The Heart of the Harbor is Beating

A walk down a familiar street....Avalon Boulevard in Wilmington, each time I walk this street I spot something I did not notice before. Enjoy the walk.

Ticket booth at old Granada Theater now a church 

C & C Liquor with an apartment on top possibly the owners place 

The signage is pretty 1960s 1970s 

Lobo taking a bath! he used to live behind Slanguage but he moved to a different bar

Fonts from the hood

Doorway one

The last pay phone on earth 

They don't even want to advertise here

Graphic Design studio been here since the 70s.....nice doorway too

A peek into Amelia's Dance Club..They even got a disco ball

Engine blocks made into sculptures 

Thank you for hanging in there more city beauty to come


Peace

DJ

Fourth of July

So what does everybody's fourth of July weekend look like?
Well for me I will be heading up North with family.I usually spend the fourth at my older brothers house here in LA County, but this year I decided to road trip it.

I am staying with other family in Soquel it is a nice little town about ten minutes away from Santa Cruz.
Hopfully we can catch a cool fireworks show, and roam around the city.


We will also head out to San Francisico for a day or so to check out the scene over there.
Can you believe I never been to Alcatraz, well I haven't and the last time I went up about a year ago the tour was booked.
I read a really awesome book by a Chicano man still alive who actually spent time in Alcatraz when it was still an operating prison, it is called
"To Alcatraz, Death Row, and Back"
Memories of an East LA Outlaw
By Ernie Lopez and Rafael Perez Torres
Check it out, it is a really good read with so much history of LA as well.

I really hope everybody has a safe and fun weekend.I will try and take some cool pictures to share when I come back!

Peace

Dona Junta

LA Bridge Tour

As you all might know I been obsessed with LA walking historical tours, For my self I love hearing the history but I also love that I can jot down interesting spots to paint in the areas.
this weekend the LA Conservancy had the first annual Spanning History of the LA river Bridges. Basically the conservancy and Friends of LA River(FOLAR) set up different booths with educational material, activities and more at each bridge featured in the event. The first stop was the 6th st bridge which was one of my favorites because the tunnel going into the river, there they gave a brief history and talked about the molecular structure of the bridge, apparently its deteriorating from the inside out because silica was used with the cement when making the bridge therefore silica expands and is weak and in risk of falling apart.We also got to go through the tunnel into the river now with my painting I never really wanted to go into that tunnel at night its really creepy I only been mostly around it lol.
The second stop was 4th st bridge after a brief introduction to the history we got to meet Merrill Butler III grandson of the man who designed the bridges, his talk about his grandfather was very touching, It was a pleasure to meet family of someone who created such historical significance.There was also a set up from the movie industry and its meaning in the LA River,there was plenty of clips they were showing from the many movies filmed at the river, The man who filmed Grease was there but I had left before he came.The third stop was the First st bridge at that stop was many photos and display boards featuring the engineering of all the bridges as well as a brief history lesson. Last but not least we headed to the Seventh st Bridge which is really cool and interesting because it is actually a double Decker bridge, the first layer was built over to what it is today so it was pretty much extended upward.Here are a few pix I took Enjoy as well as link to LA Times article
6th st Bridge





4th st Bridge

7th st Bridge( double decker)

Historic Core Walking tour

Historic Core is yet another awesome tour guided by the LA Conservancy, they told us to meet up at Pershing Square between 5th and 6th st and Olive st in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. This tour was quite interesting being I been to the area quite often but again did not bother to notice some of the historic buildings I loved the new history I learned quite a lot and got to go into some cool buildings and other sites.
Someone got a cool crew spot on this building and this area kinda hot word!

(above) is the Baltimore Hotel (1923) Beaux Arts Architecture with Renaissance Revival , this is when you notice the building is divided in 3 sections with with opening in the middle, and the Renaissance ornaments. located 515 s Olive st.

Title Guarantee and Trust Building(1926) is an example of Art Deco style architecture with the Gothic, look lots of towers as well are a must with this style. 411 W 5th St.

Pacific Finance Building again in the Italian Renaissance Revival style
510 w 6th st



I had never really been around the Central Library so it was coo to see the architecture of it
630 w 5th st


Subway Terminal Building 417 S. Hill St
This Renaissance Revival style building is pretty interesting because little do allot of us know there used to be a subway in LA back in the days. The subway ran from downtown to San Fernando Valley and the West side according to the historical society in its prime time there was about 65.000 people passing beneath it daily. It was shut down for many decades until it was finally renovated in 2005 now called Metro 417 loft style apt and you all know that's not in our budget!

La Cita

Ok this is not really a historical landmark but it is right in the middle of the walking tour, and being I been there and its pretty cool, I thought I post the info.
Nice spot to chill at aside drinks!
Thursday is suppose to be cracken good music to dance too!
they got 2 bars, outdoor patio, small but banging dance floor
Fridays is Punky Reggae featuring part time punk DJ and members of the Dub Club
the rest of the nights its a Mexican music vibe and other stuff
(beware of hipsters though)
plus you gotta love the red color and the old school Mexican Chairs nice


336 S Hill St Los Angeles, CA 90013 Phone: (213) 687-7111

Cross Street
Third Street
Hours:
Daily 10am-2am

La Cita MySpace you can add them

Grand Central Market 315 S Broadway
(below)
This land mark it has been open since 1917, it has over 50 vendors. I loved it inside lots of food and fresh produce, and since we all love swap meets around here it definitely gave me a good vibe


Million Dollar Theater
307 s Broadway
One of the first movie houses in the country

There is a few more sites to see I did not post but if you like to learn some history check out the La conservancy site for details.

