Our History

The Untold L.A.: The Perfect Holiday Gift for Mid-City Fans

Details: Category: Our History; Published on Thursday, 18 December 2014 16:25; Written by Renee Montgomery

A 360-page rich compendium of 500 photos, 70 oral histories, and two hours of behind-the-scenes videos illustrating West Adams' architectural wonders and culture, "The Untold LA" is perfect gift for Mid-City fans who own iPads or Mac computers. It is the result of a two year documentary project by Jett Loe,…

True Halloween Ghost Story: The Sad and Gruesome Story of Marion Parker NOT for the Faint of Heart

Details: Category: Our History; Published on Tuesday, 07 October 2014 17:53; Written by Laura Meyers

Back in 1927, twin 12-year-olds, Marion and Marjorie Parker, were adored by their father, banker Perry Parker, an officer at Los Angeles First National Trust and Savings. The Parker family lived in a two-story, wood-shingled Victorian-style home at 1631 S. Wilton Place, and the girls attended Mt. Vernon Junior High,…

Gay Civil Rights Early Roots in West Adams

Details: Category: Our History; Published on Thursday, 19 June 2014 16:57; Written by John Patterson

"Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month (LGBT Pride Month) is currently celebrated each year in the month of June to honor the 1969 Stonewall riots in Manhattan. The Stonewall riots were a tipping point for the Gay Liberation Movement in the United States." From the Library of Congress.…

Good Golly! Look Who Lived in Mid-City.

Details: Category: Our History; Published on Thursday, 19 June 2014 15:43; Written by West Adams Heritage Association

LITTLE RICHARD VIRGINIA RD. LAFAYETTE SQUARE.Lafayette Square was already home to many notable residents when James Nelson Pattilo, a building contractor erected an Italian/Spanish Renaissance Revival residence on Virginia Road in the early 1920's. Corinthian columns flank its front door, which also features an elaborately-carved surround. This home attracted…

Remembering the 1930s in the Greater West Adams Neighborhood

Details: Category: Our History; Published on Friday, 10 January 2014 15:12; Written by Nazelle Elmassian

Turning the calendar back 80 years to the 1930’s, it’s been a joy to reflect on my early years in our house on West Blvd, (just north of Washington). It was a quiet, safe and friendly neighborhood. No gangs, no drugs. Houses were not surrounded by fences. Streets were not…

Victoria Park

Details: Category: Our History; Published on Friday, 03 January 2014 17:25; Written by Laura Meyers & Dawn Kirkpatrick

One "secret" pocket neighborhood in West Adams and Mid-City is Victoria Park, located just east of the Lowes Midtown. When Victoria Park was established a century ago, Pico Boulevard was 80 feet wide and paved, but it was at urban Los Angeles’ western reaches. The countryside still stretched west of…

Wellington Square

Details: Category: Our History; Published on Friday, 02 August 2013 17:27; Written by Dawn Kirkpatrick

In 1913 a Los Angeles Times display ad claimed “Undoubtedly, considering location and openings per se, Wellington Square is the choicest offering along Washington and West Adams today.” A little over 100 years later, Wellington Square is still considered one of Los Angeles’ prime neighborhoods. Bordered by West Boulevard. on…

“Civil Wars, Civil Liberties”

Details: Category: Our History; Published on Friday, 02 August 2013 17:20; Written by Laura Meyers

West Adams Heritage Association's Annual Living History Tour At the Angelus Rosedale Cemetery, History Comes to Life on Saturday, September 28, as a Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty, USC's first female professor, a heroic -- or notorious -- Soldier of Fortune, and a jazz chanteuse who sang with Duke Ellington all perform…