East Los Angeles (region)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an
unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...
in
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
,
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from
2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, when it was 126,496. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined East Los Angeles as a
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...
(CDP). The area is notable for its high
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
proportion, which at over 95%, is the highest proportion of Hispanic Americans out of any city or Census-designated place in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
outside of
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...
.


History


Original East Los Angeles

Historically, when it was founded in 1873, the neighborhood northeast of downtown known today as Lincoln Heights was originally named East Los Angeles, but in 1917 residents voted to change the name to its present name. Today it is considered part of L.A.'s Eastside, the geographic region east of 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 ...
that includes three neighborhoods within the city of Los Angeles (
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), ...
, El Sereno and Lincoln Heights) and the unincorporated community in Los Angeles County known today as "East Los Angeles". Lincoln Heights is northwest of present-day East Los Angeles. When Lincoln Heights, the first east-side subdivision created in 1873, changed its name in 1917, Belvedere (Belvedere Gardens and Belvedere Heights) and surrounding unincorporated county areas were given the moniker of East Los Angeles. By the 1930s, most maps had started to label the Belvedere area as "East Los Angeles".


Belvedere

The cornerstone of the first building of
Occidental College Occidental College (informally Oxy) is a private liberal arts college in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887 as a coeducational college by clergy and members of the Presbyterian Church, it became non-sectarian in 1910. It is one of the oldes ...
was laid in September 1887 on Rowan Street. In 1896, the building was destroyed by fire. On April 2, 1905, it was reported that the
Janss Investment Company The Janss Investment Company was a family-run, Los Angeles–based real estate development company that operated from 1895 to 1995. First generation The Janss Investment Company was founded by Peter Janss, an immigrant doctor from Denmark. Pet ...
would be developing an area "on Boyle Heights" (later,
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), ...
would refer only to a smaller area to the west, i.e. the neighborhood now called Boyle Heights within the Los Angeles city limits). The tract was located at the eastern terminus of the
Los Angeles Railway The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars, LARy and later Los Angeles Transit Lines) was a system of streetcars that operated in Central Los Angeles and surrounding neighborhoods between 1895 and 1963. The system provided frequent loc ...
's "R" streetcar line. Originally known as "Hazard's Eastside Extension", was to be named Highland Villa,"Broad Acres To Be Platted; Janss Investment Company Makes Big Purchase", ''Los Angeles Herald'', April 2, 1905
/ref> but would later be rechristened Belvedere Heights. Belvedere Heights, at its launch in 1905, extended from the L.A. city limits (Indiana Av.) on the west to Rowan Av. on the east, from Aliso St. on the south to Wabash Av. on the north, the northwestern portion of today's East Los Angeles, thus including the lower portions of what today is called
City Terrace City Terrace is an unincorporated area of East LA, in Los Angeles County, California, east of Downtown Los Angeles. It contains City Terrace Elementary School, Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School, Esteban Torres High School, Harrison Elementar ...
. By the early 1920s, workers in the sprouting industrial district to the south were seeking nearby housing. At the time, the unincorporated region was undeveloped and or preserved for
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
oil extraction Petroleum is a fossil fuel that can be drawn from beneath the earth's surface. Reservoirs of petroleum was formed through the mixture of plants, algae, and sediments in shallow seas under high pressure. Petroleum is mostly recovered from oil dri ...
. Belvedere township included the territory that in 1902 became the city of Montebello. By 1922 Janss advertised that it had sold 6000 lots there and that 35,000 people lived in Belvedere Heights. Buildings that were described as being in Belvedere Heights included the junior high school on Record between Brooklyn and Michigan, now called Belvedere Middle School. In February 1921 Janss announced that it had purchased adjacent to the end of the streetcar line on Stephenson Avenue, now
Whittier Boulevard Whittier Boulevard known as Stephenson Avenue (before 1920) is an arterial street that runs from the Los Angeles River (where it continues into Downtown Los Angeles as 6th Street) to Brea, California. The street is one of the main thoroughfares in ...
, south of Belvedere Heights, and divided the empty land into housing lots of square-mile
grid cells A grid cell is a type of neuron within the entorhinal cortex that fires at regular intervals as an animal navigates an open area, allowing it to understand its position in space by storing and integrating information about location, distance, and ...
. Janss called the new tract Belvedere Gardens, an area still found today on maps for the area east of the
Long Beach Freeway Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...
.


New name: East Los Angeles

In 1932 local business leaders gave the name East Los Angeles to Belvedere and adjacent areas (that had been known as Belvedere Gardens, Belvedere Heights, Laguna, etc.) However, in 1937 the Automobile Club of Southern California put up three large signs, "Belvedere Gardens". This led to the business leaders uprooting the signs, with a "burial ceremony" for the signs with 150 state, county and city officials attending, and rechristening the area, East Los Angeles. Several county buildings were renamed in line with the new appellation. At that time the area had 75,000 residents and was "declared to be the largest unincorporated locality in the world." Multiple campaigns by residents have been made for cityhood for East Los Angeles.


