Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, also known as El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park, is located at the oldest section of Los Angeles, known for many years as "El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles". The district, centered on the old plaza, was the city's center under Spanish (1781–1821), Mexican (1821–1847) and United States (after 1847) rule through most of the 19th Century.

The one person most responsible for the founding of Los Angeles was the new Governor of California, Felipe de Neve.  In 1777 Neve toured Alta California and decided to establish civic pueblos for the support of the military presidios. The new pueblos would reduce the secular power of the missions by reducing the dependency of the military on them. At the same time, they would promote the development of industry and agriculture. Neve identified Santa Barbara, San Jose, and Los Angeles as sites for his new pueblos.*

Historical Notes

The City of Los Angeles originated right here. Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles was founded on September 4, 1781 by a group of Spanish pobladores (settlers), consisting of 11 families – 44 men, women and children. They were originally led by Fernando Javier Rivera y Moncada (1725-1781), and accompanied by a contingent of soldiers – who had set out from the nearby Mission San Gabriel Arcángel to establish a pueblo along the banks of the Porciúncula River at the Indian village of Yangna. The church was considered an asistencia (“sub-mission”). Priests from Mission San Gabriel divided their time between the mission and the Asistencia site.

Historical Notes

It wasn't until April 4, 1850 that Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality, five months before California achieved statehood.

In 1850, the population of Los Angeles was only 1610.*

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more in an Interactive Map of Early Los Angeles as it appeared in 1850.

Historical Notes

The site of the Plaza today is not the original location. It is the second, third, or maybe even the fourth. One of the earlier plots is believed to be  around where the current Pershing Square sits. It’s also thought that at least one of the first three was washed away in a flood. The current Plaza dates from as early as 1815.

When early settlers arrived at the Los Angeles River by way of Mission Road, they picked as a nearby gathering point a huge sycamore (upper right-center of photo) that gave them shelter and became a landmark, "El Aliso." That Spanish word for sycamore was later used to name the road carved out near the river (Aliso Street in 1854).

El Aliso (upper center-right of photo) sprang from the ground near the western bank of the Los Angeles River in the late fifteenth century, about the same time Columbus arrived in the Americas. As it matured, the sycamore -- located at the juncture of the Los Angeles coastal plain and the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys -- became a gathering place for Los Angeles' indigenous Tongva people. Local leaders traveled from their villages across Southern California to confer under the shade of the tree's canopy. By the mid-eighteenth century, the mighty sycamore stood at the center of one of the largest Tongva villages, Yangna. By the 1830s, due to the encroachment of the pueblo, El Aliso had ceased to function as the symbolic center of daily Tongva life as Yangna changed locations twice before dissolving into historical oblivion.*

Historical Notes

Click HERE to read more about the Zanja Madre and Los Angeles' first water supply.

Historical Notes

In 1857, the city council granted William Dryden a franchise to deliver water to homes through a system of wooden pipes beneath the streets. Dryden and his newly incorporated water company, Los Angeles Water Works Co., erected a forty foot water wheel to lift water from the LA River to the city's main water ditch.

In 1858, the LA Water Works Co. constructed a large brick and wood storage tank in the center of the city plaza as seen above. It would remain there for about 10 years and then replaced by a fountain. Water would be continued to be stored in other tanks on the periphery of the plaza as well as in other nearby reservoirs.

In 1860, the population of Los Angeles was 4385, almost three times what it was 10 years earlier.*

Click HERE to read more about Water in Early L.A. Also, click HERE to see more Early LA Water Reservoirs.

Historical Notes

The 'Church of Los Angeles' was founded on August 18, 1814 by Franciscan Fray Luis Gil y Taboada. He placed the cornerstone for the new church in the adobe ruins of the original "sub-station mission" here, the Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles Asistencia (founded 1784), thirty years after it was established to serve the settlement founding Los Angeles Pobladores (original settlers).*

Historical Notes

The completed new structure was dedicated on December 8, 1822. A replacement chapel, named La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles - for Mary, mother of Jesus or "The Church of Our Lady of the Angels" - was rebuilt using materials of the original church in 1861. The title Reina, meaning "Queen," was added later to the name. For years, the little chapel, which collected the nicknames "La Placita" and "Plaza Church," served as the sole Roman Catholic church in emerging immigrant Los Angeles.*

Historical Notes

The 'Old Plaza Church' was one of the first three sites designated as Historic Cultural Monuments by the City of Los Angeles, and has been designated as a California Historical Landmark No. 144. Click HERE to see the complete listing of California Historical Landmarks in L. A.

Historical Notes

The original 1822-built "Church of Our Lady of the Angels" incoporated a three-bell campanario, or "bell wall" which was replaced by a gazebo-like structure (seen above) when the Church was rebuilt in 1861. The "bell wall" or "bell gable" would once again return when the Plaza Church was repaired/remodeled circa 1901.*

Historical Notes

IThis is about the time LA Plaza's configuration changed from square to circular. One of the two posts seen in the center of the street appears to be the old gas lamp which was located on the northwest corner of the old square plaza.

Historical Notes

In 1867, Los Angeles Gas Company, the forerunner of today's Southern California Gas Company, installed 43 new gas lamps along Main Street, making the city safer at night. The gas lighting business was run by five entrepreneurs who manufactured the gas from asphalt, a tar-like substance, and later from oil.

The gas company's plant, including two large tanks, was located across the street from the Plaza, just south of the Old Plaza Church (see next photo).

Historical Notes

Calle Principal is now Main Street and follows the old Bath Street, while the upper portion of Calle Principal became Upper Main and later Spring Street, and no longer exists below Sunset Boulevard. (Its remnants can be seen in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Parking Lot Number 2.)

Calle de los Negros (then disparagingly called "Nigger Alley") is now the east side of Los Angeles Street.

Wine Street is now Olvera Street.

Sunset Boulevard (at one time called Short Street) originally ran down Church (Bread) and Marchessault Streets; now it follows a more direct path to connect with Macy Street, and this portion was recently renamed Cesar E. Chavez Street.

Calle Alta (old High Street) is now Ord Street.

Church (Bread) Street is now an alley.

Calle Corto (Short Street) no longer exists.

Historical Notes

The Zanja Madre is shown here from the river at the right edge of the map, running along the bluffs in the proximity of current day North Broadway, completely open to the elements. A few years after this rendering, a brick tunnel enclosed the Zanja Madre in an attempt by the Common Council and the Los Angeles City Water Company to preserve the precious water flowing down from the river.  The map includes the Campo Santo cemetery (the second one) at the end of Eternity Street, the water wheel that propelled the flow toward the pueblo, and the homes of pioneers like Jose Sepulveda, Abel Stearns, and Bernardo Wilson.

Click HERE to see more in Zanja Madre - LA's Original Aqueduct

William Moore, the rendering’s rather robust and tireless cartographer, was county surveyor for two separate terms and a man with such drive that he once tired of waiting for a ship from San Francisco and walked to Los Angeles. Because he was bi-lingual and reportedly quite charming he was involved in many important projects in the days after California gained statehood, including the planning of reservoirs, a sewer system, creation of sidewalks, the Farmers and Merchants Bank, and even orange growing for a time.*^^

Historical Notes

The building in the top right background was the Sisters of Charity Hospital.  The three adobes seen on the north side of the Plaza were owned in 1869 by M. Norton (built 1854), John Downey (shrouded by trees, built 1844) and Augustin Olvera (built 1854). They are all gone now. The first lost to the widening of Main St, the second torn down in 1894 to build the Simpson-Jones Building and the last demolished in 1916 to build the Methodist Church and Conference Center.

Historical Notes

Don Francisco Avila, a wealthy cattle rancher and one-time Mayor of the pueblo of Los Angeles, built the Avila Adobe in 1818. The Avila Adobe, presently the oldest existing residence within the city limits, was one of the first town houses to share street frontage in the new Pueblo de Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The Lugo Adobe, said to have been built in the 1840s by Don Vicente Lugo, was one of the very few two-story houses in the pueblo of Los Angeles. In 1867, Lugo donated this house on the Plaza to St. Vincent's School (forerunner of Loyola University).^^

Click HERE to see more of St. Vincent's College (later LMU).

Historical Notes

Between 1868 and 1870, Pio Pico constructed the three story, 33-room hotel, Pico House (Casa de Pico) on the old plaza of Los Angeles, opposite today's Olvera Street.

Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California under Mexican rule. In 1821 Pico set up a tanning hut and dram shop in Los Angeles, selling drinks for two Spanish bits (US 25 cents). His businesses soon became a significant source of his income.

By the 1850s Pico was one of the richest men in Alta California. In 1850 he purchased the 8,894-acre Rancho Paso de Bartolo, which included half of present day Whittier. Two years later, he built a home on the ranch and lived there until 1892. It is preserved today as Pio Pico State Historic Park. Pico also owned the former Mission San Fernando Rey de España, Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores (now part of Camp Pendleton), and several other ranchos for a total of over one half-million acres, or 800 mi². *

Historical Notes

The Pico House was known as the "finest hotel in Southern California," boasted "bathrooms and water closets for both sexes" on each floor. Pio Pico, the last governor of Mexican California, sold his land in the San Fernando Valley to raise money for its construction. It was Los Angeles' first three story building.^#^

(ca. 1880s)*#^ - View shwoing the Pico House's French restaurant dining room.

Historical Notes

The Pico House had 82 bedrooms, 21 parlors and two interior courtyards. It also had a French restaurant that was located on the ground floor.

Historical Notes

The gas tanks were built in 1867 when the City installed its first streetlighting system consisting of 43 gas lamps along Main Street. By 1873, 136 gas lamps provided the outdoor night lighting for the City.

Things would change in 1882 when electricity was introduced. Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Streetlights.

Historical Notes

A caption above the image reads: "Photograph of the Los Angeles Plaza taken by Horatio Penelon in 1873. From the collection of Charles Prudhomme who supplied identifications to Glenn Palmer of the Times Staff". The back of the photoprint identifies the structures pictured from left to right: (top) Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles "Plaza Church" ([...]berela Belfry); Jonas Jones home, ancestor of the Lankershim family; Judge Augustin Olveras, Home and Court Room; Pablo dor(?) Narvaros Adobe; Becente Luego Home, later Saint Vincentia College now Loyola; Don Ignacio del Valle home. Bottom: Plaza Church's campo Santo (cemetary); First Gas Works and Adobe of Dona [B]enancia Dotello de Dominguez. Photoprint also reads "Padre Blas Ra[...] in 1860 on the restoration of the chruch was the pastor". ***

Historical Notes

In 1868, John S. Griffen, Solomon Lazard, and Prudent Beaudry, three of the city's more successful businessmen, submitted a proposal to the city council to develop and operate the city's water system. In turn they asked for all of the city's water rights and control over the water rates. They also promised to construct a reservoir for the city, lay twelve miles of iron pipe, install fire hydrants at major street crossings, provide free water to public buildings, and to erect an ornamental fountain in the Plaza.

Click HERE to see more in Water in Early Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Fort Hill (also known as Fort Moore Hill) was a prominent hill overlooking the pueblo of Los Angeles. Its commanding view of the city made it a strategic location.

Fort Moore was an historic U.S. Military Fort during the Mexican–American War. Its approximate location was at what is now the Hollywood Freeway near the intersection of North Hill Street and West Cesar Chavez Avenue, downtown. The hill on which it was built became known as Fort Moore Hill, most of which was removed in 1949 for construction of the freeway. The hill was located one block north of Temple Street and a short distance south of present day Cesar Chavez Avenue, between the Los Angeles Civic Center and Chinatown.

The fort is now memorialized by the Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial, 451 North Hill Street.*

Historical Notes

In the foreground of the above photo is the courtyard of Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles, showing the padres' kitchen, bishop and padres' quarters, parochial school and courtyard planted to citrus orchard. To the left of this, a low white adobe, is the bakery of Pierre Domegue and his Indian wife, who baked sourdough French bread. Behind this on the next block are two square buildings, the Bath Street (later Olvera Street) Public School. In the rear is a three-story building at Alameda and Macy Streets, the Los Angeles Charitable Institute run by the Sisters of Charity. Just behind the bakery is the Pelanconi Winery, later La Golondrina Restaurant. Also shown, behind the church facilities, is the adobe residence of Mr. and Mrs. John Jones, parents of Mrs. Lankershim.**

Historical Notes

The school faced Alameda at Macy Street. It was called Los Angeles Charitable Institute, later the Los Angeles Orphan Asylum, but in Spanish, Casa de las Hermanas. The Sisters bought the old Benito Wilson frame house at the right, which had been shipped in pieces around the Horn. The property included about twelve acres and sold for $8,000. The house was demolished, and the brick building constructed with materials also brought around the Horn in a sailing vessel. The sale took place in 1856, the building was completed in 1858, and it was used until 1891. It opened with about 20 girls enrolled. Don Francisco Coronel (father of Don Antonio Coronel) and his two daughters were the teachers. One daughter later married the historian Bancroft. Later this became the site of the Post Office.**

Historical Notes

The Pico House was built in 1868.

Historical Notes

Pío Pico constructed the Pico House in 1868-70. The first three-story hotel built in Los Angeles, it had about eighty rooms, large windows, a grand staircase, and a small interior courtyard.^*

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see a Then and Now comparison of the above scene.

Historical Notes

The 300 block of North Main Street was an important part of Los Angeles history as early as the mid-1800s. It was considered the uptown commercial heart of the old city and was always buzzing with activity.  Built there was Los Angeles’ first hotel, the Bella Union, which was long a social and political center. The first county courthouse was in the adobe hotel, where court was held in rented rooms from 1850 to 1852. Beginning in 1858, it was the region's transportation hub. The Overland Mail Company operated by John Butterfield (the founder of American Express) rented space for a station. The Wells, Fargo and Company also had their office here and Phineas Banning operated coaches to Wilmington and San Bernardino from the hotel.

Just north of the two-story Bella Union was the Pico Building, built by Pio Pico in 1868 (two years before the Pico House). In 1871, the building became home to the Farmers & Merchants Bank, the first incorporated bank in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

In 1880, Pio Pico would lose the hotel by foreclosure. Also, between 1892 and 1920, the hotel would be known as the National Hotel.^#^

The Pico House (Hotel) was designated as California Historical Landmark No. 159. Click HERE to see California Historical Landmarks in LA.

Historical Notes

The Merced Theatre, erected in 1870 on North Main Street next to the Pico House, was the first building built expressly for theatrical purposes in Los Angeles. It was built by William Abbot, a cabinetmaker, and named in honor of his wife Merced Garcia.^^

The theater was built in an Italianate style and operated as a live theater from 1871 to 1876. When the Woods Opera House opened nearby in 1876, the Merced ceased being the city's leading theater. Eventually, it gained an "unenviable reputation" because of "the disreputable dances staged there, and was finally closed by the authorities." ^*

The Merced Theatre was dedicated as California Historical Landmark No. 171 (Click HERE to see more in California Historical Landmarks in Los Angeles).

Historical Notes

L.A.'s first streetcars ran under horsepower. Steam locomotives were considered too dirty and dangerous for use on city streets still teeming with easily spooked horses, and cable car technology was still new and expensive. Electric-powered traction railways, meanwhile, remained more than a decade off.

On July 1, 1874, the modest, horse-drawn cars of the Spring and Sixth Street Railroad became the first streetcars to roll down Los Angeles streets. Founded by lawyer Robert M. Widney, the Spring & Sixth operated a regular schedule, running cars hourly on weekdays between 6:30 a.m. and 10 p.m. For a ten-cent fare, passengers could ride the one-and-a-half-mile route from the intersection of Temple and Spring south to Sixth, and then west to Figueroa.

Soon, L.A.'s streetcar network expanded as new railways opened and existing lines extended their tracks across the city. The Plaza functioned as a central hub for the city's growing streetcar network, with lines radiating out in several directions.*^^*

Historical Notes

In 1867, Los Angeles saw its first street gas lamps.  A total of 43 were installed along Main Street. A lamplighter on horseback rode down the street at dusk to light the streetlights. By 1873, about 136 gas lamps provided the outdoor night lighting for the City.

Things would change in 1882 when electricity was introduced. That year 3,000-candle power arc lamps were lifted atop seven 150-foot poles. The state of the art at that time encouraged the use of a few tall standards with high illumination. The gas street lamps would see their last days.^

Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Streetlights.

