy and Irene Macy Whitney, as well as siblings Obed Macy and Lucinda M. Foy. The cause was noted as "an attack of bronchial asthma. He was predeceased by his wife, Margaret Elizabeth Bell, whom he had married on August 24, 1873, in Los Angeles: She died October 28, 1891, at the age of 42.

Vocation

Macy had no formal schooling, but was tutored by his father. Soon after the settlers' party arrived in California, Oscar went with a brother-in-law, David W. Chessman, to Condemned Bar in

Yuba County Yuba County (; Maidu: ''Yubu'') is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 81,575. The county seat is Marysville. Yuba County is included in the Yuba City, California Metropolitan Statistical A ...

to work a gold mine. The venture was unsuccessful, so Macy went to

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

to work as a

printer Printer may refer to: Technology * Printer (publishing), a person or a company * Printer (computing), a hardware device * Optical printer for motion picture films People * Nariman Printer (fl. c. 1940), Indian journalist and activist * James ...

on the '' Alta California.'' He next worked for his father at the Bella Union Hotel, and in the late 1850s he was the foreman of the print shop of the ''Southern Vineyard'' newspaper published by J.J. Warner. In the early 1870s, Macy had a fifty percent share of a herd of ten thousand sheep on Catalina Island, and at the same time he worked on the ''

Los Angeles Star ''Los Angeles Star'' (''La Estrella de Los Angeles'') was the first newspaper in Los Angeles, California, U.S. The publication ran from 1851 to 1879. History Early history and background The first proposition to establish a newspaper in Los ...

,'' a newspaper published in both Spanish and English. He left the newspaper while serving as city treasurer (below) but returned in 1888 and remained a journalist until retiring in June 1903.

Public service

Macy represented the 1st

Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...

on the

in 1871–72.''Chronological Record of Los Angeles City Officials,1850-1938,'' compiled under direction of Municipal Reference Library, City Hall, Los Angeles (March 1938, reprinted 1966). "Prepared ... as a report on Project No. SA 3123-5703-6077-8121-9900 conducted under the auspices of the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

." It was during this term when the city opened the street west of Alameda Street where the Macys had their home and property eastward to the

Los Angeles River , name_etymology = , image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg , image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge , image_size = 300 , map = LARmap.jpg , map_size ...

and named it Macy Street. Macy, a Republican, was elected to the

in November 1884 and was seated on January 3, 1885. During his term, a new

county jail A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correct ...

was built (later demolished to make way for the present Hall of Records. Los Angeles County government website He was Los Angeles

city treasurer The municipal treasurer is a position of responsibility for a municipality according to the locally prevailing laws. The treasurer of a public agency is elected

Legacy

The former Macy Street in Downtown Los Angeles was named to mark the Macy family ranch, and when the city engineer suggested in 1920 that Macy Street and Brooklyn Avenue, which were "practically continuous," should bear the same name, a committee from the

Native Sons of the Golden West The Native Sons of the Golden West is a fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation, documentation of historic structures and places in the state, the placement of historic ...

appeared before the City Council to protest. On that occasion the plea was successful, and the Macy Street name was retained, but in May 1993 the City Council unanimously decided to change the name of a portion of Sunset Boulevard and all of Macy Street and Brooklyn Avenue to a new appellation—

Cesar Chavez Avenue Cesar Chavez Avenue (Spanish: Avenida César Chávez) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Downtown Los Angeles, the Eastside and East Los Angeles, measuring 6.19 miles (9.96 km) in length. Named in honor of union leader César Chávez, t ...

, in honor of the late labor leader. Nevertheless, a roadway and pedestrian bridge over the

is still often called the " Macy Street Viaduct."

References

{{LosAngelesCommonCouncil Los Angeles Common Council (1850–1889) members 19th-century American politicians Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors 19th century in Los Angeles People from Boyle Heights, Los Angeles California Republicans 1829 births 1910 deaths California pioneers