Reseda is a neighborhood in the
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
region of
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
. It was founded in 1912, and its central business district started developing in 1915. The neighborhood was devoted to agriculture for many years. Earthquakes struck the area in
1971 San Fernando earthquake
The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the 1971 Sylmar earthquake) occurred in the early morning of February 9 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a magnitude o ...
and
1994 Northridge earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles.
The quake had a duration of approximately ...
.
The neighborhood has 15 public and five private schools. The community includes public parks, a senior center and a regional branch library.
History
Founding and growth
The area now known as Reseda was inhabited by
Native Americans of the
Tongva
The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historically ...
tribe who lived close to 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 ...
.
In 1909 the Suburban Homes Company, a syndicate led by
H.J. Whitley
Hobart Johnstone Whitley (October 7, 1847 – June 3, 1931) was a Canadian-American businessman and real estate developer. Whitley is best known for helping create the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood subdivision in Los Angeles. He is among th ...
, general manager of the Board of Control,
Harry Chandler
Harry Chandler (May 17, 1864 – September 23, 1944) was an American newspaper publisher and investor who became owner of the largest real estate empire in the U.S.
Early life
Harry Chandler was born in Landaff, New Hampshire, the eldest of four ...
,
H.G. Otis,
M.H. Sherman and O.F. Brandt purchased 48,000 acres of the Farming and Milling Company for $2,500,000.
Henry E. Huntington extended his
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...
(Red Cars) through the Valley to
Owensmouth
Owensmouth, California, was a town founded in 1912 in the western part of the San Fernando Valley. Owensmouth joined the city of Los Angeles in 1917, and was renamed Canoga Park on March 1, 1931. Owensmouth was named for the 1913 Owens River a ...
(now Canoga Park). The Suburban Home Company laid out plans for roads and the towns of Van Nuys, Reseda (Marian) and Canoga Park (Owensmouth). Los Angeles annexed the rural areas in 1915.
On land that was originally part of the
San Fernando Mission, Reseda originated in 1912 as the town of Marian. It was named after Marian Otis Chandler, the daughter of ''Los Angeles Times'' publisher
Harrison Gray Otis and wife of
Harry Chandler
Harry Chandler (May 17, 1864 – September 23, 1944) was an American newspaper publisher and investor who became owner of the largest real estate empire in the U.S.
Early life
Harry Chandler was born in Landaff, New Hampshire, the eldest of four ...
. The name Reseda refers to the fragrant plant ''
Reseda odorata
''Reseda odorata'' is a species of flowering plant in the reseda family known by many common names, including garden mignonette and common mignonette. It is probably native to the Mediterranean Basin, but it can sometimes be found growing in th ...
'' (
mignonette)
which was commonly found in gardens of the time and is native to many areas with a Mediterranean climate.
The geographic name "Reseda" was first used for a siding on a branch of the
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
, which ran between the cities of
Burbank and
Chatsworth in the San Fernando Valley. In the 1920s, the name was transferred from the Southern Pacific Railroad to the Western Division of the
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...
"Red Cars Line", which had expedited development after the building of the
Los Angeles Aqueduct
The Los Angeles Aqueduct system, comprising the Los Angeles Aqueduct (Owens Valley aqueduct) and the Second Los Angeles Aqueduct, is a water conveyance system, built and operated by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The Owens Valley ...
. Later, it was used as the name of a stop on the Pacific Electric interurban railway along Sherman Way.
Throughout this time, the town's name of Marian remained; then in 1921, when a Fourth Class Post Office was found to be necessary, the town's name had to be changed. As the ''Zelzah Tribune'' reported:
The Marian territory has made application for a post office to serve that district. To avoid confusion in mail distribution it is necessary that the name of the town be changed and the people of that community have decided upon the name Reseda, and if the application is granted it will be the only post office in the United States by that name. Mrs. Turner, we are told, who has taken an active interest in the canvass and to create a sentiment for post office advantages, will possibly be the postmistress.
Ninety-two residents convened and agreed to rename the town Reseda.
The new post office bearing the name was established on May 9, 1922, although local records show that the post office was dedicated on May 26.