Historical Notes

The East Los Angeles & San Pedro Railway Company was founded by Judge Robert M. Widney (also one of the founders of the University of Southern California), this line was incorporated on May 1, 1875 but did not begin construction until March 1876. This horse car driven system ran north from Fourth Street and was intended to lay track to the new Southern Pacific depot.  It reached only to College Street and North Broadway.^^^

Historical Notes

Horse-drawn trolleys were the first form of public transportation to take passengers to and from the Plaza (1874-1887). In 1887 electic power streetcars started to take over.

Historical Notes

The stagecoach in the foreground was owned by the Lafayette Hotel, the second Los Angeles hotel (after the Bella Union), owned by C. Fluhr (Fleubul?). Calle de los Negros is at the extreme right of the image and ran north from Los Angeles Street toward Aliso Street, ending where Dr. Gelsich had an apothecary shop.

The two story brick building at the extreme left corner, on Arcadia Street, was occupied mainly by Caswell and Ellis grocers (or General Merchandise store of Harris Newmark?). In the corner was a saloon run by Marjett. He sold the first 5-cent beer. Marjett also owned a ranch in Antelope Valley to which the name of "Cinco Centavos" was given on account of his 5-cent beer. A son of Marjett later lived in Ocean Park. The open space in the foreground of the image is the end of Los Angeles Street. The hat on the stagecoach driver is a typical French cap of the time.^

Historical Notes

The Pico House (center-right) wasn't built until 1870.

The section of Aliso Street seen above was renamed Arcadia Street in 1872.

Historical Notes

Antonio F. Coronel, was a state treasurer and former Los Angeles mayor who owned the main block of rundown adobe stores and apartments in this area. The Coronel house was the scene of the beginning of the Chinese massacre of 1871. #^#^

Once home to the town’s most prominent families, the neighborhood had deteriorated into a slum by the time Los Angeles’s first Chinatown was established there in the 1860s.*^

Historical Notes

There was no area more colorful than Los Angeles’s Calle de los Negros, a short dirt thoroughfare located just off the eastern edge of the historic Plaza and considered to be the center of the town’s “red light” district. Saloons, gambling dens, brothels, and other entertainment venues were said to proliferate on the Calle; the same could also be said for crime.**^

Historical Notes

Los Angeles Street was first named in 1854. Before the first official survey of the area in 1849, most of this thoroughfare was called Calle Principal (Main Street). Other sections were known as Calle de la Zanja (Ditch Street), Calle de Los Vinas (Vineyard Street) and--much to the south--Calle de los Huertos (Orchard Street), which is now San Pedro Street. These formed the principal highway running south to the Embarcadero of San Pedro. At its northern end, near the Plaza, a 500-foot stretch was known as Calle de Los Negros, which had a racially diverse population.^*^

Historical Notes

The Chinese massacre of 1871 was a racially motivated riot on October 24, 1871 in Los Angeles, when a mob of over 500 men entered Chinatown to attack, rob and murder Chinese residents of the city. The riots took place on Calle de los Negros (Street of the Negroes), also referred to as "Nigger Alley", which later became part of Los Angeles Street. A total of 18 Chinese immigrants were systematically killed by the mob, making the so-called "Chinatown War" the largest incident of mass lynching in American history.*^

Historical Notes

Calle de los Negros was situated immediately northeast of Los Angeles’s principal business district, running 500 feet from the intersection of Arcadia Street to the Plaza. The unpaved street took its name from the dark-complexioned Californios (pre-annexation, Spanish-speaking mixed-race Californians) who had originally lived there.*^

Historical Notes

In 1886, the extension of Los Angeles Street eliminated the alley and today the site adjoins the Hollywood Freeway.

Historical Notes

The Old Plaza Firehouse is the oldest firehouse in Los Angeles. Built in 1884, it operated as a firehouse until 1897. The building was thereafter used as a saloon, cigar store, poolroom, "seedy hotel", Chinese market, "flop house", and drugstore. The building was restored in the 1950s and opened as a firefighting museum in 1960.^*

For the first two years of its existence the station housed 38's Engine Company No.1 (comprised of 38 volunteers, a horse cart and 3 horses). The volunteer fire companies also used the area to stage the parades, holiday fireworks displays, monthly inspections and periodic musters which helped to stimulate civic pride. This and the fact that the volunteers continually bickered amongst themselves and some of the companies acted in too independent a fashion, led to the establishment, in December 1885, of the city's first paid Fire Department. The council appointed Walter S. Moore as Fire Chief and the new Board of Fire Commissioners installed another steam engine company (Walter S. Moore Company No. 4) at the Plaza Firehouse with a seven man crew while the Volunteer 38's moved elsewhere or disbanded.*^

The Old Plaza Firehouse was dedicated as California Historical Landmark No. 730 (Click HERE to see more in California Historical Landmarks in L.A.)

Historical Notes

The Old Plaza Church was the parish church for Los Angeles and was never a mission.

Historical Notes

Floating some 9,000 feet above the city in a hot-air balloon in 1887, Edwin H. Husher took what may be the first aerial photo of Los Angeles.^#^*

By 1887 the City's population had grown to over 20,000 people with most of the new development having taken place south of the orignal Pueblo and LA Plaza as seen in the above photo.

Historical Notes

In 1874, Los Angeles saw it's first streetcars which all ran under horsepower (horse-drawn trolleys). Things would change in 1887 when electric powered streetcars arrived.

Charles H. Howland chartered the first electric streetcar company in Los Angeles, LA Electric Railroad Company, on September 11, 1886.  It began operations on January 4, 1887 with the line opening from Pico Boulevard and Main Street traveling west to Harvard Boulevard.  In 1896, many of the major horse and cable cars operating in Los Angeles converted to electrical power.^^^

It should be noted that Howland was also responsible for introducing the first elecric streetlights in Los Angeles (1882). Also, for starting the LA's first electric utility, Los Angeles Electric Comnpany (1883) which evolved into LA Gas and Electric Corporation and then finally absorbed by LADWP (1936). Click HERE to see more in Early Power Generation in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Started in 1887, the Los Angeles Electric Railway (LAERy) ran the first electric powered streetcars in Los Angeles. It, however, operated only intermittently and frequently one had to wait two hours for a car. Operation was discontinued in the Fall of 1888.

In 1890 the LAERy Co. was acquired by the Electric Rapid Transit Company (ERT) which attempted to rebuild the lines and acquire new electric cars. Sixteen new cars were ordered, 10 motors and six trailers. When the cars arrived in Los Angeles the investors could not pay the freight bill and so turned to General Moses Sherman for help. For his $56,000 investment he received one-half interest in the ERT Co. By September 1st 1890 he had secured full ownership.^*^

Sherman was also responsible for constructing the electric railway into the San Fernando Valley in the early 1900s which played such an vital role in its development. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Valley.

Historical Notes

This section of Buena Vista is soon to be renamed Justicia running south from Bellevue, which would become Sunset and then ultimately become Cesar E. Chavez Avenue (which here runs diagonally across the bottom of the frame from the lower left corner to the right edge) to Temple. Buena Vista north of Bellevue would become N. Broadway. The Broadway tunnel is still fifteen years in the future, the north portal of which will exit the base of the hill behind these adobes. Mary Hollister Banning's house can be seen on the crest of the hill. It will overlook the north portal. #^*

Historical Notes

The structure was built by Jacob Philippi as a beer hall, but Banning purchased and transformed it into a home.**

Historical Notes

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in the late 1870's and it didn't take long for Los Angeles to adopt the new technology. In 1879, the Los Angeles Telephone Company was formed and it began offering telephone service in the area of what is now Downtown Los Angeles. This was just one year after the very first North America telephone exchange was installed in New Haven, Connecticut (January, 1878). The Los Angeles Telephone Company originally started with only seven subscribers.^*^*^

Historical Notes

In 1883, The Los Angeles Telephone Company merged with another local telephone company based in Northern California, Sunset Telephone Company. In 1906, the Sunset Telephone Company was acquired by Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, later known as Pacific Bell.^*^*^

Historical Notes

Agustín Olvera arrived from Mexico in 1834 where he had been a Justice of the Peace, and held various offices in the Mexican administration. In 1842 he was granted Rancho Mission Viejo, and three years later, was also granted the 35,501-acre Rancho Cuyamaca.

Olvera is noted for helping to bridge the gap between the governance of California by Mexico and the U.S.; helping sign the Treaty of Cahuenga, thus ending the war in California; was appointed to be Judge of the First Instance in 1849; was elected as the first county judge of the newly formed County of Los Angeles in 1850; and eventually entered private practice law.