Geography

East L.A. is located immediately east of the
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), ...
district of Los Angeles, south of the El Sereno district of Los Angeles, north of the city of
Commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...
, and west of the cities of Monterey Park and Montebello. The unincorporated area known as
City Terrace City Terrace is an unincorporated area of East LA, in Los Angeles County, California, east of Downtown Los Angeles. It contains City Terrace Elementary School, Robert F. Kennedy Elementary School, Esteban Torres High School, Harrison Elementar ...
occupies the northern part of the CDP. The Census Bureau definition of the area may not precisely correspond to the local understanding of the community.


Climate

East L.A. has a very warm
hot-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
.


Demographics

East Los Angeles is the least ethnically diverse community in
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles, and sometimes abbreviated as L.A. County, is the most populous county in the United States and in the U.S. state of California, with 9,861,224 residents estimated as of 2022. It is the ...
, as noted by the ''Los Angeles Times "
Mapping L.A. Mapping L.A. is a project of the ''Los Angeles Times'', beginning in 2009, to draw boundary lines for 158 cities and unincorporated places within Los Angeles County, California. It identified 114 neighborhoods within the City of Los Angeles and 42 ...
" survey.
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
(85.4%) and
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
(0.2%) are the most common ancestries.


2010

The
2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...
reported that East Los Angeles had a population of 126,496.
Population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
was 16,973.5 people per square mile (6,553.5/km2). The racial makeup of East Los Angeles was 53,934 (50.5%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
(1.5% Non-Hispanic White), 817 (0.6%)
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1,549 (1.2%) Native American, 1,144 (0.9%)
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 63 (0.0%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 54,846 (43.4%) from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 4,143 (4.3%) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
of any race were 122,784 persons (97.1%). The Census reported that 126,176 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 174 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 146 (0.1%) were institutionalized. There were 30,816 households, out of which 17,509 (56.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 15,497 (50.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 7,104 (23.1%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3,238 (10.5%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 2,516 (8.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 199 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,781 households (12.3%) were made up of individuals, and 1,781 (5.8%) had someone living alone who was 65  years of age or older. The average household size was 4.09. There were 25,839
families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideall ...
(83.8% of all households); the average family size was 4.33. The population was spread out, with 39,804 people (31.5%) under the age of 18, 15,193 people (12.0%) aged 18 to 24, 37,354 people (29.5%) aged 25 to 44, 23,281 people (18.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 10,864 people (8.6%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males. There were 32,201 housing units at an average density of , of which 10,986 (35.7%) were owner-occupied, and 19,830 (64.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.2%. 47,123 people (37.3% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 79,053 people (62.5%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 United States Census, East Los Angeles had a median household income of $37,982, with 26.9% of the population living below the federal poverty line.


2000

As of 2000, there were 124,283 people, 29,844 households, and 25,068 families residing in the community. The population density was . There were 31,096 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the community was 39.3%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
, 4.52%
Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...
or
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 1.29% Native American, 0.77%
Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...
, 0.06%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe the original p ...
, 54.01% from
other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...
, and 4.22% from two or more races. 96.8% of the population were
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...
or
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
. As of 2000, speakers of
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
as a
first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother tongu ...
accounted for 87.30%, while
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
accounted for 12.65%,
Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...
was spoken by 0.16%,
Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...
made up 0.09%,
Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...
was at 0.07%,
Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...
at 0.05%,
Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
at 0.04%, Tagalog at 0.03%, and
Mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...
was at 0.03% of the population. There were 29,844 households, out of which 51.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.1% were married couples living together, 21.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.0% were non-families. 12.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 4.15 and the average family size was 4.42. The age distribution of the community was as follows: 34.6% under the age of 18, 12.6% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 14.2% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65  years of age or older. The median age was 26  years. For every 100 females, there were 101.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.2 males. The median income for a household in the community was $28,544, and the median income for a family was $29,755. Males had a median income of $21,065 versus $18,475 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the community was $9,543. About 24.7% of families and 27.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 35.0% of those under age 18 and 13.5% of those age 65 or over. East Los Angeles has a very large Latino population that consists of Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, and Nicaraguans. Latino communities


Government

In the
U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
house, East Los Angeles is in the district served by
Lucille Roybal-Allard Lucille Elsa Roybal-Allard (born June 12, 1941) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she first entered Congress in 1993. Her district, numbered as the 33rd until 2003 an ...
. At the
California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legisla ...
, East Los Angeles is in , and in . As East Los Angeles is an unincorporated community, it does not have a local government and relies on the County of Los Angeles for local services. Supervisor
Hilda L. Solis Hilda Lucia Solis (; born October 20, 1957) is an American politician and a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors for the 1st district. Solis previously served as the 25th United States Secretary of Labor from 2009 to 2013, as par ...
represents East LA on the
Board of Supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York. There are equivalent agenc ...
. The East Los Angeles county hall houses the
Los Angeles County Department of Public Works The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) is responsible for the construction and operation of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County's roads, building code, building safety, Sewage collection and disposal, sewerage, a ...
- East Los Angeles Building And Safety Office. Since East Los Angeles is an unincorporated area, fire protection in East Los Angeles is provided by the
Los Angeles County Fire Department The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting services as well as technical rescue services, hazardous materials response services and emergency medical response services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County ...
with ambulance transport by
Care Ambulance Service Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (relief agency), "Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere", an international aid and ...
. The
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (LASD), officially the County of Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, is a law enforcement agency serving Los Angeles County, California. LASD is the largest sheriff's department in the United States a ...
(LASD) operates the East Los Angeles Station in East Los Angeles. The
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (abbreviated DHS and LADHS) operates the public hospitals and clinics in Los Angeles County, and is the United States' second largest municipal health system, after NYC Health + Hospitals. DHS op ...
operates the Central Health Center in
Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) contains the central business district of Los Angeles. In addition, it contains a diverse residential area of some 85,000 people, and covers . A 2013 study found that the district is home to over 500,000 jobs. It is ...
, serving East Los Angeles. The
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...
East Los Angeles Post Office is located at 975 South Atlantic Boulevard.


