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PICO UNION
As part of our Neighborhood Initiative, the Conservancy has received a grant from the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency to develop an educational training and community outreach program for the neighborhood of Pico Union. The program seeks to engage neighborhood residents and community organizations regarding the benefits and basics of historic preservation, ultimately developing local leaders to facilitate preservation in the Pico Union Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ).
For the first phase of the project, we partnered with Coro Southern California, a nonprofit organization dedicated to community leadership training. We held a Pico Union Neighborhood Improvement Fair in December 2007 featuring more than a dozen groups, including the office of Councilmember Ed Reyes; the CRA; the city’s planning, housing, and building and safety departments; and Pico-Union Housing Corporation.
A series of free workshops in January 2008 brought community members together to learn more about the neighborhood's rich history, the Pico Union HPOZ, and leadership opportunities for residents to help preserve their wonderful neighborhood for future generations.
In March 2009, we launched a new self-guided tour, “Pico Union: Layers of History” to bring awareness to the unique cultural and architectural heritage of the neighborhood. The kickoff event was held in partnership with the CRA and the Pico Union branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. More than 200 people joined us for a community fair and kick-off celebration. A press conference was also held attended by City Councilmember Ed Reyes. Attendees took docent-led tours of the neighborhood and kids enjoyed fun activities and face painting!
We encourage you and your family to take the self-guided tour to learn about the incredible history of the Pico Union neighborhood.
Located just west of downtown, Pico Union is a diverse community with one of the richest and oldest collections of historic architecture in Los Angeles. The Pico Union historic district (Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, or HPOZ) was established in 2004. Its boundaries are Olympic Boulevard on the north, Hoover Street on the west, and the Harbor and Santa Monica Freeways on the east and south. (See map below.) The neighborhood is filled with historic homes. It contains two historic districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places, sixteen City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments (local landmarks), and more than a hundred residences built in the nineteenth century.
Although located on land associated with the original pueblo (which extended west to today’s Hoover Street), the area was not initially settled until the 1860s and 1870s. The Boom of the (Eighteen-) Eighties saw Pico Union subdivided into numerous small residential tracts that were developed over the next three decades, driven in part by the installation of a streetcar line along Pico Boulevard. The neighborhood was originally developed by prominent businessmen as a residential enclave for the wealthy middle class, making it one of Los Angeles' first suburbs.
Single-family residences dominate much of the Pico Union landscape, reflecting the needs and tastes of both affluent and working class residents. Homes were built in a variety of styles including Queen Anne, American Foursquare, Craftsman, and period revivals. They range in size from modest, one-story cottages to the mansions on Alvarado Terrace.
Alvarado Terrace, one of Pico Union’s National Register districts, is one of the neighborhood’s many gems. Built between 1902 and 1906, the district’s grand homes include some of the finest examples of Craftsman and period revival architecture in the city. They are uniformly set back on a gentle slope as the street bends softly around a corner. Together, the houses surround a landscaped park and a brick-paved street, creating a beautiful and unique residential landscape. Pico Union also includes National Register-listed or eligible districts on Bonnie Brae and Lake Streets. Many significant individual residences and institutional buildings are dotted throughout the neighborhood, including the work of architects such as Elmer Grey, Hudson & Munsell, Hunt, Eager & Burns, L. A. Smith, and Frank M. Tyler. Today, Pico Union is a densely populated, predominately working-class neighborhood. Many historic single-family residences have been converted to multi-family use, alongside newer construction. Still, the neighborhood’s impressive local history and rich architectural heritage are fueling a strong and growing interest in its preservation.
The neighborhood is home to immigrants from Central America, Mexico, and Korea, who add to the neighborhood’s unique character. Although the residents have changed, Pico Union looks much the same as it did over a century ago. This vibrant and diverse community serves as a tangible reminder of our city’s early history, as well as a prime example of the exciting layering of history taking place throughout greater Los Angeles. The Pico Union HPOZ was featured on the Conservancy's 2006 "At Home with History" tour of historic neighborhoods throughout the city. Guests learned about the rich history of this neighborhood and toured the 1901 Hackett House on Westlake Avenue. |
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Angelino Heights One of L.A.'s first suburbs, the hilltop residential area of Angelino Heights lies two miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, near the communities of Echo Park and Silver Lake. The area was planned as a respectable, genteel Victorian suburb for Los Angeles' late 19th-century upper-middle class. The first designated HPOZ in the city, Angelino Heights contains some of the best remaining examples of Victorian architecture in Los Angeles, as well as later examples of the Craftsman and Mission Revival styles. The 1300 block of Carroll Avenue is listed as a historic district in the National Register of Historic Places and contains the highest concentration of 19th-century Victorian homes in all of Los Angeles. |