In 1877, the Los Angeles City Council changed the name of Wine Street to Olvera Street in his honor. Marchessault Street is named for French Canadian, Damien Marchessault, who served as mayor of Los Angeles from 1859-1860, and again from 1861-1865. During his term in office, the Plaza Church was rebuilt and the City Gas Company was organized. Marchessault committed suicide in the city council chamber in 1868, after becoming despondent over public criticism of the water system and over gambling debts.

Historical Notes

Originally called Wine Street (Calle de las Viñas), it was renamed Olvera Street in 1877 to honor Agustin Olvera, Los Angeles County's first judge.

Historical Notes

The Lugo Adobe has been designated as a California Historical Landmark No. 301. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of California Histrorical Landmarks in L.A.

Historical Notes

In 1887, during the height of the real estate boom, investor William Vickrey bought a parcel of land on North Main Street, on which he commissioned construction of the Vickrey-Brunswig Building. Originally the site of an adobe owned by Jesus Dominguez, the land was purchased by Vickrey from the City of Los Angeles for a total cost of $3,925.

Los Angeles city directories from the mid-1880s list Vickrey's occupation as "capitalist." He established and served as president of the East Side Bank, which was located at 510 Downey Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Construction of the Vickrey-Brunswig Building took place in 1888, the year marking the abrupt collapse of the real estate boom that had driven rapid construction and market speculation through the 1880s. Soon after completion of the building, Vickrey would be forced to declare insolvency and then lose the property to his lender.

The Victorian-era brick Vickrey Building was among the earliest five-story buildings in Los Angeles.  When it opened in 1888, the building housed ground floor retail with lodging on the upper floors.

The two-story Plaza House (built in 1883) was commissioned by Frenchman Philippe Garnier, whose name appears at the base of the decorative false gable parapet rising above the roofline. It was once the site of La Esperanza Bakery.

Historical Notes

In 1897, the Vickrey Building was purchased by F. W. Braun and Company, and for more than three decades was associated with the pharmaceutical industry.  Reorganized as the Brunswig Drug Company in 1907 following its purchase by part owner and prominent Angeleno Lucien Brunswig, the company expanded dramatically and developed into the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing laboratories west of Chicago.

Historical Notes

The part of the city called Sonora Town was an old adobe village north of the Plaza and Church of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels. It was Los Angeles' first Mexican quarters, or barrio. The area was named for the numerous miners and families who came from Sonora, Mexico, and may have still been around in the 1930s. Now it is Los Angeles' Chinatown District.

Historical Notes

In 1868, the City of Los Angeles approved a franchise water agreement on a 30 year lease basis with the private Los Angeles City Water Company.

In 1899, after the end of the lease, a $2.09 million bond measure for the purchase of LA City Water Co.’s system was approved by city voters by a margin of nearly eight to one.  After over two years of litigation the City of Los Angeles finally regained control of its water system on February 3, 1902. A new department was created called the Los Angeles Water Department.

Once the purchase was completed, the Los Angeles City Water Department acquired all assets of the privately owned water system including its main office building at Marchessault and North Alameda.

Click HERE to see more in Water Department's Original Office Building.

Historical Notes

The Old Plaza Firehouse is the oldest firehouse in Los Angeles. Built in 1884, it operated as a firehouse until 1897. The building was thereafter used as a saloon, cigar store, poolroom, "seedy hotel", Chinese market, "flop house", and drugstore. The building was restored in the 1950s and opened as a firefighting museum in 1960.^*

The Old Plaza Firehouse was dedicated as California Historical Landmark No. 730 (Click HERE to see more in California Historical Landmarks in L.A.)

Historical Notes

La Plaza Church, founded in 1814 and completed in 1822, was established to serve the growing Catholic community in Los Angeles, a small pueblo under Spanish rule at the time. As a central feature of the Los Angeles Plaza, the church played a key role in the city's social and commercial life through the Spanish, Mexican, and early American periods. By the 1890s, despite Los Angeles' transition to American control and rapid growth, La Plaza Church continued to be a vital religious and cultural institution, particularly for the Spanish-speaking and Catholic communities.

Historical Notes

Mission Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles (Church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels), was founded on September 4, 1781 by a group of Spanish settlers. The church was considered an asistencia ("sub-mission") of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. Priests from Mission San Gabriel divided their time between the mission and the Asistencia site, but ultimately the installation was never granted mission status and the missionaries eventually abandoned the site.

The surrounding area was named El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula ("The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula", which is the present-day City of Los Angeles). A chapel, La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles, was later erected and dedicated on December 8, 1822, and for years served as the sole Roman Catholic church in the Pueblo. It is the oldest church in the city of Los Angeles.

The Plaza Church was dedicated as California Historic Landmark No. 144. Click HERE to see list.

Historical Notes

The tall clock tower seen in the background on Fort Moore HIll is the 1891-built Los Angeles High School, its second location.

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Railway (LARy) was established in 1895, consolidating various streetcar lines and converting them to electric power, quickly becoming a crucial part of the city's transportation network. One of its key routes in the 1890s began at the Plaza, running along Los Angeles Street, passing directly in front of La Plaza Church, making the church a central hub for streetcar traffic.

Historical Notes

Back of photo print reads:  "This bell (known as the Penance Bell) was given by Henry Delano Fitch as a forfeit for his transgression when he defied the civic and ecclesiastical authorities and eloped with Josefa Carillo, a Spanish California lady -- the first elopement of California -- 1829."

Historical Notes

Los Angeles High School (see above and behind the Old Plaza Church) was completed in 1891 at Castelar and Rock streets (North Hill Street and Fort Moore). It was built on part of the site of the abandoned Fort Moore Hill Cemetery, the first Protestant cemetery in Los Angeles, which was spread over the slopes of the hill.

The four-story red brick building had 40 rooms for its 400 students. It was the second Los Angeles High School to be built and replaced the original one that was built in 1872, at the former site of Central School on what was then known as Poundcake Hill, at the southeast corner of Fort Street (later Broadway).

Early buildings commissioned to house the Los Angeles High School were among the architectural jewels of the city, and were strategically placed at the summit of a hill, the easier to be pointed to with pride. One of the school's long standing mottos is "Always a hill, always a tower, always a timepiece."

In 1917, the school moved to its current location at 4650 West Olympic Boulevard (which incidentally is not on a hill).

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Los Angeles High School.

Historical Notes

This would be one of the last photos taken of the Plaza Church with its gazebo-like tower. It would soon be replaced with a "bell wall" (see next photo) similar to the one it had prior to 1861.

Historical Notes

Initially, the majority of vegetable selling in Los Angeles was done around the circular Olvera Street Plaza, just South of Macy Street, where Caucasian, Japanese and Chinese farmers congregated with their goods. However, the increased presence of wagons and the long hours of the makeshift vegetable market became a nuisance to the city.

Click HERE to see more about the Los Angeles City Market.

Historical Notes

“La Fiesta de Los Angeles” also called "La Fiesta de Las Flores" was a week-long party that the city threw in its own honor during the 1890s and early 1900s. Staged by the Merchants’ Association, it featured parades—a flower parade, a parade with floats, a torchlight procession—and athletic competitions, a costume ball, and a carnival attended by masked revelers. The first fiesta was held in April, 1894.

The Spanish title was reflective of a goal: to capture the color and the aura of old Los Angeles in its days as a pueblo under Mexican rule. Men in the garb of caballeros (horsemen) and vaqueros (cow hands) participated. So did Chinese, native Americans, and African Americans. It was a multi-cultural gala, distinct from any celebration elsewhere.

Historical Notes

A story on the original El Camino Real bell appeared in the Aug. 16, 1906 Los Angeles Times:

“Quaintly beautiful and picturesque were the ceremonies held at the old Plaza Church yesterday noon in dedication of El Camino Real and also in commemoration of the one hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the ancient and honorable pueblo of Los Angeles.  …

Father (Juan) Caballeria made the opening address and announced the object of the meeting. He spoke eloquently of the wonderful growth of the Golden State and the auspicious affair they were celebrating.

He told graphically of when the bare feet of the padre of a century ago trod the famous highway that stretched its entire length throughout the entire State and how the padres that followed in the footsteps  of the illustrious fathers of former days had endeavored to add their efforts to the building and growth of the great State.