Transportation

Light rail service to East L.A. is provided by the L Line's Eastside Extension, which opened in 2009. The L Line train is not the first light rail line to travel to East LA. In the early 1900s, people needing to access the cemeteries on the east side took the streetcar, the Stephenson Avenue Line. Stephenson Avenue (before 1920) now known as Whittier Boulevard. In time factories needed a better road to move their goods south. Stephenson Avenue was public choice. Historian Matt Roth of the
Auto Club A car club or automotive enthusiast community is a group of people who share a common interest in motor vehicles. Car clubs are typically organized by enthusiasts around the type of vehicle (e.g. Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang), brand (e.g. ...
says Whittier Boulevard is the main thoroughfare through the east side. "The City Council renamed it Whittier Boulevard in 1921," he says, "out of recognition that it was serving an inter-regional function because it was the main road to Whittier and beyond." Into the 1960s
Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
-bound passenger trains made stops in East Los Angeles. The
Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA), commonly branded as Metro, LA Metro, and L.A. Metro, is the state agency that plans, operates, and coordinates funding for most of the transportation system in Los Angele ...
(Metro) provides
bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
service from East L.A. throughout the L.A. area. A Metro Customer Center is located at 4501 B Whittier Blvd. Local shuttle service is provided by El Sol (the East Los Angeles Shuttle). The Metro Atlantic
Parking Structure A multistorey car park (British and Singapore English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistory, parking building, parking structure, parkade (mainly Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified ...
is a paid daily on-site parking with 238 Spaces and paid reserved on-site parking 24 Spaces supporting the L Line. Bike rack Spaces and Bike Lockers also support most Golden line stations.


Education


Primary and secondary schools


Public schools

East Los Angeles is split between
Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a public school district in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the 2nd largest public school district in ...
and
Montebello Unified School District Montebello Unified School District is a school district based in Montebello, California, United States. Montebello USD serves the city of Montebello, portions of the cities of Bell Gardens, Commerce, Downey, Monterey Park, Pico Rivera, Rosemead ...
. LAUSD operates Amanecer PC in East Los Angeles, which is a
preschool A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...
. LAUSD
elementary schools A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...
in East Los Angeles include Anton, Belvedere, Brooklyn Avenue, City Terrace, Eastman, Fourth Street, Ford Boulevard (open July 1, 1923), Harrison, Humphreys Avenue Elementary School and
STEM Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushro ...
Magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
School (open July 1, 1922), Robert F. Kennedy, Marianna, Rowan Avenue and Hamasaki Elementary
medical Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...
and
science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...
magnet A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...
, originally named Riggin Elementary School and renamed in 1990. Montebello USD schools include Gascon Elementary School, Montebello Park Elementary School, and Winter Gardens Elementary School. At one time Hammel Elementary School was in East Los Angeles.DiMassa, Cara Mia.
Los Angeles; Accord Reached on High School for East L.A.; Proposal aims to ease the enrollment burden at Garfield. It involves building on the site of an elementary campus.
''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''. May 22, 2004. California Metro, Part B, Metro Desk. B3. Retrieved on March 15, 2010. "building the school on the site of what is now Hammel Street Elementary."
Middle schools A middle school (also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school) is an educational stage which exists in some countries, providing education between primary school and secondary school. ...
include Belvedere and Griffith
STEAM Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...
Magnet. In 2017, a petition was started to remove the name
D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...
from the East Los Angeles middle school because his 1915 film ''
The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Cla ...
'' celebrated the
Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...
. Griffith who also co-produced
The Life of General Villa ''The Life of General Villa'' (1914) is a silent biographical action–drama film starring Pancho Villa as himself, shot on location during a civil war. The film incorporated both staged scenes and authentic live footage from real battles d ...
, a
biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
action–drama film starring
Pancho Villa Francisco "Pancho" Villa (,"Villa"
''Collins English Dictionary''.
; ;
as himself, shot on location in Mexico during the
Mexican Revolution The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
. James A. Garfield High School and
Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
Magnet is the sole traditional LAUSD public
high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
in East Los Angeles. Garfield High School opened its doors in 1925, grades 7 through 12. It was a six-year school in which one could earn two diplomas, one from Garfield Junior High School after completion of 9th grade and one from Garfield Senior High School. By the late 1930s, Garfield became overcrowded and a new Junior High School for grades 7 through 9 was built, Kern Avenue Junior High School, located on Fourth Street and Kern Avenue, now called Griffith STEAM Magnet Middle School. Garfield High School participates in the " East LA Classic" against Theodore Roosevelt High School a
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
game that traditionally draws over 25,000 fans. Ramona Opportunity High School, an alternative all girl public high school, is in East Los Angeles serving grades 7-12.
Esteban Torres High School Esteban Torres High School is a public high school, it opened in 2010 in East Los Angeles, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles County, California. History The school was originally known as East Los Angeles Area High School #2. In 2006 the ...
opened in 2010 on the former Hammel Street Elementary School grounds and in former housing developments. There are five autonomous pilot high schools located on the Esteban E. Torres High School campus, part of the Los Angeles Education Partnership's network of partner and community schools. Monterey High School, a continuation high school, serves the needs of at-risk students in the East Los Angeles community. In 2013 adult education programs from the Eastside Learning Center and East Los Angeles Occupational Center relocated at the East Los Angeles Star Hospital site to form an adult learning center and high school academy. The modified 1929, three-story structure houses the Hilda L. Solis Learning Academy School of Technology, Business and Education (STBE) high school and East LA Star Adult Education
East Los Angeles College East Los Angeles College (ELAC) is a public community college in Monterey Park, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. It is part of the California Community Colleges System and the Los Angeles Community College District. With fourteen communiti ...
(ELAC) was part of unincorporated East Los Angeles before it was annexed by Monterey Park in the early 1970s.


