BENJAMIN EATON
District Attorney

1853-1854

Benjamin Eaton

Los Angeles County's fourth District Attorney.

Benjamin Eaton (1853-1854), arriving from New England, became Los Angeles' district attorney in 1853 and subsequently served as county assessor in 1857. Eaton was a founder of Pasadena, then the Rancho San Pasqual, and later encouraged people from Indiana to migrate to the area in the land boom of the 1870s. One of Pasadena's main streets, Fair Oaks, takes its name from Eaton's home. Frederick Eaton, his son, became a major force in Los Angeles, serving as city engineer and mayor. The younger Eaton owned a ranch in the Owens Valley and introduced William Mulholland to the area. This led to the controversial bringing of Owens River water to Los Angeles in 1913