A stirring scene followed the termination of Father Caballeria’s address. As he concluded Gen. Antonio Aguilar, one of the last of the old guard that fought under Fremont and was present when Los Angeles was taken by the United States troops, fired a salute and simultaneously the clapper of the bell on the sign post of El Camino Real was raised and throughout the city echoed the sounds of all the bells in the Catholic churches as they tolled in honor of the reopening of the King’s highway again to travel. …”

Historical Notes

Over its life, the Old Plaza Firehouse was used as a saloon, cigar store, poolroom, "seedy hotel", Chinese market, "flop house", and drugstore. The building was restored in the 1950s and opened as a firefighting museum in 1960.

Historical Notes

La Casa de Don Vicente Lugo located on the east side of the El Pueblo Plaza at North Los Angeles Street and Sunset Boulevard. Built in 1839 by Vicente Lugo, it was one of the few two-story homes in Los Angeles at the time. It was donated in 1867 to St. Vincent's College (which later became Loyola University), the first college in Southern California; but later became known as the Washington Hotel, and later, the Pekin Curio Store. Unfortunately, the structure was so altered, that it does not resemble an adobe.

Historical Notes

The site of the Vicente Lugo adobe house was designated California State Historic Landmark No. 301.

Click HERE for more about the Vincent Lugo Adobe.

Historical Notes

The Merced Theater, completed on December 31, 1870, opened its first professional engagement on January 30, 1871. It was "used later as an Armory, then again as a Fire Engine house".

Historical Notes

Don Francisco Avila, a wealthy cattle rancher and one-time Mayor of the pueblo of Los Angeles, built the Avila Adobe in 1818. The Avila Adobe, presently the oldest existing residence within the city limits, was one of the first town houses to share street frontage in the new Pueblo de Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The Plaza Substation was an electrical substation that formed a part of the "Yellow Car" streetcar system operated by the Los Angeles Railway from the early 1900s until 1963. After being threatened with demolition in the 1970s, the Plaza Substation was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.

Historical Notes

In May 1903, Henry Huntington, owner of the Los Angeles Railway, announced plans to build a new substation near the old plaza. The Los Angeles Times reported: "Another mammoth electricity substation is to be constructed by the Los Angeles Railway Company. Its location will be on the Plaza, and its completion will mean a long step forward toward the perfection of a system that already is surpassed by few in this country."   The substatin was operating by 1905.

The substation is one of the two buildings in the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District that is itself separately listed in the National Register of Historic Places, having been so listed in September 1978 (The Avila Adobe is the other).

Historical Notes

The Plaza Church bells were cast by Paul Revere's apprentice George Holbrook.

The bells bear inscriptions that read: "Across the street from the Plaza and to the west is the Old Plaza Church (535 Main St.), first established in 1784 as a chapel. The oldest religious structure in Los Angeles, this 1822 building is also known as the Church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. Originally built as a simple adobe by Franciscan Padres with the labor of local Native American Indians, it took an additional 40 years to construct the whole church. This Catholic Church now features some fine modern additions, including a tile mosaic of The Annunciation, created by artist Isabel Piczek in 1981. The interior displays ornate designs of wrought iron and gold leaf. A collection of religious canvases adorn the alter, and murals grace the ceilings. Today, Our Lady Queen of Angels serves as an active church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles."

Historical Notes

Prominent architect Robert Brown Young designed the Vickrey-Brunswig Building in a transitional Italianate style, varying the treatment of each story of the facade for greater visual interest.  The windows of the upper floor feature Romanesque arches, while those of the third floor are embellished with turned posts that serve as the mullions between the grouped sashes. 

R. B. Young was the principal of one of Los Angeles's earliest architectural firms, R.B. Young & Son. Young's office garnered a number of prestigious hotel commissions, such as the Clifton (his first commission in Los Angeles, at the corner of Broadway and Temple Streets), Lankershim, Westminster, Lexington, Hollenbeck, and Occidental hotels. Young also designed the Lankershim office building, the Barker Brothers' block, the Wilson Block, and the California Furniture Company.

Historical Notes

The Vickrey-Brunswig Building was constructed of brick on a trapezoidal plan and stands five stories with a full basement. It was constructed in the Italianate style commonly used for commercial architecture in the Iate-19th and early 20th centuries. Characteristic elements of the building include the decorative stringcourse located above the fifth floor windows and the segmental and rounded arched brick windows featured on the south and west elevations.

Historical Notes

Note the elevated kiosk on the edge of the plaza to the left of photo. Elevated booths like these were used by the Los Angeles Railway and the Yellow Cars as a switchman’s tower to control the flow and path of streetcars through the intersection.  Many of these were still standing well into the 1920s.

Historical Notes

In 1880, Pico lost the hotel by foreclosure. From 1892-1920 the building was called the National Hotel.

Historical Notes

The Garnier Building was built in 1890, by Philippe Garnier, a French settler who arrived in Los Angeles in 1859 at the age of eighteen.  Philippe Garnier and his brothers, Eugene, Abel, and Camille, owned the 4,400 acre Rancho Los Encinos in the San Fernando Valley where they raised sheep.  Despite losing a considerable sum of money in the wool market crash in 1872, the Garniers were financially well off and remained influential in local commerce. Philippe Garnier served as a bank director on the Board of the Farmers and Merchants Bank from 1879 to 1891 and is believed to have constructed several other buildings in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The Garnier Building was designed primarily for Chinese commercial tenants.   It is the oldest building in Los Angeles exclusively and continuously inhabited by Chinese immigrants from the time of its construction in 1890 until the State took it over in 1953.  The building was the headquarters of major Chinese American organizations and housed businesses, churches, and schools.  It was an important structure in the original Los Angeles Chinatown.

Historical Notes

Sepulveda House is a 22-room Victorian house built in 1887 in the East lake style. The original structure included two commercial businesses and three residences.

Pelanconi House, built in 1857, is the oldest surviving brick house in Los Angeles. In 1930, it was converted into a restaurant called La Golondrina, which is the oldest restaurant on Olvera Street.

Historical Notes

This small street, which ran south of the Plaza, was officially named in 1861 for Tomas Avila Sanchez, through whose property it passed. Sanchez was elected Sheriff of Los Angeles County 17 times. He resided for many years in a Glendale adobe.

Historical Notes

Sanchez Street juts south from the plaza, opposite its more famous twin, Olvera Street, on the north side. It's just a block long, but it's seen a lot of history.

In the 1880s and '90s, it was the scene of several crimes reported in The Times. Most involved the local saloons and Chinese gangs of the day, including the 1889 shooting death of the "Peruvian Princess," a woman whose tortured life took her from Lima to China to San Francisco and finally to her death in a Sanchez Street boarding house.

In 1914 police fought protesters on Sanchez Street during the Christmas Riot. A member of the International Workers of the World, or Wobblies, was shot and killed.

Historical Notes

The Hellman/Quon building is named for its two long-time owners, a white European builder and a Chinese businessman. When Hellman, the original owner, died in 1920, the building was sold to Quon How Shing, who helped fellow Chinese learn English and taught them how to adapt to American society. The building had a hidden bell to alert occupants to the presence of unwelcome visitors who might take issue with the gambling and opium smoking within. It is now the offices of Las Angelitas del Pueblo, the volunteer organization that offers free tours of El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and El Pueblo Education Center.

The Hellman/Quon Building site was where Governor Pio Pico's Office once stood, the last California capital of Mexico.

Historical Notes

Over its life, the Old Plaza Firehouse was used as a saloon, cigar store, poolroom, "seedy hotel", Chinese market, "flop house", and drugstore. The building was restored in the 1950s and opened as a firefighting museum in 1960.

Historical Notes

The sole occupant of the entire city block bounded by Los Angeles, Marchessault, and Alameda streets (upper left corner of the photo) was a sturdy, square, two-story brick structure. Built originally for a furniture factory, it was later remodeled to serve as a headquarters of  the Los Angeles Water Department’s predecessor, the Los Angeles City Water Company.

Click HERE to see more in Water Department's Original Office Building.