Charter schools

Other schools in the area include the
Knowledge Is Power Program The Knowledge is Power Program, commonly known as KIPP, is a network of free open-enrollment college-preparatory schools in low income communities throughout the United States. KIPP is America's largest network of charter schools. The head of ...
(KIPP)
charter schools A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...
Raíces Academy (Grades
Transitional kindergarten Transitional kindergarten (abbreviated TK) is a California school grade that serves as a bridge between preschool and kindergarten, to provide students with time to develop fundamental skills needed for success in school in a setting that is approp ...
(TK)-4), Iluminar Academy (Grades TK-4), Sol Academy (Grades 5-8), Academy of Innovation (Grades 5-8). The KIPP is a nationwide network of free open-enrollment college-preparatory schools. The Arts in Action Community Charter Elementary School (Grades TK-5) open and started classes at its new school site in the 2019–2020 school year. Five middle schools that include in 2014 the Ánimo
Ellen Ochoa Ellen Ochoa (born May 10, 1958) is an American engineer, former astronaut and former director of the Johnson Space Center. In 1993, Ochoa became the first Hispanic woman to go to space when she served on a nine-day mission aboard the Space Shu ...
Charter Middle School was founded and named after former
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
and Director of the
Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...
. The Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 8 opened August 1, 2014. The Arts in Action Charter Middle school opened in summer 2020. Construction of a new Ednovate Charter High School to be named Esperanza College Prep was started on October 2021. Expected to be ready by fall 2022. Once completed, about 440 Esperanza students currently split between Hilda Solis Learning Academy and the former Our Lady of Soledad (
Our Lady of Solitude Our Lady of Solitude ( es, María de la Soledad; pt, Nossa Senhora da Soledade) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus and a special form of Marian devotion practised in Spanish-speaking countries to commemorate the solitude of Mary on Holy Satur ...
) School will be taught under one roof. A performance space and a
dance studio A dance studio is a space in which dancers learn or rehearse. The term is typically used to describe a space that has either been built or equipped for the purpose. Overview A dance studio normally includes a smooth floor covering or, if used fo ...
will allow a
Baile Folklorico Baile folklórico, "folkloric dance" in Spanish, also known as ballet folklórico, is a collective term for traditional cultural dances that emphasize local folk culture with ballet characteristics – pointed toes, exaggerated movements, highly ...
dance program to practice. The Alliance Morgan McKinzie High School opened August 31, 2009. The Oscar De La Hoya Ánimo Charter High School was temporary in the Salesian Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles before it moved to it new location in Boyle Heights (it opened its doors in August 2003).


Private schools

The
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles The Archdiocese of Los Angeles ( la, Archidiœcesis Angelorum in California, es, Arquidiócesis de Los Ángeles) is an ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church ( particularly the Roman Catholic or Latin Church) located in th ...
operates
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
private schools An independent school is independent in its finances and governance. Also known as private schools, non-governmental, privately funded, or non-state schools, they are not administered by local, state or national governments. In British Eng ...
in the CDP. Schools include
Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, o ...
School (July 1, 1980 K-8), St. Alphonsus School (July 1, 1980 K-8), and
Our Lady of Guadalupe Our Lady of Guadalupe ( es, Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe), also known as the Virgin of Guadalupe ( es, Virgen de Guadalupe), is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus associated with a series of five Marian apparitions, which are believed t ...
School (July 1, 1980 K-8).


