Little Armenia () is a neighborhood in

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. It is named after the Armenians who escaped

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

and made their way to Los Angeles during the early part of the 20th century. The area is served by the

Metro B Line B Line, B-Line or Line B may refer to the following: Transportation US *B (New York City Subway service), a subway route in New York *B (SEPTA Metro), one of three subway lines in Philadelphia. *B-Line (Norfolk Southern), a freight-rail line in ...

at the Hollywood/Western, Vermont/Sunset and Vermont/Santa Monica stations.

History

In 1999, the Honorary Mayor of Little Armenia, Garo Keurjikian, had a vision to establish an area in East Hollywood representing the Armenians who migrated to America. He worked with councilwoman Jackie Goldberg 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 came from the large number of Armenian-Americans who live in the area and also from the large number of Armenian stores and businesses that had already opened in the neighborhood by the early 1970s. On October 6, 2000, the

Los Angeles City Council The Los Angeles City Council is the Legislature, lawmaking body for the Government of Los Angeles, city government of Los Angeles, California, the second largest city in the United States. It has 15 members who each represent the 15 city council ...

designated a portion of East Hollywood as “Little Armenia” in an effort to recognize the community’s vast “presence and voice in Los Angeles". On April 24, 2015, the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue was designated as Armenian Genocide Memorial Square to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, 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 t ...

. 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 Los Angeles City Council District 13, 13th district from 2013 to 2022, during which he spent eight days as President of the Los A ...

and

Paul Krekorian Paul Krekorian (born March 24, 1960) is an American politician who has represented the second district on the Los Angeles City Council from 2010 until 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the president of the Los Angeles City ...

and approved by the

on March 18, 2015. Certificate Little Armenia - Honorary Mayor

Geography

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 be ...

from

Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It runs through the Hollywood, East Hollywood, Little Armenia, Thai Town, and Los Feliz districts. Its western terminus is at Sunset Plaza Drive in the Hollyw ...

Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes t ...

, 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 major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

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

Events

On April 24 each year,

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

gather in the neighborhood to observe

Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day ( ''Mets Yegherrni zoheri hishataki or'') or Armenian Genocide Memorial Day is a public holiday in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh (before the flight of its Armenian population) and is observed by the Armenian dia ...

(Solidarity events also take place in Montebello, Glendale 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 ...

Transportation

Little Armenia is served by the

subway, which runs north-south along

and east-west along

. Metro subway stations include: * Vermont/Santa Monica * Vermont/Sunset * Hollywood/Western

Los Angeles Department of Transportation The Los Angeles Department of Transportation, commonly referred to as LADOT, is a municipal agency that oversees transportation planning, design, construction, maintenance and operations within the city of Los Angeles. LADOT was created by city o ...

provides bus service through the neighborhood.

Parks and recreation

Parks within Little Armenia's official borders are the following: *

Barnsdall Art Park Barnsdall Art Park is a city park located in the East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Parking and arts buildings access is from Hollywood Boulevard on the north side of the park. The park is a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural M ...

- 4800 Hollywood Boulevard. The park includes the

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

designed

Hollyhock House Hollyhock House is a Historic house museum, house museum at Barnsdall Art Park in the East Hollywood, Los Angeles, East Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. The house, designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright fo ...

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

Education

Public schools within Little Armenia's official borders are operated by

LAUSD 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 ...

Public

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

Private

* Alex Pilibos Armenian School,
1625 North Alexandria Avenue

Notable places

Places of interest within Little Armenia's official borders include the following: * Armenian Genocide Memorial Square. Located at the intersection of Hollywood Boulevard and Western Avenue. * 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 religiou ...

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

* Hollywood & Western Building *

Zankou Chicken Zankou Chicken is the name of 2 family-owned Armenian and Mediterranean fast casual restaurant chains located in the Los Angeles area. The restaurants are especially known for their spit-roasted chicken, shawarma, falafel, tahini, and a "secr ...

's first restaurant in U.S.A.

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-American culture in California Armenian diaspora communities in the United States Ethnic enclaves in California Neighborhoods in Los Angeles East Hollywood, Los Angeles