GARVANZA RAMBLE
Dooley striking a pose on the sidewalk in front of a Garvanza sign
In the fall of 2012 I had the opportunity to house-sit in
El Sereno. During my stint in Los Angeles's easternmost neighborhood, I spent much of that time exploring that neighborhood with a good-natured dog named
Dooley. This past fall I again returned to
the Eastside to house-sit once again and Dooley and I resumed our epic explorations. This time around we explored more than just El Sereno, extending our rambles into the nearby neighborhoods of
Arroyo View Estates,
City Terrace,
East Los Angeles,
Happy Valley,
Hermon,
Highland Park,
Hillside Village,
Lincoln Heights,
Montecito Heights,
Monterey Hills,
Rose Hill,
University Hills, and on one warm autumn afternoon,
Garvanza.
Garvanza is a small neighborhood in
Northeast Los Angeles often considered to be part of
Highland Park. To its north are
Arroyo View Estates and the city of
Pasadena, to the northwest is
Annadale (even more often considered to be part of Highland Park than Garvanza), to the west and south is Highland Park proper, to the southwest is
Mount Angelus (yet another neighborhood almost always considered to be part of Highland Park), and across the
Arroyo Seco to the east is the city of
South Pasadena. The population is of Garvanza today is roughly 61%
Latino, 24%
white, 12%
Asian, and 2%
black.
The original borders of the neighborhood were
Crescent to the north
Figueroa to the west,
Arroyo Glen to the south, and the slope east of
Avenue 66 to the east. Soon after its foundation, however, the northern border was moved to
Meridian and other tracts, such as
Cheviotdale,
Eleanore,
Garvanza Vista,
Lindsay Olive Orchard,
Morrison's Floral Glen,
Nithsdale,
Parkdale,
Parkdale Heights,
San Rafael Terrace,
Singer,
Lewis, and
The Chites, Myers, and Kulli Tract soon expanded the community's borders.
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE AREA
The earliest human inhabitants of the area were likely the ancestors of the
Chumash people, who lived in the area at least as early as 13,000 years ago. A mere 10,000 years later a band of immigrants arrived from the
Sonoran Desert to the east and either displaced or were absorbed into the indigenous population. These people, now usually referred to as the
Tongva, established major villages nearby including
Hahamongna,
Otsungna, and
Yangna.
SPANISH & MEXICAN ERA
The Tongva's reign ended shortly after
Spaniard Gaspar de Portolà's overland expedition passed through the area in 1769, an event which set the stage for the
Spanish Conquest. In 1771, the
European conquerors constructed the
Mission San Gabriel Arcángel -- first in what's now known as
Whittier Narrows. In 1776 the mission was moved to its present location in
San Gabriel, nine kilometers to the southeast of what's now
Garvanza. A few years later, in 1781,
El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula was founded ten kilometers to the southwest. The land that now is part of Garvanza was part of a huge 36,000 acre territory granted in 1784 to Spanish soldier
José María Verdugo, who named the land "
Rancho San Rafael." Verdugo died in 1831, ten years after
New Spain became part of the new nation of
Mexico. After his death, Verdugo's land holdings passed to his son and daughter.
EARLY AMERICAN ERA
Sheep grazing near Frances Campbell-Johnston's Church of Angels ca. 1889
America conquering
Alta California in 1848 didn't end the Verdugo's possession of San Rafael but a rather a defaulted loan did. In 1869, nineteen years after
California became one of the United States, a portion of the rancho was purchased at a sheriff's auction by
Albert B. Chapman and
Andrew Glassell Jr. The two leased the land to sheepherders, whose animals must've grazed the supposedly-once-prevalent chickpeas rumored to have been planted by Verdugo (and from which Garvanza gets its name) out of existence.
BIRTH OF GARVANZA -- OR GARVANZO
Los Angeles and San Gabriel Railroad bridge under construction over the Arroyo Seco (1885)
In 1885, the
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway arrived in the area via an Arroyo Seco-spanning bridge built for the recently-acquired
Los Angeles and San Gabriel Railroad, a move which at once both ended
Southern Pacific's monopoly on the area and instigated a rate war which saw ticket prices from
Kansas City, Missouri drop to just $1. That, in turn, helped fuel a housing boom and demand for land.
The Garvanza Hotel (1887)
Highland Park was established in 1886. That same year
Ralph and
Edward Rogers established "
The Town of Garvanzo" because why not name your town after a legume with a rumored historical presence? The first home built in Garvanzo (or Garvanza -- early spelling variations seem to have quickly settled on the latter) was Andrew Glassell's, built in 1885 at the corner of
Avenue 64 and
Roble Street. After the subdivision of the land, a few more followed. The grandest new structure was the
Garvanza Villa Hotel -- a grand
Victorian lodge designed by
Boring and Haas. The short-lived boom went bust in 1888 and residential development in the tiny village ground to a halt -- although Garvanza's handsome two-story schoolhouse was completed in 1889.
ANNEXATION
Detail of LA Travel and Hotel Bureau's Map of Los Angeles, California Rail Systems (1906)
Highland Park was annexed by
Los Angeles in 1895. In 1898, the
Garvanza Improvement Association formed to promote the paving of streets and planting of trees in community.