Public libraries


East Los Angeles

The
County of Los Angeles Public Library LA County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States which serves residents living in 49 of the 88 incorporated cities of Los Angeles County, California. United States, and those living in unincorporated areas r ...
operates the East Los Angeles Library.East Los Angeles Library
."
County of Los Angeles Public Library LA County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States which serves residents living in 49 of the 88 incorporated cities of Los Angeles County, California. United States, and those living in unincorporated areas r ...
. Retrieved on March 15, 2010.
The East Los Angeles Library opened on May 1, 1923; originally it was a collection of books in a store. A building was built to house the collection several months later. A new library building opened in 1924. In 1932 the library moved to a new building. In 1967 the library moved into another building, which was large. In 2004 the library moved to its current location, a facility designed by Stephen Finney of the
Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...
firm CWA AIA, Inc. The current library has areas for adults and children, the
Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...
Resource Center (CRC) established in 1976, a 175-person meeting room, a computer room, a Friends of the Library bookstore, and free parking areas. The library design has
Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...
design and themes, as requested from area residents. References to the sun and moon, which are themes in Mayan art, were incorporated in the library.


Anthony Quinn

Also, the county operates the
Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
Library with a
moderne architecture Moderne architecture, also sometimes referred to as Style Moderne or simply Moderne, Jazz Age, Moderne, jazz modern or jazz style, describes certain styles of architecture popular from 1925 through the 1940s. closely allied to Art Deco. Origina ...
, originally known as the Belvedere Library, which opened in January 1914. In 1925 the library moved to a storefront facility; at that time its collection was several thousand books. In 1937 the library moved to a new site. In 1973 the library moved to its current location. On January 5, 1982, the library took its current name; the childhood house of actor Anthony Quinn was located on the present day site of the library, and the library was renamed after Quinn. In 1987, Quinn donated his collection of movie scripts, scrapbooks, and personal papers to the library name after him. The First Supervisorial District funded a renovation that occurred in 2000. The library reopened in February 2001 with a new appearance and new furnishings.


Other

In addition the county operates the El Camino Real Library at 5,529 sq ft. with a meeting room capacity 45.El Camino Real Library
."
County of Los Angeles Public Library LA County Library is one of the largest public library systems in the United States which serves residents living in 49 of the 88 incorporated cities of Los Angeles County, California. United States, and those living in unincorporated areas r ...
. Retrieved on March 15, 2010.
The library opened in 1929 as the Stephenson Library. In 1972 the library moved to its current location, and in 1975 it was rededicated as the El Camino Real library, as it is located on the historic El Camino Real. The library was rededicated again in November 2014 after a renovation and expansion that added a
meeting room A conference hall, conference room, or meeting room is a room provided for singular events such as business conferences and meetings. Room It is commonly found at large hotels and convention centers though many other establishments, including even ...
, teen area, and outdoor reading patio. The county operates the City Terrace Library. The library has been in its current location since 1979 and refurbished in 2009.


Notable places


Our Lady of Solitude

Our Lady of Solitude Our Lady of Solitude ( es, María de la Soledad; pt, Nossa Senhora da Soledade) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus and a special form of Marian devotion practised in Spanish-speaking countries to commemorate the solitude of Mary on Holy Satur ...
, known as Soledad Church, opened its doors on
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
in 1925. Located in the neighborhood now known as Old Town Maravilla. The church was constructed in
Spanish Colonial Revival The Spanish Colonial Revival Style ( es, Arquitectura neocolonial española) is an architectural stylistic movement arising in the early 20th century based on the Spanish Colonial architecture of the Spanish colonization of the Americas. In the ...
architecture. In December 1931, the Church held its first outdoor procession in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a ritual that continues today. The Guadalupe
Procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
is the oldest religious procession in Los Angeles. Labor leader
Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged ...
and members of the
United Farm Workers The United Farm Workers of America, or more commonly just United Farm Workers (UFW), is a labor union for farmworkers in the United States. It originated from the merger of two workers' rights organizations, the Agricultural Workers Organizing ...
use to meet with the Claretian priests, who also became an activist, in the church's basement. The street in front of the church is known as
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 October 1993, the
Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles in California. The council is composed of 15 members elected from single-member districts for four-year terms. The President of the Los Angeles City Counc ...
and the
County Board of Supervisors A board of supervisors is a governmental body that oversees the operation of county (United States), county government in the U.S. states of Arizona, California, Iowa, Mississippi, Virginia, and Wisconsin, as well as 16 counties in New York (sta ...
approved the renaming of the stretch of roadway, but agreed to delay the change until 1994 and to put up historic plaques along Brooklyn Avenue to accommodate the opposition, many of whom believed that the new name would cause people to forget the
Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...
ish history of the area. In 1979, the tile-clad
cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...
and
bell tower A bell tower is a tower that contains one or more bells, or that is designed to hold bells even if it has none. Such a tower commonly serves as part of a Christian church, and will contain church bells, but there are also many secular bell tower ...
were removed due to termite damage, and the
bell A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inter ...
s were reinstalled near the church entrance.


