No. 102 - 1030 Cesar E. Chavez Avenue Residence

1030 Cesar E. Chavez Avenue Residence
c. 1880
1030 Cesar E. Chavez Avenue – map
Declared: 10/4/72

Is there another Victorian/Queen Anne home made of brick remaining in Los Angeles? (That’s not rhetorical; I really don’t know.)

Now, if you’ve driven by this house on Chavez and given it a first thought, much less a second one, I’d be surprised. While I don’t spend much time in the area, I can say I’ve never noticed it.

Three of the four books I’ve seen mentioning this landmark refer to this one-story structure’s broad floor plan as an indication that, at some point, the builder had intended to add a second story and then, at some other point, abandoned the idea. If you see the home in person, I bet you’ll agree this was the case.

Oh. One other thing. I briefly suffered a bit of confusion tracking down this monument because, up until late 1993, this portion of Cesar E. Chavez Avenue was called Macy Street. While you know (or should know) who Cesar Chavez was, Macy Street was named for Dr Obed Macy and his son, Oscar. Harris Newmark, in Sixty Years in California, wrote that when he set foot in Los Angeles in 1853, he...

… arrived at the only real hotel in town, the Bella Union, where stages stopped and every city function took place. This hotel was a one-story, adobe house enlarged in 1858 to two stories, and located on Main Street above Commercial; and Dr. Obed Macy, who had bought it the previous spring from Winston & Hodges, was the proprietor.

The elder Macy arrived in Southern California around 1850, settling in El Monte. He moved downtown a year later, bought the Bella Union, and opened the Alameda Baths. He died on July 19th, 1857. Oscar Macy was a newspaper editor and businessman, also serving as city treasurer during the 1880s.

The Bella Union was the home of the Los Angeles Star newspaper, had served as the County Courthouse, housed Pio Pico, and was later the site of a celebration when the telegraph connected San Francisco and L.A. (1860) among many other notes. The hotel became the Clarenden in 1873 and the St Charles in 1875. The Bella Union building was razed in 1940 (and the Pico Building (1868), shown in the picture next to the hotel, was torn down in 1957).

But I digress; enough of the Macys and the Bella Union Hotel. Historic-Cultural Monument No. 102 is this brick home, standing here for about 130 years, an unassuming piece of L.A. history.

Up next: Forthmann House and Carriage House

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No. 97 - (Site of) 1620 Pleasant Avenue Residence

1620 Pleasant Avenue Residence
c. 1876
Demolished in May, 1973
1620 Pleasant Avenue – map
Declared: 2/23/72
Bah. A 1972 designation couldn’t save this rare and fine example of Italianate Victorian Los Angeles architecture. Deteriorated and vandalized to the Nth degree, it was demolished the following spring.

The lot stands about a block away from Mariachi Plaza off the corner of Pleasant Avenue and 1st Street. Today, the building below occupies the site. Compare the edge of 1620’s next-door neighbor in the two pictures, separated by about thirty-five years and at least one coating of stucco. The top shot is from L.A.'s Department of City Planning website.

I enjoy walking around this section of Boyle Heights real well. There are lots of old L.A. homes remaining, if only a little worn and tired. I can only imagine how the commodious building below, built around 1907 (an even century ago) and standing somewhat across the street at 1515, appeared in its heyday. Now, it isn’t the most attractive building in the area, but I really find it appealing. With its terrific view of downtown, the apartment complex looks like it’s kept up alright, but what’s up with the cement lawn? Speaking of what’s up, what’s the deal with the coat hanger dangling from the telephone wire? What an odd place to hang laundry.

Up next: Mt Pleasant House

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No. 54 - Old 6th Street Wooden Bridge

Old Sixth Street Wooden Bridge
1898, demolished 1968
Hollenbeck Park – map
Declared: 5/22/68

Don’t go to Hollenbeck Park to see Historic-Cultural Monument No. 54, the Old Sixth Street Wooden Bridge, because it was torn down nearly forty years ago (right after designation, too). But do go because, despite being hacked up to make way for the I-5 Freeway back in the early 1960s, Hollenbeck Park remains a pleasant Los Angeles space on the edge of Boyle Heights.

I’m throwing in here a few shots of the park as it is today as an ointment for those who had their hearts set on a lengthy pictorial on the old footbridge.

The park is named for John Edward Hollenbeck, whose widow donated one-third of the land. William H. Workman and his wife, friends of Hollenbeck, contributed the balance. Hollenbeck died in 1885, the park was was given to the city in 1890-1891. According to Harris Newmark, Workman also laid out the walks.

The lake is re-stocked every other Friday (the Fishing Network says there’s “rainbow trout from Winter through early Spring and catfish during the Summer months. There are also bluegill, largemouth bass, crappie, and carp in here”), and if you’re a kid you may fish there license-free. It’s also the site of Feria De Los Niños.

Of course, going to Hollenbeck Park today, you’ll need to put up with the white-noise drone of the Golden State Freeway – its pillars plunge straight into the southern portion of the lake. It’s a spot to say so long to this chunk of the I-5, which changes into the Santa Ana Freeway at the interchange with the 10/101/60 not far south.

Go here and here for collections of old Hollenbeck Park postcards. For a more personal perspective on the park and the surrounding area, see El Chavo!’s entry on Metroblogging Los Angeles.

The black and white shot at the top is from the UCLA Library Digital Collections.

Up next: Grauman's Chinese Theatre

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