Historical Notes

The area’s decline as the center of civic life led to its reclamation by diverse sectors of the city's poor and disenfranchised. The Plaza served as a gateway for newly arrived immigrants, especially Mexicans and Italians. During the 1920s, the pace of Mexican immigration into the United States increased to about 500,000 per year. California became the prime destination for Mexican immigrants, with Los Angeles receiving the largest number of any city in the Southwest. As a result of this dramatic demographic increase, a resurgence of Mexican culture occurred in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Elevated kiosks were used by the Los Angeles Railway and the Yellow Cars (LARY) as a switchman’s tower to control the flow and path of streetcars through intersections. 

Historical Notes

Born in Oakland in 1881, Christine Sterling (originally Chastine Rix) migrated south with her husband and two children, residing on Bonnie Brae as early as 1920. In 1926, during a stroll through the rundown alley, Sterling cringed at what had become of the dilapidated Avila Adobe. In an effort to appeal to Anglo hearts and minds, she orchestrated a one-woman campaign to save the old adobe, reminding citizens that the structure had once housed such American luminaries as Commodore Robert F. Stockton, victorious General John C. Fremont, and early explorer Kit Carson.

Historical Notes

The Avila Adobe was built ca. 1818 by Don Francisco Avila, alcalde (mayor) of Los Angeles in 1810. Used as Commodore Robert Stockton's headquarters in 1847, it was repaired by private subscription in 1929-30 when Olvera Street was opened as a Mexican marketplace. It is the oldest existing house in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Sterling's sales pitch for a Mexican marketplace, replete with vendors and musicians in ethnic garb, persuaded L.A. Times owner Harry Chandler to contribute $5,000 dollars, and in the process several prominent Angelenos joined his philanthropic party.

Historical Notes

In 1930, through the efforts of activist Christine Sterling, the Plaza-Olvera area was revived with the opening of Paseo de Los Angeles (which later became popularly known by its official street name Olvera Street).

Historical Notes

Current historians note that the original intention of Olvera Street was to focus on LA’s Spanish past instead of its Mexican/Indigenous one. William Estrada, author of “The Los Angeles Plaza: Sacred and Contested Space,” writes: "Olvera Street was successful and even surpassed Mexican tourist zones along border in Tijuana & Mexicali because it fulfilled tourists’ preconceived notions about Mexico & quaintness of its culture without risk or ‘reality’ of actually crossing border."

Historical Notes

In 1930, through the efforts of activist Christine Sterling, the Plaza-Olvera area was revived with the opening of Paseo de Los Angeles (which later became popularly known by its official street name Olvera Street).

Sterling's vision for a "Mexican Marketplace of Yesterday in the City of Today" opened to the public on Easter Sunday in 1930. Her art and design education from Mills College served to inform her Olvera Street project, as well as her next ethnic re-envisioning, China City. Authenticity has always been tinged with historical fantasy in Los Angeles, and for better or for worse, Sterling's efforts indeed saved the Avila Adobe, and in the process created one of L.A.'s most visited tourist attractions.

Towards the end of her life, Sterling would suffer the same fate of the shop owners of old Olvera and the displaced denizens of the first Chinatown, after she was evicted from her Chavez Ravine home to make way for Dodger Stadium. Sterling moved in to the Avila Adobe, which would be her final home before she passed on in 1963 at the age of 82.

Historical Notes

The new City Hall was built in 1928.

Historical Notes

The creation of Olvera Street in the 1930s was part of a larger effort to preserve and promote the historic El Pueblo de Los Angeles area, which is considered the birthplace of Los Angeles.

In 1953, Olvera Street was listed as a historic monument by the City of Los Angeles, recognizing its cultural and historical significance.

Historical Notes

As a tourist attraction, Olvera Street is a living museum paying homage to a romantic vision of old Mexico. The exterior facades of the brick buildings enclosing Olvera Street and on the small vendor stands lining its center are colorful piñatas, hanging puppets in white peasant garb, Mexican pottery, serapes, mounted bull horns, oversized sombreros, and a life-size stuffed donkey. Today, Olvera Street attracts almost two million visitors per year.*

Historical Notes

When it opened in 1930, Olvera Street featured shops and restaurants selling colorful Mexican goods, as well as musicians performing in the outdoor plaza. It was designed to recreate a romanticized version of "Old Los Angeles."

While it was initially created to cater to a largely Anglo population, over time Olvera Street has become more accepted as a symbolic center of Mexican culture in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The Sepulveda house was once the private home of one of the most powerful families in early Los Angeles. The Sepulveda House was built by Eloisa Martinez de Sepulveda in 1887, at a time when all predictions were that the population boom of the 1880s would last. However, Señora Sepulveda's hopes for Main Street were not fulfilled and by 1900 the area around her house was mostly industrial. Since the turn of the 20th century, Sepulveda House has been a bordello, a tearoom and the USO canteen during World War II.*

Historical Notes

Originally unveiled as "Paseo de Los Angeles" on Easter Sunday in 1930, the street quickly became known as Olvera Street, a name that stuck and is more commonly used today. This historic area, envisioned by Christine Sterling as a vibrant Mexican marketplace and cultural center, is now part of the larger El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument. It represents the birthplace of Los Angeles and serves as a colorful tribute to the city's Mexican heritage. Olvera Street continues to draw millions of visitors annually with its array of shops, restaurants, and cultural events, offering a unique glimpse into the rich history and diverse culture of Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

After Olvera Street first opened in 1930, it quickly became a vibrant cultural and tourist attraction, celebrating the Mexican heritage of Los Angeles. Vendors and performers, often dressed in traditional Mexican clothing such as serapes, rebozos, and charro outfits, helped create an authentic atmosphere. Spearheaded by Christine Sterling, the street was transformed into a Mexican-style marketplace, evoking the early pueblo days of the city. This romanticized vision of Mexican culture became a significant draw for both locals and tourists, preserving the area’s historic charm while promoting Mexican traditions in the heart of Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Located at 10 Olvera Street, the Avila Adobe was built in 1818 by Francisco Ávila, a prominent cattle rancher and early mayor of Los Angeles. It is recognized as the oldest standing adobe house in the city.

Click HERE to see more early views of the Avila Adobe.

Historical Notes

In its early days Olvera Street catered to a largely Anglo population; however, the meaning of Olvera Street has changed over the years, and the delusional fabrication has now been largely accepted as the symbolic epicenter of Mexican culture.

Historical Notes

The construction of the #101 Freeway (Hollywood Freeway) took away everything to the left of (south of) the Garnier Building, an area referred to as the Jennette Block. The Old Plaza Firehouse is to the right of the Garnier Building. The Jennette Block was built circa 1888 and the Garnier Building in 1890.

Historical Notes

The Avila Adobe, presently the oldest existing residence within the city limits, was one of the first town houses to share street frontage in the new Pueblo de Los Angeles. The original structure was nearly twice as long as it is now, and was L-shaped with a wing that extended nearly to the center of Olvera Street, which was the town's plaza.**

The Avila Adobe is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is also listed as California State Landmark No. 145 (Click HERE to see more in California Historical Landmarks in LA.)

Historical Notes

In 1847, this adobe became the temporary headquarters for Commodore Robert Field Stockton and General Stephen Watts Kearny during the American occupation of Los Angeles. At that time, it was the permanent home of Doña Maria Encarnación Avila - widow of Don Francisco Avila. When the townspeople got word that American troops were rapidly approaching the pueblo, many of them evacuated their homes to seek refuge at outlying ranchos. Doña Encarnación was among those that fled their adobes. At which point, Commodore Stockton's men seized the adobe for their commanding officer. When the Treaty of Cahuenga was signed a few days later, Stockton abandoned the adobe and Doña Maria Encarnación returned to her beloved home, where she remained until her death in 1855.**

Historical Notes

The Avila Adobe consisted of a generous courtyard with covered porches for each of the garaging areas, stables, workshops, etc., as well as a garden and vineyard, which Don Francisco tended to regularly.**

Historical Notes

In 1953, the State of California acquired the Avila Adobe as part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park, and has been opened to tours since 1976.**

Historical Notes

Avila adobe holds the record for being the oldest house in Los Angeles. It was built in 1818 by Francisco Avila. It's protected by the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District & California State Historic Park. The walls of the Avila Adobe are 2.5–3 feet thick and are built from sunbaked adobe bricks.*

Historical Notes

In 1868, Pío de Jesús Pico constructed the three story, 33-room hotel, Pico House (Casa de Pico) on the old plaza of Los Angeles, opposite today's Olvera Street. At the time of its opening in 1869, it was the most lavish hotel in Southern California. Even before 1900, however, it began a slow decline along with the surrounding neighborhood, as the business center moved further south. After decades of serving as a shabby flop house, it was deeded to the State of California in 1953, and is now a part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Monument. It is used on occasion for exhibits and special events.^*

Historical Notes

The Church is located on the site of the Tapia/Olvera adobe, which served as an early service building for the United Methodist Church mission in Los Angeles.  The Methodist Church was also the founding agent in Southern California for Goodwill Industries.  The adobe was torn down in 1917 and, nine years later, architects Train and Williams completed this Churrigeresque-style church. ^#^

Historical Notes

The Olvera Adobe was torn down in 1917 and, nine years later, architects Train and Williams completed the Churrigeresque-style Plaza Methodist Church.