The Golden Gate Theater

The former
Golden Gate Theater Golden Gate Theater is a California Churrigueresque-style movie palace built in 1927 on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, California. In 1982, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The theater closed in 1986; the ret ...
movie palace a Spanish Baroque Revival
Churrigueresque Churrigueresque (; Spanish: ''Churrigueresco''), also but less commonly "Ultra Baroque", refers to a Spanish Baroque style of elaborate sculptural architectural ornament which emerged as a manner of stucco decoration in Spain in the late 17th c ...
-style building built in 1927, is one of fewer than two dozen buildings in Los Angeles in the Spanish Churrigueresque style and one of a few remaining in southern California. The Golden Gate Theater is the first East Los Angeles building listed in the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1982.


Maravilla Handball Court and El Centro Grocery

Completed in 1928 the Maravilla
handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...
court was built brick-by-brick by residents, with the El Centro Grocery and residence added in 1946. The oldest remaining handball court in the Los Angeles region. In the early 1940s, Michi and Tommy Nishiyama operated the property and in the 1950s following Michi's internment at a Japanese relocation camp. The only court in East Los Angeles where players still played ''bola basca'', also known as
Basque pelota Basque pelota (Basque: '' pilota'', Spanish: '' pelota vasca'', French: '' pelote basque'') is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (''frontis or fronton ...
. In 2012, the Maravilla handball court and grocery store were put on the
California Register of Historical Resources The California Register of Historical Resources is a California state government program for use by state and local agencies, private groups, and citizens to identify, evaluate, register and protect California's historical resources. The register i ...
.


Veterans memorial

The obelisk-shaped monument at Atlantic Park was dedicated on May 30, 1930, during a Memorial Day Parade that ended at what was then called Belvedere Gardens Park. A plaque on the monument reads, "In memory of heroes of all American wars." According to a ''Los Angeles Times'' story at the time, over 2,000 ex-servicemen and members of service clubs marched in the parade.


Latino Walk of Fame

The Walk of Fame is similar to the one in
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...
but with a focus on
Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...
celebrities. The Latino Walk of Fame was inaugurated on April 30, 1997, to honor outstanding leaders who have made historical and social contributions with a Sun Plaque on Whittier Boulevard the heart of East L.A. Spaces have been created for over 280 plaques. Permanent granite plaques have been put in place for the first 20 honorees. The merchants’ association of East Los Angeles sponsors a comprehensive clean-up campaign that cleans the sidewalks and gutters daily and removes litter and trash.


Parks and recreation

Los Angeles County operates parks and recreation in East Los Angeles. Built in 1942 and originally known as Soledad Park, the Belvedere Community Regional Park has a baseball diamond and picnic area that was upgrade in the 1980s, basketball courts, a playground, community center, fitness zone, gymnasium, skate park, soccer field, splash pad, an Olympic-size swimming pool, and tennis courts. The park was renamed in 1949 and has a
Vernacular architecture Vernacular architecture is building done outside any academic tradition, and without professional guidance. This category encompasses a wide range and variety of building types, with differing methods of construction, from around the world, bo ...
style. The LA county constructed a courthouse and sheriff's station on the south end of Belvedere Park in the mid-1950s. Then more buildings were added in time, in conjunction with the East Los Angeles Library, turning the southern end of the park into in effect a civic center. The construction of the
Pomona Freeway Pomona may refer to: Places Argentina * Pomona, Río Negro Australia * Pomona, Queensland, Australia, a town in the Shire of Noosa * Pomona, New South Wales, Australia Belize * Pomona, Belize, a List of municipalities in Belize#Stann Creek Dist ...
(I-60) in the 1960s cut through the park, dividing it into two connected by a bridge. In the late 1960s the county also constructed a pond (Belvedere Lake) in the southern area of the park, known to locals as "El Parque de los Patos" (The duck park). The park is a popular place for festivals and host musicians, artisans, fishing and other events in its lakeside amphitheater. The
California Department of Fish and Wildlife The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), formerly known as the California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG), is a state agency under the California Natural Resources Agency. The Department of Fish and Wildlife manages and protect ...
supplies the lake with
rainbow trout The rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss'') is a species of trout native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead (sometimes called "steelhead trout") is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coasta ...
during the Winter through early Spring and
catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...
during the Summer. There are also some
largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...
,
carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...
and
bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or "copper nose" as is common in Texas, is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and ...
in the lake. On August 29, 1970, Belvedere Park was the starting point of the
Chicano Moratorium The Chicano Moratorium, formally known as the National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against The Vietnam War, was a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the Vi ...
. An estimated 30,000 people marched from Belvedere Park to Laguna Park (now Salazar Park). In the 1990s the northern region of the part was revitalized. Atlantic Avenue Park has a children's play area, picnic, and barbecue areas, a men's locker room, a women's locker room, and a 50-meter, six-lane swimming pool. In addition, the park has a rose garden maintained by volunteers. Eugene A. Obregon Park is named after
Eugene A. Obregon Eugene Arnold Obregon (November 12, 1930 – September 26, 1950) was a United States Marine who was posthumously awarded the United States' highest military decoration for valor — the Medal of Honor — for sacrificing his life to sa ...
, a veteran and
Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...
recipient. The park's official opening was on May 26, 1966. The park includes basketball courts, ceramic rooms, a community room, a computer center, a fitness zone, a gymnasium, a multi-purpose field, a swimming pool, and a walking path. The
Salazar Park Ruben F. Salazar Park (formerly Laguna Park) is a park in East Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California. It is administrated by the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation. The park is located at 3864 Whittier Boulevard, about e ...
is within East Los Angeles and has a
moderne architecture Moderne architecture, also sometimes referred to as Style Moderne or simply Moderne, Jazz Age, Moderne, jazz modern or jazz style, describes certain styles of architecture popular from 1925 through the 1940s. closely allied to Art Deco. Origina ...
. The county purchased the original of park property from
Cedars of Lebanon Hospital Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
on March 8, 1938. The land was officially designated as the "East Los Angeles Playground" two months later. On June 25, 1940, the property was renamed the "Laguna Park and Playground." On September 17, 1970, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors gave the park its current name. The park includes a baseball diamond, basketball courts, a children's play area, a community room, a computer center, a gymnasium, picnic shelters, a senior center, a swimming pool, and tennis courts. On August 29, 2014, the County dedicated a plaque at the site in honor of Ruben Salazar. The Saybrook Park is also in East Los Angeles. The County Board of Supervisors approved final plans for developing the park on May 1, 1973. The park includes two outdoor basketball courts, a ball diamond, children's play areas, a community building with a community room, a computer technology building with a computer room, picnic and barbecue areas, and a tennis court. City Terrace County Park was developed in 1933 by
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 ...
crews; the park occupied a piece of terrace that was formed after crews hacked a rugged and barren hill. In 1957 of soil that had been removed from the construction of the
Los Angeles Civic Center The Civic Center neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, is the administrative core of the City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, and a complex of city, county, state, and federal government offices, buildings, and courthouses. It is locate ...
was transported to the City Terrace County Park. The soil filled a ravine, tripling the park's original acreage. The park has a basketball court, a children's playground, a community room, a computer center, a gymnasium, a multi-purpose field, a swimming pool, and tennis courts. The Eastside Eddie Heredia Boxing Club, operated by the county, is inside a former fire station. The club was named after Eddie Heredia, the first club champion, who died of leukemia at age 17. One of the members of the Heredia club became a member of the United States Olympic Boxing Team and entered the
2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
.


