Carthay Circle is a neighborhood in the Mid-City West region of

Central Los Angeles Central Los Angeles is the historical urban region of the city of Los Angeles, containing downtown Los Angeles, and several nearby regions in southwest Los Angeles County, California. Geographic designation by The City of Los Angeles The Los Ang ...

, California. Originally named Carthay Center, the neighborhood was later renamed after the famed

Carthay Circle Theatre The Carthay Circle Theatre was one of the most famous movie palaces of Hollywood's Golden Age. Located on San Vicente Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, it opened in 1926 and was demolished in 1969. The auditorium itself was shaped in the f ...

Geography

The neighborhood is bounded by Wilshire Boulevard to the north, Olympic Boulevard to the south, Fairfax Avenue to the east and Schumacher Drive on the west. The neighborhood of

South Carthay South Carthay is a neighborhood in Central Los Angeles, California. Located south of Carthay Circle,''The Thomas Guide,'' 2008, page 633 South Carthay was developed in the 1930s by Spyros George Ponty. Geography The neighborhood is bounded by ...

is located south of Olympic Boulevard. The city of

Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...

is located on the west.

History

Originally named Carthay Center, Carthay Circle was developed as an upscale residential district in 1922 by J. Harvey McCarthy, who founded the 136-acre, mainly Spanish Revival, community. No two homes are alike due to the rule that all homes had to be designed individually by an architect, and notable designers such as

Irving Gill Irving John Gill (April 26, 1870 – October 7, 1936), was an American architect, known professionally as Irving J. Gill. He did most of his work in Southern California, especially in San Diego and Los Angeles. He is considered a pioneer of the ...

, Paul Williams and Robert Byrd contributed to the neighborhood. The master plan for Carthay Circle was designed by leading early 20th century architects Aleck Curlett and his partner Claud Beelman (designer of MGM Studios and Downtown LA's Eastern Columbia Building) in conjunction with landscape architects Cook & Hall (Wilbur D. Cook is also noted for creating the master plan for the neighboring city of Beverly Hills). McCarthy named the streets in honor of prominent figures of the California Gold Rush. He also planned the neighborhood around a shopping center. Carthay Circle was one of the first planned communities in Los Angeles, and the first in the city to feature underground utilities. The success of Carthay Circle served as the catalyst for the growth of the entire Mid-City area. The main feature of the neighborhood was the

, the “Showplace of the Golden West," that opened May 18, 1926 and soon became the focal point of Carthay Center. The theater, site of film premieres including Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (their first full-length animated film) and the West Coast premiere of

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

, inspired the community to change the name from “Carthay Center” to “Carthay Circle.” The theater was demolished in 1969 to make way for a new office complex, 1 Carthay Plaza, today known as Carthay Campus, designed in the mid-century Brutalist architectural style. A large-scale replica of Carthay Circle Theater opened in 2012 at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California. In November 1983, with the support of then-councilman

Zev Yaroslavsky Zev Yaroslavsky (born December 21, 1948) is a politician from Los Angeles County, California. He was a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from District 3, an affluent district which includes the San Fernando Valley, the Westsi ...

, official neighborhood signs were installed. On July 11, 1987, the neighborhood held a dedication ceremony to celebrate the planting of 100 trees and the installation of two large concrete monuments with the name "Carthay Circle" on them. The monuments were installed at the intersection of McCarthy Vista and Wilshire Boulevard and the intersection of San Vicente Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue.

Parks and recreation

* Carthay Circle Park - The park is located at the intersection of McCarthy Vista & Crescent Heights Boulevard and is maintained by the City of Los Angeles.

Landmarks

'' The Pioneer'' is a statue by

Henry Lion Henry Lion (August 11, 1900 – October 25, 1966) was an American sculptor. His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad a ...

that was designed as part of a fountain in Carthay Circle Park. Standing about seven feet tall and weighing 512 pounds, it was installed on September 25, 1924. Also known as "Dan the Miner", the statue went missing in 2009. It has been stolen during a rash of robberies spawned by rising copper prices. The statue was recovered, repaired, and reinstalled in 2010. Historical markers placed in the area by the

Native Sons of the Golden West The Native Sons of the Golden West (NSGW) is a fraternity, fraternal service organization founded in the U.S. state of California in 1875, dedicated to historic preservation and documentation of the state's historic structures and places, the pla ...

and Founders of Carthay Center include: Portolá Trail 1769, Juan Bautista de Anza, Daniel O. McCarthy, "Snowshoe" Thompson and Jedediah Strong Smith.

Historic Preservation Overlay Zone

The Carthay Circle

Historic Preservation Overlay Zone The Historic Preservation Overlay Zone of the City of Los Angeles in California has been hailed by historic preservation advocates for its pioneering program, which designates not just buildings but entire neighborhoods or districts as worthy o ...

(HPOZ) adopting ordinance became effective on July 24, 1998. The Carthay Circle preservation plan was adopted by the City of Los Angeles on December 9, 2010. The following architectural styles are present in the Carthay Circle HPOZ: Colonial Revival, Dutch Colonial Revival, English Tudor Revival, French Eclectic, Monterey Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival and Minimal Traditional. Objectives of the HPOZ include: Safeguarding the character of historic buildings and sites and recognizing and protecting the historic streetscape and development patterns.

References

{{Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zones Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Central Los Angeles Wilshire, Los Angeles Westside (Los Angeles County)