The W heading south on Figueroa Street circa 1945
The W heading south on Figueroa at Avenue 28, now in the color of 1954.
- Figueroa Street and Avenue 28 today.
Sycamore Grove Archway to be transformed into a book.
From the folks that brought us Highland Park Tree Stories in 2007 and the puzzle piece Highland Park Journeys Mural in 2008, arts organization, LA Commons once again is teaming up with Avenue 50 Studio, students from Franklin High School, and YOU, the noble Highland Parker, to produce Highland Park Stories 2009. This latest project involves collecting stories to be incorporated into a mural installation at the long-neglected archway located at 4671 North Figueroa, across from Sycamore Grove Park.
The story collection is scheduled for
4-6 pm Tuesday, October 20 at the Highland Park Farmers Market, and 1-4 pm Saturday, October 24 at Sycamore Grove Park.
Highland Park Stories can also be emailed to Beth Peterson at LA Commons.
via ASNCAlert
For some reason, October must be a good time to start a business in Highland Park. This month brings the opening of organic boutique Studio Root 66 at 5917 North Figueroa Street, next door to Gamer Doc, which started its national franchise there exactly one year ago.
This week brings the anniversary celebrations of two young establishments that have become Highland Park institutions, Cinnamon Vegetarian, and The Little Cave.
Cinnamon Vegetarian at 5511 North Figueroa opened its doors on September 23, 2006, and is celebrating this month with Special Festivities at the restaurant on Saturday and Sunday, October 24th and 25th, from Noon to 8PM.
To be honest, I haven’t been there in two years. (A Veggie such as myself not going to a vegetarian restaurant two blocks from my house –Crazy huh?) Two years ago, after trying and trying to enjoy the place, I decided to stop forcing myself to eat there. At the time the food was just OK, it was very healthy-tasting, but it didn’t leave me wanting to come back for more. The owners were pleasant folks, but the wait staff truly sucked. It’s one thing to go to Homegirl Cafe, get served by ex-cons, know what you’re getting into and know you’re eating there for more than just a good meal; it’s another when you go to a local restaurant and want to withhold the tip at every meal. So I decided to stop supporting this vegetarian restaurant for vegetarian-sake and just eat the limited veggie options elsewhere.
In the intervening years it would seem the place has improved. A statement by owner Esperanza Caño says they have humbly learned a lot from when they first opened. (e.g., what Vegan is.) In recent months, people on Twitter have been raving about the chicken mole, and Yelpers have graced the place with an overall rating of 4 out of 5 stars. It would seem the time has come to give this place another try. And what better time than this weekend with give-a-ways, free deserts, and musical accompaniment! Reservations: (323) 982-9480.
Hard to believe it was six years ago that bar entrepreneur extraordinaire and fun fellow, Bobby Green opened The Little Cave bar at 5922 North Figueroa. (I remember the near-outrage coming from the regulars at Mr. T’s Bowl when this new hip dive moved into the neighborhood. –A lot has changed.) To commemorate the event the bar that has special nights every night is hosting a very special night on Thursday, October 22. DJs, drink specials, and batty shenanigans seem to be the cocktail de jour for this 6th anniversary celebration. Don’t expect free drinks, but don’t expect to go home thirsty either.
When the majority of business ventures fail in the first three years, the third year of survival is a milestone, the sixth is twice that, and in this economy, and with empty storefronts on every block of Figueroa Street, these anniversaries should be considered a triumph!
The LARy W rounding the curve at Monte Vista. Photo from the Metro Library and Archive.
I’ve always wondered why there was such a wide unpaved shoulder alongside Marmion Way from where it curves into Monte Vista Street to where the Southwest Museum Station is. This photo helps solve that question. It is because that section is still technically part of a railroad right-a-way.
The 83 Bus rounds Monte Vista into Marmion Way 67 years after the W did.
Only a couple of things remain from that earlier photo. The house on the right is still there. Remnants of the arroyo stone wall that was a feature along Marmion Way from Figueroa to Avenue 50 can be seen behind Highland Park’s newest stop sign where a railroad crossing sign once stood. Oh, one other thing remains here: Public Transportation, now in the form of this MTA bus.
The Eastside Bike Club's Dia De Los Muertos Bike Float at NELA Artnight's Spoke (N) Art Ride on Figueroa and York.
Over the past year, a group of cyclist out of Lincoln Heights called the Eastside Bike Club, has been organizing rides on the Eastside and throughout Los Angeles. This year, they have created a special Dia De Los Muertos float to honor all the cyclists killed by cars.
The club has weekly rides every Tuesday night at 7PM, and Saturday mornings at 8AM. They meet at The Charo Building near Lincoln Park (Eastlake) at 4301 Valley Blvd., in the 90032. This month in the spirit of Dia De Los Muertos, they are taking their calavera-ized bikes around to other group rides in the area, including our very own NELA Critical Mass ride that happens Friday, October 16th at 7PM, and leaves from the Highland Park Gold Line Station.
Blackout on the south side of Figueroa Street.
Rain, that strange life-giving element so rarely seen in this dusty dirty town. When it happens, people notice. When it happens for the first time in six months, it takes all those things adverse to its presence with it. Most noticeably, the electrical power in Highland Park. A good night to fire up that 1905 fireplace with the decapitated chimney, cuddle up in your Dodgers blanket, go to sleep and see what the morning might bring.