Historical Notes

Felipe de Neve (1724–1784) was the fourth governor of Las Californias, a province of New Spain, from 1775 to 1782.  Neve is considered a founder of Los Angeles and helped to settle towns of Santa Barbara and San José whose surrounding communities became California cities. In 1781, Neve issued the first rules regarding governance of secular pueblos like Los Angeles, the "Regulations for the Government of the Province of the Californias" (Reglamento para el gobierno de la provincia de Californias).^

Sculptor Henry Lion was born in Fresno, California. He studied at the Otis Art Institute and with Stanton Macdonald-Wright. Most of his works were executed in bronze. Lion wrote the book SCULPTURE FOR BEGINNERS, and worked on the WPA art project.

Historical Notes

In 1932, the 7 foot high statue of De Neve was set in the 1873 pool at the center of the Plaza facing the Plaza Church. The statue was donated by the Daughters of the Golden West.

Historical Notes

The inscription on the statue reads: "Felipe de Neve (1728-84). Governor of California 1775-82. In 1781, on orders from King Carlos III of Spain, Felipe de Neve selected a site near the River Porciuncula and laid out the town of El Pueblo de La Reina de Los Angeles, one of two pueblos he founded in Alta California."

Historical Notes

In 1926, a measure was placed on the ballot giving Los Angeles voters the choice between the construction of a vast network of elevated railways or the construction of a much smaller Union Station to consolidate different railroad terminals. The election would take on racial connotations and become a defining moment in the development of Los Angeles. The proposed Union Station was located in the heart of what was Los Angeles' original Chinatown. Reflecting the prejudice of the era, the conservative Los Angeles Times, a lead opponent of elevated railways, argued in editorials that Union Station would not be built in the “midst of Chinatown” but rather would “forever do away with Chinatown and its environs.” Voters approved demolishing much of Chinatown to build Union Station by a narrow 51 to 48 percent.^*

Historical Notes

The above photo comes from the September 18, 1933 issue of the Los Angeles Herald Examiner.  The article reads:  "Chinatown faces extinction in Los Angeles with erection of the new Union Station on the Plaza site. The area enclosed by broken line will be occupied with tracks and the station. It includes most of Chinatown. Upper left hand line shows where trains enter station area from Southern Pacific bridge over Los Angeles River." ***

Historical Notes

The ornate three-story Baker Block was completed in 1878 by Colonel Robert S. Baker. For a number of years, the building housed offices, shops, and apartments. Goodwill Industries of Southern California purchased it in 1919. Despite plans to relocate the structure for another purpose, the city purchased the Baker Block from Goodwill in 1941 and demolished the building a year later. U.S. Route 101 now runs beneath where these buildings once stood.^

Click HERE to see more in Early LA Buildings (1800s).

Historical Notes

By the early 1950s, the section of the 101 Freeway (Hollywood Freeway) that runs through downtown would go right through where Aliso Street is shown above, running diagonally away from bottom center of photo.

Historical Notes

When Union Station was opened in May 1939, it consolidated remaining service from its predecessors La Grande Station and Central Station. It was built on a grand scale and became known as "Last of the Great Railway Stations" built in the United States.^*

Historical Notes

Examiner clipping attached to verso, dated May 4, 1939: "Stirring awake memories that had slumbered for more than a century, railroad officials yesterday staged a colorful pageant of transportation that thrilled thousands of Angelenos for two hours. Gayly costumed ladies of the Gay Nineties -- and the years before -- rode stage coaches and horse cars and stuttering, slow-moving trains of another era. Derby-hatted, mustachioed gentlemen in tight coats pumped high-wheeled bicycles -- 'bone-crushers' they were known as in those days -- all to celebrate formal opening of the new Union Station, pictured in background as oldest Union Pacific train approaches the city's newest in beautiful architecture." ***

Historical Notes

Union Station was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. It also is listed as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 101.

Click HERE to see more on the Los Angeles Union Station.

Historical Notes

The area in the extreme foreground is now Union Station. The street in front is Alameda Street, and those buildings ahead of Alameda were knocked down and are now landscaping and on ramps to the 101 Hollywood/Santa Ana Freeway. Old Chinatown started being demolished around 1933, and Union Station opened in 1939.^*#

To the right-center of the photo is the Pico House in front of the LA Plaza which is out of view to the right. The old 1877-built Baker Block with it's distinctive three towers can be seen in the center of the photo just below the Federal Courthouse Building. The Baker Block would be demoished in 1942 to make room for the 101 Freeway.

Click HERE to see more on the Baker Block.

Historical Notes

Marchessault Street was located along the north side of the historic Los Angeles Plaza. It was named after Damien Marchessault, a French-born two-time mayor of the city who later died by suicide.

Historical Notes

In 1935, Eddy See opened the Dragon's Den Restaurant in the basement of the F. Suie One Company. On the exposed brick of the basement walls, Benji Okubo, Tyrus Wong and Marian Blanchard painted murals of the Eight Immortals and a dancing dragon. An arty crowd, including Walt Disney and the Marx Brothers, came to see the murals and sample the "authentic fare." In an era when Chinese restaurants were known as chop-suey joints, Dragon's Den served egg foo young, fried shrimp and almond duck. Non-Chinese diners during the Great Depression considered these "exotic" dishes.

Historical Notes

In 1939, the first home of the Department of Water and Power was sold to the City to make way for the Civic Center development planned in connection with the new Union Passenger Depot. Located at the corner of Marchessault and Alameda Streets, directly across from the almost completed railroad station, the property was the main office of the municipal water works when the City bought out the private water companies operating here until 1902.^

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more in Water Department's Original Office Building.

Historical Notes

Today, Los Angeles Street curves sharply to the right into Alameda Street where Marchessault Street once existed.

Historical Notes

Los Angeles Street now curves sharply to the right into Alameda Street where Marchessault Street once existed.

Historical Notes

The older part of the building is seen here with the three bells; the church was expanded and the plaza was added much later, which includes a hall and rectory. It was dedicated as California Historic Landmark No. 144.

Historical Notes

Union Station opened in May, 1939.

The Hollywood Freeway would not be constructed until 1950.

Historical Notes

Some 450 of these 100-pound iron bells mounted on staff-shaped steel standards 11 feet high once lined El Camino Real from San Diego to Sonoma. The first was installed with great ceremony in the Los Angeles Plaza on Aug. 15, 1906. Spaced approximately a mile apart along the El Camino Real, the bells each had a sign showing the direction and distance to the nearest mission.*^#

Click HERE to see the 1st installation.

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Freeway through Downtown LA opened on December 27, 1950. Construction of the highway spelled the end for several pieces of Downtown history. Compare the above aerial photo with previous photo dated ca. 1940s. Note the number of buildings that are now gone.

The route cut through Fort Moore Hill, site of the Los Angeles High School. The school originally opened at Broadway and Temple in 1873, and was moved to the Fort Moore site.

The Broadway tunnel also found its end come with the construction of the freeway. The razing of Fort Moore Hill and the cut of the freeway brought the new roadway into the path of Broadway. That tunnel, which opened in 1901 (the same year as the Third Street Tunnel) was 760 feet long and 40 feet wide. It was closed on June 2, 1949.**^

Historical Notes

The Biscailuz Building (1925-26) is located on the site of Juan Sepulveda's adobe. It had served as the United Methodist Church Conference headquarters, the Plaza Community Center and the Consulate-General of Mexico. In 1968, it was named after Eugene Biscailuz, a former Los Angeles Sheriff, who had helped Christine Sterling in her struggle to save this historic section of Los Angeles. In 1978, Leo Politi painted a mural on the south and east facades that depicts the Blessing of the Animals, a traditional event held annually in El Pueblo on Easter Saturday. It now houses El Pueblo's administrative offices and the Instituto Cultural Mexicano.**^^

Historical Notes

At 11 Olvera Street, there used to be the Pelanconi Winery that operated from 1874 to 1914. It was remodeled into the Café Caliente by the Peluffo family. In 1953 they sold it and it became the El Paseo Inn. The son of the Peluffo family then opened the Casa Vega restaurant in Sherman Oaks.