Notable people

*
Suzanna Guzmán Suzanna Guzmán (born in East Los Angeles, California) is an American mezzo-soprano and Emmy Award winning television host. Currently she is the host of the weekly radio program Opera at Noon and On Broadway on 105.1HD4 KMozart. She was also seen ...
,
mezzo soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
, an original associate artists of
Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leadersh ...
*
Dan Peña Daniel Steven Peña Sr. (born August 10, 1945) is an American businessman. Early life Peña is Mexican American and was raised in East Los Angeles, California. In 1971, he graduated from San Fernando Valley State College School of Business Ad ...
,
financial analyst A financial analyst is a professional, undertaking financial analysis for external or internal clients as a core feature of the job. The role may specifically be titled securities analyst, research analyst, equity analyst, investment analyst, ...
on
Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...
*
Linda Vallejo Linda Vallejo (born 1951 in East Los Angeles) is an American artist known for painting, sculpture and ceramics. Her work often addresses her Mexican-American ethnic identity within the context of American art and popular culture. The founde ...
is an American artist known for painting, sculpture and ceramics. * Maria Helena Viramontes, writer and professor *
Constance Marie Constance Marie Lopez (born September 9, 1965) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Angie Lopez in ''George Lopez'' (2002–2007), and Marcela Quintanilla (mother of Selena) in the film ''Selena'' (1997). She portrayed Reg ...
, actress *
Luis J. Rodriguez Luis Javier Rodriguez (born 1954) is an American poet, novelist, journalist, critic, and columnist. He was the 2014 Los Angeles Poet Laureate. Rodriguez is recognized as a major figure in contemporary Chicano literature, identifying himself as ...
, writer and activist *
Lucille Roybal-Allard Lucille Elsa Roybal-Allard (born June 12, 1941) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she first entered Congress in 1993. Her district, numbered as the 33rd until 2003 an ...
, U.S. Representative *
Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...
, actor *
Gary Clarke Gary Clarke (born Clarke Frederick L'Amoreaux; August 16, 1933) is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Hill in the NBC western television series '' The Virginian'' with James Drury and Doug McClure. Early life Clarke was born in ...
, American actor best known for his role as Steve Hill *
Hope Sandoval Hope Sandoval (born June 24, 1966) is an American singer-songwriter who is the lead singer of Mazzy Star and Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions. Sandoval has toured and collaborated with other artists, including Massive Attack, for whom she san ...
, singer and songwriter * *
Edward James Olmos Edward James Olmos (born February 24, 1947) is an American actor, director, producer, and activist. He is best known for his roles as Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo in ''Miami Vice'' (1984–1989), ''American Me'' (1992) (which he also dir ...
, actor, producer, and director *
Antonio Villaraigosa Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa (; né Villar Jr.; born January 23, 1953) is an American politician who served as the 41st Mayor of Los Angeles from 2005 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Villaraigosa was a national co-chairman of Hillary ...
, 41st mayor of Los Angeles *
Oscar De La Hoya Oscar De La Hoya ( , ; born on February 4, 1973) is an American boxing promoter and former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2008. His accolades include winning 11 world titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championshi ...
, world boxing champion and 1992 Olympic gold medalist, born to Mexican migrant farmworker parents *
Seniesa Estrada Seniesa Carmen Estrada (born June 26, 1992) is an American professional boxer who has held the WBA minimumweight title since March 2021. She previously held the WBC Silver light flyweight title from 2018 until 2021 and the WBA interim flyweight ...
, world boxing champion * Antonia Hernandez, philanthropist, attorney, activist *
Jaime Escalante Jaime Alfonso Escalante Gutiérrez (December 31, 1930 – March 30, 2010) was a Bolivian-American educator known for teaching students calculus from 1974 to 1991 at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. Escalante was the subject of the 19 ...
, educator, subject of the film ''Stand and Deliver'' *
Sam Johnson Samuel Robert Johnson (October 11, 1930May 27, 2020) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for in Congress from 1991 to 2019. He was a member of the Republican Party. In October and November 2015, he was the acting ...
, American football player * Xavier Montelongo, professional boxer *
Sergio Mora Sergio Mora (born December 4, 1980) is an American former professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as de ...
, boxer *
Carlos Mencia Ned Arnel "Carlos" Mencía (born October 22, 1967) is a Honduran-American comedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race relations, Latin American culture, criminal justice, and social class. He i ...
, comedianRivera, Carla. "East L.A.'s loss is personal." ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
''. May 22, 2007. p
1
Retrieved on March 29, 2014. "Its alumni include an array of politicians, actors, comedians, musicians, artists and sports figures, including comic Carlos Mencia and boxer Oscar De La Hoya."
*
Roberto Esteban Chavez Roberto Chavez (born Roberto Esteban Chavez; August 3, 1932) is an American artist. known for his personally symbolic portraits, public murals and "funny-grotesque" paintings that reflect the multicultural landscape of Los Angeles. He was recentl ...
, artist, muralist *
Patrick Kearney Patrick Wayne Kearney (born September 24, 1939), also known as The Trash Bag Killer, is an American serial killer and necrophile who murdered a minimum of 21 boys and young men from 1962 to 1977 in southern California. He is one of three men re ...
, serial killer, rapist, and necrophile