[ The post office officially opened on July 1, with receipts of $1.59.][
The central business district began in 1915, at what is now the intersection of ]Reseda Boulevard
Reseda Boulevard, named Reseda Avenue until May 1929, is a major north–south arterial road that runs through the western San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
Reseda Boulevard runs approximately from the Santa Monica Mountai ...
and Sherman Way, with the construction of a hardware store. Soon a blacksmith shop and an auto repair garage were built nearby, followed by a grocery store and a drug store. There were no sidewalks or pavement yet; most were added between 1918 and the early 1920s. On the southwest corner of Sherman Way a wooden building housed the volunteer fire department until 1922, when the present brick building was erected, as was the Reseda Bank. The wooden building housing the fire department was then moved to the southeast side of Sherman Way, where it remained until 1933. In May 1929, the city's namesake roadway, Reseda Avenue, was renamed Reseda Boulevard by a Los Angeles City ordinance. Parts of the original 1920s and 1930s residential neighborhood remain southwest of Sherman Way and Reseda Boulevard as well as in Reseda Ranch near Grover Cleveland High School.
Reseda grew slowly, with the stock market crash of 1929 and subsequent Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
further slowing expansion.
During the late 1920s and 1930s, the area's reputation developed for its production of lettuce, lima beans, sugar beets, and walnuts, becoming known as one of the nation's largest producers of lettuce by the late ‘30s. The Southern Pacific Railroad trains came up the middle of Sherman Way to pick up freight cars of lettuce daily during the lettuce harvest season. Around that time, manufacturing roof tile, canning poultry products, and processing walnuts began to emerge as viable businesses as well.
Postwar suburb
Reseda remained primarily an agricultural community, with a population of 1,805 in 1930. By 1940 the population had increased to 4,147. The mid- to late 1940s saw a large increase in the numbers of single-family dwellings and the loss of numerous acres of agriculture, and the addition of First Class Postal Service. Reseda was one of the early suburbs in the San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...
. The large ranches were subdivided, and the area was developed by realtors just as World War II veterans were returning home. The familiar orange groves were successively plowed under in favor of housing. At the time, most jobs were in the Los Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an anomalous group of east-west trending chains of mountains collectively known as the Tr ...
and to the south, over the Santa Monica mountains.
By 1950, Reseda had over 16,000 residents, and in the early 1950s a population explosion took place, making Reseda one of the most popular and populated Valley communities. Because of this, Reseda's merchants provided bus service to transport shoppers throughout the busy downtown Reseda areas.
In the early 1950s, the Valley's population reached 400,000. The average new Valley home, in 1949, cost $9,000. By 1955, that same house could go for nearly $15,000. Even at that price, though, a household income was about $6,000 per year, making Valley incomes higher than the national average. By 1960, the average market value of a Valley home reached $18,850.
During the 1970s, the above-average residential real estate values and income patterns began to decline. Land and housing costs shot upward, while most incomes only crept. By the beginning of the 1980s, the average price of a home in the Valley reached $110,000. According to a 2004 study by the U.S. Bureau of the Census
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
, it has tripled that of the early 1980s.
Northridge earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake
The 1994 Northridge earthquake was a moment 6.7 (), blind thrust earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 4:30:55 a.m. PST in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles.
The quake had a duration of approximately ...
struck at 4:31 a.m. on January 17 and measured 6.7 on the moment magnitude scale
The moment magnitude scale (MMS; denoted explicitly with or Mw, and generally implied with use of a single M for magnitude) is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude ("size" or strength) based on its seismic moment. It was defined in a 1979 pape ...
. It remains the only large earthquake to originate directly under a major U.S. city in modern times as well as the most damaging earthquake to strike the U.S. since the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906
At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity sha ...
. Its epicenter was between Arminta Street and Ingomar Street, just west of Reseda Boulevard.
This was the second time in 23 years the area had been affected by a strong earthquake. On February 9, 1971, the San Fernando earthquake
The 1971 San Fernando earthquake (also known as the 1971 Sylmar earthquake) occurred in the early morning of February 9 in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains in southern California. The unanticipated thrust earthquake had a magnitude o ...
(also known as the Sylmar earthquake) struck the area with a magnitude of 6.5.
Geography
Reseda is flanked on the north by Northridge, on the east by Lake Balboa
Lake Balboa is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. The area was previously part of Van Nuys. [Tarzana and Encino, on the southwest by Woodland Hills, and on the west by Winnetka.](_blank)
Colored map, Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times["San_Fernando_Valley,"_Mapping_L.A.]
