LaFayette Square is a historic semi-gated neighborhood in the central region of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The neighborhood was founded in 1913 by real estate developer George Lafayette Crenshaw, and named after the French

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

, who fought alongside Colonists in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Lying west of

Crenshaw Boulevard Crenshaw Boulevard is a north–south thoroughfare that runs through Crenshaw and other neighborhoods along a route in the west-central part of Los Angeles, California, United States. The street extends between Wilshire Boulevard in Mid-W ...

in the Mid-City area, it was designated by the city as a

Los Angeles Historic Preservation Overlay Zone The Historic Preservation Overlay Zone of the Los Angeles, California, 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 ...

in 2000 for its significant residential architecture and history.

History

Early sales

Properties in the tract, which was described as "part of the Nadeau Rancho

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

," between "Washington and Sixteenth streets . . . immediately west of

" went on sale in 1913."Many Lots in Lafayette Square Reported Sold Though No Formal Even Marked Opening. Was Part of Nadeau Rancho Vineyard," ''Los Angeles Express,'' November 20, 1912, image 19
/ref> According to the

Los Angeles Conservancy The Los Angeles Conservancy is a historic preservation organization in Los Angeles, California that works to document, rescue and revitalize historic buildings, places and neighborhoods in the city. The Los Angeles Conservancy is the largest m ...

, "LaFayette Square was the last and greatest of banker George L. Crenshaw's ten residential developments in the City of Los Angeles."Los Angeles Conservancy, ''Los Angeles' Historic Preservation Overlay Zones'', 2002, pp. 14-15. The tract is composed of four north-south streets with an east-west grassy divider. Unsold lots were liquidated in early 1920.

Viaduct

A petition to the city by Lafayette Square residents in September 1915 urged construction of a

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

to bring West Boulevard across the

Pacific Electric The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned Public transport, mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electr ...

tracks. Without it, the petitioners said, ""children have to walk two miles to school" and stores refused to make deliveries because of the distance around the blockage. Instead, the city's Public Utilities Board approved plans for a more expensive

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

over the tracks, saying a level crossing would be the worst "death-trap" in the city were it built. After visiting the site, the City Council approved a $40,000 viaduct for which Pacific Electric would pay half the cost and the city and land owners would pay the rest. Property owners agreed. Construction on the viaduct took place in 1920. The link offered "a safe route of only four blocks to the million-dollar

Los Angeles High School Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a publ ...

and . . . direct access to the

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

and

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 ...

district by way of

Pico Pico may refer to: Places The Moon * Mons Pico, a lunar mountain in the northern part of the Mare Imbrium basin Portugal * Pico, a civil parish in the municipality of Vila Verde * Pico da Pedra, a civil parish in the municipality of Ribe ...

and

Wilshire Boulevard Wilshire Boulevard ( wɪɫ.ʃɚ is a prominent boulevard in the Los Angeles area of Southern California, extending from Ocean Avenue (Santa Monica), Ocean Avenue in the city of Santa Monica, California, Santa Monica east to Grand Avenue (Lo ...

s.""Lafayette Square Viaduct Under Way," ''Los Angeles Times,'' January 25, 1920
/ref>

Gates

Around 1980, the Lafayette Square Association proposed closing entrances to the neighborhood by blocking the ends of the streets to create cul-de-sacs. Neighbors debated issues of crime, traffic speed and emergency vehicle access. In 1989, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved the plans. In the early 1990s, wrought-iron gates were installed at the ends of Buckingham Road, Virginia Road, Wellington Road and Victoria Avenue. The only way to enter the neighborhood by car is at St. Charles Place. To pay for the enclosures, the homeowners were assessed $40 per year for 10 years.

Geography

LaFayette Square is situated about 7 miles (11 km) west of

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

. It is south of Victoria Park, east of Arlington Heights and north of

Wellington Square Wellington Square may refer to: * Wellington Square, North Adelaide, South Australia * Wellington Square, Perth, in Western Australia * A neighbourhood in Burlington, Ontario, Canada * A square in Kolkata, India, renamed Subodh Chandra Mallik Squar ...