See also

*
Calvary Cemetery (Los Angeles) Calvary Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery that the Archdiocese of Los Angeles runs in the community of East Los Angeles. It is also called "New Calvary Cemetery" because it succeeded the original Calvary Cemetery (on north Broadway), over whic ...
*
Chicano Moratorium The Chicano Moratorium, formally known as the National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against The Vietnam War, was a movement of Chicano anti-war activists that built a broad-based coalition of Mexican-American groups to organize opposition to the Vi ...
* East L.A. walkouts *
East Los Streetscapers East Los Streetscapers Public Art Studios is a muralist art collective and fine art studio based in East Los Angeles, California. Its members have executed over twenty murals and large-scale public artworks, primarily in the Los Angeles area. Histo ...
*
Golden Gate Theater Golden Gate Theater is a California Churrigueresque-style movie palace built in 1927 on Whittier Boulevard in East Los Angeles, California. In 1982, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The theater closed in 1986; the ret ...
*
Home of Peace Cemetery (East Los Angeles) The Home of Peace Cemetery ( ''Beit Kvarot Beit Shalom'') is a Jewish cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Location It is located at 4334 Whittier Boulevard west of Interstate 710 in East Los Angeles, California. It is across from Calvary Catho ...
*
Ruben Salazar Ruben Salazar (March 3, 1928 – August 29, 1970) was a civil rights activist and a reporter for the ''Los Angeles Times,'' the first Mexican-American journalist from mainstream media to cover the Chicano community. Salazar was killed during the ...
*
Zoot Suit Riots The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place from June 3–8, 1943 in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city resident ...
*
List of U.S. cities with large Hispanic populations This list of U.S. cities by American Hispanic and Latino population covers all incorporated cities and Census-designated places with a population over 100,000 and a proportion of Hispanic and Latino residents over 30% in the 50 U.S. states, the ...
*
History of Mexican Americans in Los Angeles Mexican Americans have lived in Los Angeles since the original Pobladores, the 44 original settlers and 4 soldiers who founded the city in 1781. People of Mexican descent make up 31.9% of Los Angeles residents, and 32% of Los Angeles County r ...
*
Cholo (subculture) A cholo or chola is a member of a Chicano and Latino subculture or lifestyle associated with a particular set of dress, behavior, and worldview which originated in Los Angeles. A veterano or veterana is an older member of the same subculture. ...


References


External links


East Los Angeles Chamber of CommerceThe EastsiderCityhood for East Los Angeles
{{authority control Census-designated places in Los Angeles County, California Chicano and Mexican neighborhoods in California Eastside Los Angeles California Enterprise Zones Census-designated places in California