Historical Notes

El Paseo Inn Restaurant was established in the 1930’s and was originally located in another portion of Olvera Street, W-23. In 1953, it moved to its current location at E-11 which prior to that time was occupied by Café Caliente. Mrs. Elena Peluffo and Mr. Frank Webb were the first owners of El Paseo Inn at E-11, and Andy M. Camacho, purchased it from them. El Paseo Inn has served many special guests over the years, including civil rights leader Cesar Chavez and Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Historical Notes

Opened in 1930 as the Leo Carillo Theatre at the time Olvera St. was rehabilitate. The theatre was named after the vaudeville actor and film star Leo Carillo and originally featured live shows. By the mid-30s it had become the Olvera St. Theatre featuring puppet shows by Walton & O'Rourke.

Historical Notes

The Machine Shop is a one and a half story building that was built on Main Street around 1910 and extended all the way back to Olvera Street.  The building is located on the site of what is believed to have been the stables of Doria Deighton Jones’ adobe home which was torn down in 1886, and was built by her daughter Constance Jones Simpson.  The first tenants of the building were engaged in light industrial occupations such as tinsmithing, electroplating, metal patterning and machining.  With the advent of the Mexican market place on Olvera Street in 1930, the uses of the Machine Shop were changed and the front doors were opened on Olvera Street, rather than Main Street.  The first tenant was the Leo Carrillo Theatre, followed by the Olvera Street Puppet Theatre.  The proscenium arch and a segment of the stage still survive. ^#^

Historical Notes

In 1926, Christine Sterling began efforts to preserve the buildings on and around Olvera Street (one of the oldest parts of Los Angeles). After several years of struggle and fundraising, Olvera Street was closed to automobile traffic in 1929, and opened as the Paseo de Los Angeles in 1930. The street and its market quickly became popular tourist sites, promoters touting the area as "A Mexican Street of Yesterday in a City of Today."

Historical Notes

The building dates from around 1910 and is known as the Machine Shop.  Apparently the early tenants did metal work and related light industrial tasks. The space ran as a theatre evidently into the 50s. It's now a retail store, Casa California.

Historical Notes

Eloisa Martinez Sepulveda built this Eastlake Victorian style structure for use as stores and as a boarding house (1877). After Olvera Street had been transformed into a Mexican marketplace in 1930, the cellar and first floor of this building were rented to artisans and shopkeepers, while the second floor became a center for artists and craftsmen, and boasted an import shop and the tea room. During the 1930s, the Yale Puppeteers maintained a theater on the first floor, and in World War II it housed a USO canteen. Now it serves as the Park’s Visitors and Orientation Center and has exhibits illustrating life in Los Angeles in the 1890s.^

Historical Notes

The twenty two room building had two large stores fronting on Main Street, and for boarders, fourteen bedrooms and a bathroom on the second floor.  Senora Sepúlveda’s private quarters in the rear were separated from the stores by a breezeway.  In 1901 she gave the building to her favorite niece and goddaughter Eloisa Martinez de Gibbs who had married Edward Gibbs, a City councilman.  Several of the Gibbs children were born in the Sepúlveda House.  Senora Sepúlveda died in 1903 and the Gibbs family moved away in 1905, but owned the building until the State of California took it over in 1953.^#*^

Historical Notes

Ezra F. Kysor designed the Italianate theater, built in 1870 by William Abbott and named for his wife. It opened on January 30, 1871 and is the oldest surviving theater in Los Angeles.**

The Merced Theatre was dedicated as California Historical Landmark No. 171.

Historical Notes

The Plaza Substation was an electrical substation that formed a part of the "Yellow Car" streetcar system operated by the Los Angeles Railway from the early 1900s until 1963. After being threatened with demolition in the 1970s, the Plaza Substation was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978.^*

Historical Notes

After being threatened with demolition in the 1970s, the Plaza Substation was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Plans now call for the building to become a museum on Los Angeles trolley cars.++

Click HERE to see more on the Plaza Substation.

Historical Notes

The County of Los Angeles purchased the Vickrey-Brunswig Building and the adjacent Plaza House in 1948 and renovated them for use by the Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission, County Superior Courts, Police Crime Laboratories and the County Sherriff’s offices through the mid-1970s. *

Historical Notes

After enduring three decades of vacancy and deterioration, the County rehabilitated both buildings to house LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a Mexican and Mexican-American cultural center which opened in 2011.*

Historical Notes

The State of California purchased the Church, Community Center and Headquarters in 1956 under the threat of eminent domain to create the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District.  The Church signed a 50-year lease to continue operations that was successfully renegotiated in 2011 with the City of Los Angeles.  Located next to the church in the Biscailuz Building is the Mexican Cultural Institute of Los Angeles, which is the premier venue for the expression of traditional and contemporary art and culture from the Mexican, Mexican American and Chicano perspective.

Historical Notes

The Churrigeresque-style Methodist Church was designed by architects Train and Williams and built in 1926 on the site of the old Olvera Adobe (demolished in 1917).

Historical Notes

The building to the right of the Plaza Methodist Church is the Biscailuz Building, built 1925-1926. Located on the site of the Juan Sepulveda adobe, it was designed as the Untied Methodist Church Conference Headquarters and the Plaza Community Center.  In 1968, the building was re-named after Eugene Biscailuz, a former Los Angeles County Sheriff, who had helped Christine Sterling in her struggle to save this historic section of Los Angeles.  In 1979, Leo Politi painted a mural on the south and east facades that depicts the Blessing of the Animals, a traditional event held in the Park every year on Easter Sunday.*#^ 

Historical Notes

Today, the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Administrative Offices are located in the Biscailuz Building, to the east of the Plaza Methodist Church.

Historical Notes

The most common of the incandescent multiple globe electroliers of the early 1900s were those manufactured by the Llewellyn Iron Works of Los Angeles.  The firm became so identified with this style of street light that any multiple globe electrolier became commonly known as a Llewellyn.  The Llewellyn Iron Works, founded in 1889‐1890, was one of the largest metal working facilities in Los Angeles.  It manufactured structural steel – including that for the Bradbury Building (1893).

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the L.A. Streetlights.

Historical Notes

The Old Plaza Firehouse is the oldest firehouse in Los Angeles. Built in 1884, it operated as a firehouse until 1897. The building was thereafter used as a saloon, cigar store, poolroom, "seedy hotel", Chinese market, "flop house", and drugstore. The building was restored in the 1950s and opened as a firefighting museum in 1960.

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Old Plaza Firehouse.

Historical Notes

Tom Bradley, born in 1917 to Texas sharecroppers, became the first African American mayor of Los Angeles, serving an unprecedented five terms from 1973 to 1993. After excelling at UCLA, joining the LAPD, and becoming an attorney, he entered politics in the 1960s, winning the mayoral election in 1973. Over his tenure, Bradley transformed Los Angeles into a diverse, international city, revitalized downtown, hosted the 1984 Olympics, and enacted key reforms. Despite challenges like the 1992 riots, his legacy includes advancing diversity, economic growth, and environmental policy, leaving a lasting impact before his passing in 1998.

Historical Notes

The 1869 photo shows the first gas streetlights used in the City of Los Angeles. Click HERE to see more in Early LA Streetlights.

Final Note

A plaque across from the Old Plaza commemorates the founding of the city. It states: "On September 4, 1781, eleven families of pobladores (44 persons including children) arrived at this place from the Gulf of California to establish a pueblo which was to become the City of Los Angeles. This colonization ordered by King Carlos III was carried out under the direction of Governor Felipe de Neve." The small town received the name El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles sobre El Rio Porciuncula, Spanish for The Town of Our Lady Queen of the Angels on the Porciuncula River. The original pueblo was built to the southeast of the current plaza along the Los Angeles River. In 1815, a flood washed away the original pueblo, and it was rebuilt farther from the river at the location of the current plaza.^*