,_''Los_Angeles_Times''.html" ;"title="Mapping L.A.">"San Fernando Valley," Mapping_L.A.">"San_Fernando_Valley,"_Mapping_L.A.
,_''Los_Angeles_Times''/ref>_Its_street_boundaries_are_Roscoe_Boulevard_on_the_north,_White_Oak_Avenue_on_the_east,_Victory_Boulevard_(Los_Angeles).html" ;"title="Mapping L.A.
, ''Los Angeles Times''">Mapping L.A.">"San Fernando Valley," Victory_Boulevard_on_the_south_and_Corbin_Avenue_on_the_west.
__Demographics_
The_2010_U.S._census_counted_74,363_residents_in_Reseda's_91335_ZIP_code._The_median_age_was_35.5,_and_the_median_yearly_household_income_was_$53,842.
_"Community_Facts"_American_FactFinder,_''United_States_Census_Bureau''
In_2008,_the_''Los_Angeles_Times,_Mapping_L.A.''_project_described_Reseda_as_"highly_diverse"_ethnically_within_Los_Angeles._The_breakdown_of_the_population_using_the_2000_census_was_43.5%_
,_''Los_Angeles_Times''/ref>_Its_street_boundaries_are_Roscoe_Boulevard_on_the_north,_White_Oak_Avenue_on_the_east,_Victory_Boulevard_(Los_Angeles)">Victory_Boulevard_on_the_south_and_Corbin_Avenue_on_the_west.
__Demographics_
The_2010_U.S._census_counted_74,363_residents_in_Reseda's_91335_ZIP_code._The_median_age_was_35.5,_and_the_median_yearly_household_income_was_$53,842._"Community_Facts"_American_FactFinder,_''United_States_Census_Bureau''
In_2008,_the_''Los_Angeles_Times,_Mapping_L.A.''_project_described_Reseda_as_"highly_diverse"_ethnically_within_Los_Angeles._The_breakdown_of_the_population_using_the_2000_census_was_43.5%_Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans">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;
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;_37.2%_n
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__Demographics_
The_2010_U.S._census_counted_74,363_residents_in_Reseda's_91335_ZIP_code._The_median_age_was_35.5,_and_the_median_yearly_household_income_was_$53,842.
_"Community_Facts"_American_FactFinder,_''United_States_Census_Bureau''
In_2008,_the_''Los_Angeles_Times,_Mapping_L.A.''_project_described_Reseda_as_"highly_diverse"_ethnically_within_Los_Angeles._The_breakdown_of_the_population_using_the_2000_census_was_43.5%_Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans">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_...
;_37.2%_nNon-Hispanic_Whites">on-Hispanic_white;_11.2%_
,_''Los_Angeles_Times''/ref>_Its_street_boundaries_are_Roscoe_Boulevard_on_the_north,_White_Oak_Avenue_on_the_east,_Victory_Boulevard_(Los_Angeles)">Victory_Boulevard_on_the_south_and_Corbin_Avenue_on_the_west.
__Demographics_
The_2010_U.S._census_counted_74,363_residents_in_Reseda's_91335_ZIP_code._The_median_age_was_35.5,_and_the_median_yearly_household_income_was_$53,842.
_"Community_Facts"_American_FactFinder,_''United_States_Census_Bureau''
In_2008,_the_''Los_Angeles_Times,_Mapping_L.A.''_project_described_Reseda_as_"highly_diverse"_ethnically_within_Los_Angeles._The_breakdown_of_the_population_using_the_2000_census_was_43.5%_Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans">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_...
;_37.2%_nNon-Hispanic_Whites">on-Hispanic_white;_11.2%_Asian_American">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_...
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, ''Los Angeles Times''/ref> Its street boundaries are Roscoe Boulevard on the north, White Oak Avenue on the east, Victory Boulevard (Los Angeles)">Victory Boulevard on the south and Corbin Avenue on the west.[
]
Demographics
The 2010 U.S. census counted 74,363 residents in Reseda's 91335 ZIP code. The median age was 35.5, and the median yearly household income was $53,842.[ "Community Facts" American FactFinder, ''United States Census Bureau'']
In 2008, the ''Los Angeles Times, Mapping L.A.'' project described Reseda as "highly diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles. The breakdown of the population using the 2000 census was 43.5% Hispanic and Latino Americans">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 ...