The boulevard's origins can be traced back to the
Camino de Mariquina (Marikina Road, also called San Juan-Marikina Road), a small road built in 1900 to link
Manila to the western
Manila province (later annexed to
Rizal in 1901) municipalities of
San Juan del Monte (San Juan) and
Mariquina (Marikina). The road was named
Calle N. Domingo (now N. Domingo Street) after Nicolas Domingo, a
relator (
court reporter) of the
Real Audiencia of Manila in 1898. Before 1945,
Calle Santa Mesa (Santa Mesa Boulevard, now
Magsaysay Boulevard) was extended eastwards from its intersection with Santol Street, crossing the
San Juan River and absorbing majority of Calle Morales in San Juan and 2nd Street in New Manila Subdivision, Quezon City. The extension was classified as part of Highway 53 and was named the
Santa Mesa Boulevard Extension. It was named
Calle Morales after the old street in San Juan that it absorbed. Eventually, the Santa Mesa Boulevard Extension intersects with N. Domingo Street, whose remaining sections from present-day
EDSA to present-day
Katipunan Avenue were absorbed by the extension. By 1955, the Santa Mesa Boulevard Extension was known as
Marikina-Ermita Avenue (or the
Manila Provincial Road). In 1963, the road was renamed
Aurora Boulevard (as it is known today) to honor the former
First Lady Aurora Quezon, the assassinated wife of former Philippine President
Manuel L. Quezon. The
Magnolia Ice Cream House ice cream parlor and factory once stood at the corner of Aurora Boulevard and Doña Hemady Street. It is now occupied by
Robinsons Magnolia, which got its name from the former ice cream parlor and factory. ==Intersections==