. The neighborhood consists of eight blocks, centered on St. Charles Place, and situated between

Venice Boulevard Venice Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare in Los Angeles, running from the ocean in the Venice district into downtown Los Angeles. It was originally known as West 16th Street under the Los Angeles numbered street system. A segment o ...

on the north, Washington Boulevard on the south,

on the east and West Boulevard on the west. There are 236 homes in the neighborhood.

Residences

The neighborhood was designed for wealthy families and now-historic houses regularly have 5,000 to floor plans, although the average home size is . According to a ''Los Angeles Times'' real-estate section article on the neighborhood, "Most of the properties have period details: Juliet balconies, mahogany staircases and libraries, sitting rooms, stained glass windows, triple crown molding, soaring ceilings—even four-car garages."

Demographics

Home ownership shifted "between white-only homeownership during the 1920s through the 1940s to nearly all African American" in the 1950s with court decisions lifting

restrictive covenants A covenant, in its most general and historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law, a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the presence of a seal. Be ...

against black people. The community became more racially mixed "as more white families, priced out of the Westside and

Hancock Park Hancock Park is a city park in the Miracle Mile section of the Mid-Wilshire neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. The park's destinations include the La Brea Tar Pits; the adjacent George C. Page Museum of La Brea Discoveries, which displa ...

" began returning in the early 1990s.

Schools

The neighborhood is zoned to the following schools in the

Los Angeles Unified School District Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is a State school, public school district in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. It is the largest public school system in California in terms of number of students and the List ...

: * Alta Loma Elementary School * Johnnie L. Cochran Jr. Middle School (formerly Mount Vernon Middle School) *

Notable residents

In chronological order by birth year * William Claude Dukenfield, ''W.C. Fields'' (1880-1946), actor *

George Pepperdine George Pepperdine (; June 20, 1886 – July 31, 1962) was an American entrepreneur and Christian philanthropist who was the founder of Pepperdine University in California. Biography Early life George Pepperdine was born on June 20, 1886, on a fa ...

(1886-1962), entrepreneur and philanthropist, founder of Pepperdine UniversityLos Angeles City Planning Department
/ref> * Roscoe Conkling Arbuckle, ''Fatty Arbuckle'' (1887-1933), actor *

Paul R. Williams Paul Revere Williams, FAIA (February 18, 1894 – January 23, 1980) was an American architect based in Los Angeles, California. Most of the buildings he designed were in Southern California and included the homes of numerous celebrities, s ...

(1894-1980), architect *

Norton Simon Norton Winfred Simon (February 5, 1907 – June 2, 1993) was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was at one time one of the wealthiest men in America. At the time of his death, he had amassed a net worth of nearly US$10 billion. S ...

(1907-1993), art collector * Joseph Louis Barrow, ''Joe Louis'' (1914-1981), boxer *

Vaino Spencer Vaino Hassan Spencer (July 22, 1920 – October 25, 2016) was an American judge, the first African-American woman appointed to a judgeship in California. She co-founded the Black Women Lawyers Association in 1975, and the National Association of ...

(1920-2016), lawyer and judge * Paul Younger ''Tank Younger,'' (1928-2001), football player * Richard Wayne Penniman, ''Little Richard'' (1932-2020), musician, singer, and songwriter *

John Roseboro John Junior Roseboro (May 13, 1933 – August 16, 2002) was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball from 1957 until 1970, most prominently as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers. A four ...

(1933-2002), baseball player and coach * Larry McCormick (1937-2004), actor, reporter and news anchor * John Mack (1937-2018), L.A. Urban League president *

Mahdi Abdul-Rahman Mahdi Abdul-Rahman (born Walter Raphael Hazzard Jr.; April 15, 1942 – November 18, 2011) was an American professional basketball player and college basketball coach. He played in college for the UCLA Bruins and was a member of their first natio ...

, ''Walt Hazzard'' (1942-2011), basketball player and coach

References

External links

Lafayette Square Association
{{Los Angeles Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Central Los Angeles Mid-City, Los Angeles Wilshire, Los Angeles 1913 establishments in California Populated places established in 1913