Little Armenia ( arm, Փոքր Հայաստան) is a neighborhood in

Central Los Angeles __NOTOC__ Central Los Angeles is the historic urban region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Geography The City of Los Angeles The Los Angeles Department of City Planning divides the city into Area Planning Commission (APC) areas, each fu ...

, California. It is named after the Armenians who escaped

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the ...

and made their way to Los Angeles during the early part of the 20th century. The area is served by the Metro B Line at the Hollywood/Western, Vermont/Sunset and Vermont/Santa Monica stations. Revealing the Sign

History

The context behind early ethnic-Armenian immigration to Hollywood and the surrounding areas was due to political strife abroad. Some immigrants came from Romania fleeing the Ceaușescu regime, from Lebanon due to the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

, from

Soviet Armenia The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

inadvertently as a result of US's Jackson-Vanik amendment, from Iran as a result of the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

as well as from other countries like Syria, Turkey and other countries. In 1999, the Honorary Mayor of Little Armenia, Garbis Keurjikian, also known as Garo, had a vision to establish an area in East Hollywood representing the Armenians who migrated to America. He worked with Councilwoman

Jackie Goldberg Jacqueline "Jackie" Goldberg (born November 18, 1944) is an American politician and teacher serving as a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education for the 5th district. Early life and education Goldberg was born in th ...

to bring his vision to life. After working on the establishment of Little Armenia for a year, the ceremony opening took place on October 6, 2000, outside of Saint Garabed Armenian Apostolic Church. The name comes from the large number of

Armenian-American Armenian Americans ( hy, ամերիկահայեր, ''amerikahayer'') are citizens or residents of the United States who have total or partial Armenians, Armenian ancestry. They form the second largest community of the Armenian diaspora after A ...

s who live in the area, and also from the large number of

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''O ...

n stores and businesses that had already opened in the neighborhood by the early 1970s. St. Garabed

Armenian Apostolic Church , native_name_lang = hy , icon = Armenian Apostolic Church logo.svg , icon_width = 100px , icon_alt = , image = Էջմիածնի_Մայր_Տաճար.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , a ...

is an Armenian church that is located inside Little Armenia. St. Garabed church is the place of worship for the vast majority of Armenians living in Hollywood. It is located on Alexandria Avenue and it was built in 1978. The church is located in front of the Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School. Surp Garabed Church, Hollywood - close

Many of the novels, short stories and poems of

Charles Bukowski Henry Charles Bukowski ( ; born Heinrich Karl Bukowski, ; August 16, 1920 – March 9, 1994) was a German-American poet, novelist, and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural, and economic ambience of his adopted ...

, a native of

East Hollywood East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

, are set in the area. On April 24 each year,

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

gather in Hollywood to commemorate the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through t ...

. Though Hollywood was once home to the biggest Armenian community in the region,

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, ...

surpassed Hollywood in both the total number and proportion of Armenians in population, while Burbank, Pasadena, Montebello, and

La Crescenta La Crescenta-Montrose () is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The community is bordered by Glendale to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge to the east, and Angeles National Forest to the north. Accor ...

also have large Armenian communities but with no special designation.

Geography

On October 6, 2000, the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the legislative body of the 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 council and the president pro temp ...

designated a portion of

as “Little Armenia” in an effort to recognize the community’s vast “presence and voice in Los Angeles.” As defined by the City Council, Little Armenia is "the area bounded on the north by Hollywood Boulevard between the 101 Freeway and Vermont Avenue, on the east by

Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north–south streets in City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, California. With a length of , is the third longest of the north–south thoroughfares in the region. For most of its length betw ...

from

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...

Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes through Beverly Hills and West Ho ...

, on the south by Santa Monica Boulevard between Vermont Avenue and

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

and on the west by Route 101 from Santa Monica Boulevard to Hollywood Boulevard". Thai Town is located to the north of Little Armenia.

Transportation

Little Armenia is served by the Metro B Line subway, which runs north-south along

and east-west along

. Metro subway stations include: * Vermont/Santa Monica * Vermont/Sunset * Hollywood/Western Numerous bus lines run on the major thoroughfares, including Metro's

Rapid Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade'' ...

and Local service lines. Los Angeles Department of Transportation's DASH shuttle lines, serving East Hollywood, Hollywood, and the Griffith Observatory, also operate in the area.

Parks and recreation

Parks within Little Armenia's official borders are the following: * Barnsdall Art Park - 4800 Hollywood Boulevard. The park includes the

Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key role in the architectural movements o ...

designed

Hollyhock House The Aline Barnsdall Hollyhock House in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright originally as a residence for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall (built, 1919–1921). The building is now the centerpi ...

and a city-run arts center built in 1919-1921.

Education

Schools within Little Armenia's official borders are the following:
"East Hollywood Schools," Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times''

Public

* Kingsley Elementary School, 5200 West Virginia Avenue * Ramona Elementary School, 1133 North Mariposa Avenue

Private

* Rose and Alex Pilibos Armenian School, Alex Pilibos Armenian School,

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acqui ...

, 1625 North Alexandria Avenue

Notable places

Places of interest within Little Armenia's official borders include the following: * The intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue was designated as Armenian Genocide Memorial Square on April 24, 2015 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide. It was proposed by Los Angeles City Council members

Mitch O'Farrell Mitch O'Farrell (born 1960) is an American politician, who served as a member of the Los Angeles City Council for the 13th district from 2013 to 2022, during which he spent eight days as President of the City Council during the 2022 Los Angeles ...

and

Paul Krekorian Paul Krekorian (born March 24, 1960) is an American politician, currently serving as the 26th president of the Los Angeles City Council since October 18, 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented the second district on the L ...

and approved by the

on March 18, 2015. * The

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious ...

Los Angeles headquarters. Located on Sunset Bl. between N. Catalina St. and L. Ron Hubbard Way. *

* Hollywood & Western Building *

Zankou Chicken Zankou Chicken is a small, family-owned chain of Armenian and Mediterranean fast casual restaurants located in the Los Angeles area. The restaurants are especially known for their spit-roasted chicken, shawarma, falafel, tahini, and a "secret" ...

's first American restaurant

References

External links

LittleArmenia.com: Community-based website.Little Armenia Video Tour
{{Coord, 34, 5, 53.21, N, 118, 18, 1.79, W, region:US_type:city, display=title Armenian-American culture in Los Angeles Armenian diaspora communities in the United States Ethnic enclaves in California Neighborhoods in Los Angeles East Hollywood, Los Angeles