Elysian Park walking tour

This sat was a scheduled walking tour brought by the Echo Park Historical Society. I decided to book my spot and check it out. I gone to Elysian park a few times but only like one section of it where some of my friends have BBQ s and I also knew Dodger stadium and the Police Academy was located in sections of the park but I never really knew much about the park nor explored it since I live like 20 miles away but since I love history I decided to check it out and it was a pretty interesting tour and a nice hike as well. I recommend checking out the historical society website and reserve one of the three walking tours they got for this one you can also take your dog along.
Here is some history I pulled off from the Echo Park Historical Society

Los Angeles' First Park

Elysian Park is the city's oldest public park and, at 575-acres, the second largest after Griffith Park. It is home to numerous historic sites, including the Los Angeles Police Academy and Barlow Hospital, that are linked by miles of walking trails.

In 1769, Gaspar de Portola and Father Juan Crespi camped on the river bank opposite Buena Vista Hill near the North Broadway Bridge entrance to Elysian Park. Yang-Na Indian villagers from the creeks of Solano Canyon and the current location of the Los Angeles Police Academy greeted the Spaniards with native refreshments.

In 1781, the Pueblo of Los Angeles was officially established by Spanish California Governor Felipe de Neve with the Royal Grant of 4 square Spanish leagues (translated into 28 square miles or about 17,000 acres) of Pueblo Lands. Of this public land grant, the approximately 575-acre Elysian Park is the last remaining large piece. All else has been auctioned off or given away. Los Angeles even had to buy back the site of the present City Hall.

One of the first American official acts was the Ord Survey of 1849 to record the boundaries of these Pueblo Lands so they could be auctioned to produce city revenue. Elysian Park was then known as Rock Quarry Hills for the building stone mined in the area. But instead of being sold, the Rock Quarry Hills area were "reserved" for public purpose and withdrawn from public auction.
In 1886, the Mayor and City Council of Los Angeles dedicated the Rock Quarry Hills as a city park forever, and renamed it Elysian Park (Elysian is derived from the Greek word paradise). Subsequent city charters have protected dedicated park lands and their use for park purposes in perpetuity.
These are rare charter provisions, as city charters go, and have given parkland protectors a firm legal base for organized support of dedicated park land in the City of Los Angeles. It is upon this legal base that the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park has fought for two decades to retain park lands for park purposes.
Every effort is being made to establish the historical significance of this public park in order to conserve it for future generations as a part of the Santa Monica Mountains system of urban open space vital to the survival of the human, animal and botanical denizens of these historic parklands.

Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department

More info on Elysian and other city parks.

Elysian Park Historical Significance

Native American-History
Yang-Na village was located at the Aliso Street crossing of the Los Angeles River and Shoshone (Gabrielinos) bands congregated in the Rock Garden area of the Police Academy within Elysian Park.

Spanish Era
1769 Portola and Crespi diaries recorded the Elysian Park site enroute to claiming Alta California for Spain.
1771 San Gabriel Mission was founded by Father Junipero Serra.
1776 Juan Bautista de Anza crossed Rio Porciuncula at the junction of Arroyo Seco on way to founding Northern California's San Francisco, following the Portola Trail along the Santa Monica Mountains to Ventura
1781 El Pueblo de Los Angeles was founded by edict of Carlos III of Spain.

Mexican Era
1835 Pueblo status was granted by the Mexican Government, still recognizing the 4 square leagues as city land. Secularization of missions brought the first great land rush to split mission lands into individual rancho grants.

American Era
1849 American Military Government ordered E. O. C. Ord Survey of Los Angeles City Limits, setting off the first city real estate boom1883. Mayor C.E. Thom signed enabling ordinance to preserve remaining Pueblo Lands for public park purposes.

Park Named Elysian
1886 City Ordinance Number 218 signed April 5 by Mayor E.F. Spence, dedicated Rock Quarry Hills in the following words: "That the real property located in the city of Los Angeles and owned by the city of Los Angeles hereinafter described, is hereby set apart for the use of the public as a Public Park, and is forever dedicated to the Public as such park."

The Committee on Parks authorized and named Elysian Park and purchased the first planting of gum trees for $200.

Parks Department Created
1889 Los Angeles first Freeholders Charter, Section 113, protected dedicated park lands in perpetuity. This Charter also created the Parks Department, which was consolidated with the Recreation Department by Charter Amendment in 1947.

Arboretum Founded
1893 Los Angeles Horticultural Society established the Arboretum and extensive botanical gardens in Elysian Park. The Chavez Ravine Arboretum, Elysian Park, was declared City Historical-Cultural Monument Number 48 in 1967.

Avenue of the Palms
1895 The Avenue of the Palms, rare specimens of wild date were planted, on what is now Stadium Way north of Scott Avenue

In Perpetuity
1928 Los Angeles' second, current Freeholders Charter, Section 170, reaffirms protection of parklands in perpetuity.

Master Plan
1971 The Elysian Park Master Plan was adopted.

Santa Monica Mountains Zone
1982 The Santa Monica Mountains Zone of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy was extended by the State Legislature to include Elysian Park and El Pueblo as eastern extremity of the Zone, thereby reinforcing Elysian Park status as a regional park

here are some pix i took








































another old school drinking fountain just like the one in the old Wilmington square I dont think
this one works though lol.






overlooking the Southbound Pasadena Fwy the freeway was cut into the park

various paths in the park
Northbound Pasadena fwy
LA River shots taken from the road up to Elysian Park

Pix above is the old city jail before Mens Central
shot of nice wheat paste poster view of river from park
Someone got a nice spot on the walls of the park facing the Fwy Southbound lanes