The LARy "W" at the stop sign on Monte Vista and Avenue 56 in 1941. From the Metro Archive. Photographer unknown.
This photo shows the W Streetcar making its way down Highland Park’s third business district, Monte Vista Street. (Figueroa Street and York Boulevard being the the other two.) As narrow a street as Monte Vista is, it was a main street back in 1941 because the Los Angeles Railway (The Yellow Cars) operated a streetcar down the middle of it.
Monte Vista Street and Avenue 56 Today. Photographer known.
This photo had stumped me for a while. I knew it was on Monte Vista, but without still-existing landmarks, it remained a mystery. What nailed it for me are the two manholes on the right. (Typically utility access points in a city don’t change without a really good reason.) Also helping solve the mystery is the slight rise of the street in the background at Avenue 57, and the presence of the four-way stop sign on the corner. (Long before nearly every intersection in 90042 had one.) One more thing that was here in 1941 was the low two-foot-tall iron fence that can barely be seen among the bushes on the corner to the right. That little 75-year-old iron fence was replaced just 4 months ago by the taller, less-ornate iron one seen here today.
Gone is the house on the left. Replaced sometime in the 1960s when All Saints built a new church. The rest of the houses on that block were demolished and replaced with apartments. The news racks leaning on the corner stop sign are no longer there . The tall eucalyptus tree in the background on the corner of 57, and the street trees on the right are gone. (But the buckled sidewalk there still remains.) One thing to note about the two photos of Monte Vista and Avenue 56, is that they both show a Highland Park tradition: Litter.
Monte Vista Street was organized into a nice balance of local shops and community centers originally. One end of Monte Vista was dominated by churches, most of which are still there today. There is Immanuel United Methodist Church on Ash St. and Ave 55, All Saints Episcopal Church on Ave 56, Temple Beth Israel at 57. Where the Gold Wheel Buddhist Monastery at Ave 58 is today was originally the Highland Park Christian Church, then there is Highland Park Baptist on 59, and St Ignatius Roman Catholic Church on the end of Monte Vista at Avenue 61.
Immanuel United Methodist Church on Ash St. and Ave 55, 
Boy's Market on Monte Vista and Avenue 55. Photo from the Los Angeles Public Library Photo Archive. (Note the early ADA-compliant ramp on the corner.)
The other end of Monte Vista from Avenue 50 to 56 was a street full of small businesses, restaurants, markets, cleaners, apartments and houses. On the southwest corner of Monte Vista and Avenue 55 where the asphalt playground of Monte Vista Elementary is today, was the original Boy’s Market. Boy’s for decades was a major supermarket chain in Los Angeles until eventually being bought out by Kroger (Ralph’s) in the 1990s. The so-called Boys –the Goldstein brothers, were also founders of the nearby Temple Beth Israel, Highland Park’s only Jewish house of worship.
Where Boy's Market stood on Monte Vista and Avenue 55. Demolished in the 1980's.
Some Things Are Missing from The New Gold Line Schedules, originally uploaded by waltarrrrr.
Charles Fisher will be at Cafe de Leche signing his book "Highland Park."
Monday, October 12, 2009 from 7 to 9PM, the Highland Park Heritage Trust will host a Membership Appreciation Event at Cafe de Leche in the fabulous, and mysterious Nogueira Building.
There is a reason why Highland Park is the largest Historic Overlay Preservation Zone (HPOZ) in the city of Los Angeles. Thanks in large part to the hard work by members of the Highland Park Heritage Trust. Next Monday, they will have a celebration of preservation efforts on behalf of their members as well as make nominations for this year’s Highland Park preservation awards. (Avenue 61 House a possible contender?)
If you are not a member yet (And why not? Every 90042 home-owner should be!) this is a great opportunity to see what the HPHT is all about, and drink the best-tasting coffee in Highland Park. (Be warned, after a cup you’ll be up all night blogging about Highland Park history like me!)
The event is free to members, and $5 for guests. Please RSVP here. Cafe de Leche is located at 5000 York Boulevard, Highland Park, 90042.
Poet Robinson Jeffers sitting at his stone Tor House in Carmel, Californina . Photo by Nat Farbman 1948.
Another upcoming HPHT event is the Robinson Jeffers Big Read Walking Tour. This month, in conjunction with National Endowment for the Arts is the Robinson Jeffers Big Read. Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962) was a Highland Parker and an Oxy student back in 1905. Like other Highland Parkers (Lummis, and Browne) he built a house of stone, and like Lummis, was a popular writer. The walk is on Saturday, October 24, at 10AM, and Sunday, October 25, at 11AM and lasts at least 2 hours. HPHT / LAC Members $5.00 Non-members $10.00 Contact: 323-256-4326 for tickets and information.
Also, don’t miss The Deer Lay Down Their Bones: Poems by and in the spirit of Robinson Jeffers. A poetry reading at Los Angeles’ greatest public library: The Arroyo Seco Regional branch on Figueroa on October 17th at 4:00 PM
Who knew in October of 2009 it would turn out to be Jeffers-mania in Highland Park!
On Saturday, October 17th at 2:30pm at The Audubon Center at Debs Park there will be a lecture by Ocean Charter School’s Tamar Kern, that addresses the question: “What is Waldorf-inspired Public Education?”
This is part of a on-going development process to create a LAUSD Waldorf style K-8 public charter school in Northeast Los Angeles, called the El Rio Charter School, with plans to open in 2012.
No word on whether the salad will be served. But one can hope…