Garvanza remained its own municipality until 1899, when it too was annexed. After that, Garvanza was the northeasternmost corner of
Northeast Los Angeles until 1912, when the
Arroyo Seco Addition added a small buffer to Garvanza's north and east.
Detail of J.R. Prince's Territory Annexed to Los Angeles, 1781-1916 (source: Big Maps Blog)
In a sense, Garvanza was annexed for a second time in 1922. That year the community joined
Annandale,
Hermon,
Sycamore Grove, and
York Valley in joining the
Greater Highland Park Association and therein surrendering their individual identities. Their efforts to advance their lot by banding together behind Highland Park came to little against the onslaught of the
Great Depression.
View of the Arroyo Seco Park and Channel looking northeast after the construction of the Pasadena Freeway, ca.1941
Not all construction stopped during that era, however, as two major public works were completed in the
1930s. The Arroyo Seco below
Devil's Gate Dam (built in 1920 by the
Los Angeles County Flood Control District) was paved and channelized, between 1935 and 1940, by
Works Progress Administration crews. At the same time, the adjacent
Pasadena Freeway (now the
Arroyo Seco Parkway) was being constructed and opened in 1940.
After the
Depression and
World War II ended, many of the original residents of Garvanza and their descendants moved away to newer suburbs -- particularly those in the
San Fernando Valley and
Orange County. With their departure, the Garvanza name seems to have almost vanished -- although it was kept alive by
Garvanza Elementary,
Garvanza Foursquare Church,
Garvanza Hardware,
Garvanza Park as well as by historians, who when writing about the area, sometimes included phrases like "in what was formerly Garvanza." Thanks to the efforts of
The Highland Park Heritage Trust, Garvanza was officially recognized as a neighborhood once more by the City of Los Angeles in 1997.
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GARVANZA ART SCENE
A modern mural at Burbank Middle School
Northeast Los Angeles and the communities along the
Arroyo Seco have long been known for their vibrant arts scene, which was in its early years dominated by
plein air painters of
California Impressionism and members of the
California Arts & Crafts Movement. The
Garvanza Circle included
Carl Oscar Borg,
Elmer Wachtel,
Fernand Lungren,
Granville Redmond,
Hanson Puthuff, and
Maynard Dixon. In 1906, a group of local artists organized
The Painters' Club of Los Angeles. In 1909, that organization was disbanded and its members formed the
California Art Club, which remains active today. From 1909 until 1915, Garvanza was home to
The Arroyo Guild of Craftsman.
A mural created by several artists and the Hathaway Family Resource Center
JUDSON STUDIO and the LOS ANGELES SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS
A beautiful building standing near the intersection of
Avenue 66 and
Roble Avenue houses
Judson Studios. The building and others associated with the Judson family business have a somewhat complicated history that I will attempt to delineate as clearly as possible.
Professor Judson's College of Fine Arts building at the USC, ca.1910
In 1895,
Mancunian-American painter William Lees Judson was chosen to head
USC's art department. In 1901 he became dean of the
College of Fine Arts which met in an
Islamic-inspired building (pictured above) in Garvanza that unfortunately burned to the ground in 1910. Beginning in 1909, Judson had additionally headed the
Arroyo Guild of Fellow Craftsmen, whose nearby guild hall survived the fire unscathed. After the fire until 1920, when USC moved to
University Park in
South Los Angeles, the building was home to the USC's
School of Fine Arts.
In 1897, after his father
William Lees Judson convinced him to move west from
St. Louis,
Missouri,
William Horace Judson founded
The Colonial Glass Company in
Downtown Los Angeles. In 1906 the company changed its name to the
W.H. Judson Art Glass Company. In 1920, the glass company relocated to Garvanza, where it remains (although the company's name was shortened simply to "
Judson Studios" in 1931). In 1969 the building faced possible demolition and saved by being named a
Historic-Cultural Landmark (and later listed on the
National Register of Historic Places).
OTHER GARVANZA STRUCTURES OF NOTE
Though small, Garvanza is simply home to too much interesting architecture to mention it all here. The
Highland Park-Garvanza Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (the largest in
Los Angeles) includes examples of
Mission Revival,
Shingle, and
Tudor Revival homes as well as quite a few
Queen Anne and
Craftsman structures as well. I will mention just few of my favorites, then:
The Dr. Williams Residence - The
folk Victorian known as the
Dr. Williams Residence was apparently built as a "speculation house" in 1886. It's named after the doctor who purchased it in 1936. It was originally owned by a
Dr. John Lawrence Smith, one of the founders of the
Garvanza Improvement Association. Back in November,
Una and I toured the renovated home and it was pretty cool.
The Dr. Franklin S. Whaley Residence -
Franklin Whaley was the first physician in Garvanza. His
Italianate home was built in 1887.
The Dr. Franklin S. Whaley Residence (not pictured) was designated
Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 528 in 1991.
The McClure House
The McClure House -
The McClure House is, at least from the outside, one of the real gems of Garvanza. Its architect was
James H. Bradbeer (of
Bradbeer and Ferris).
William F. McClure was a civil engineer and director of both a railway and the
Garvanza Land Company. The home was completed in 1889.
Pisgah Home (image source: Wikipedia)
The Pisgah Faith Home -
The Pisgah Home movement was a faith healing cult led by
Finis E. Yoakum in the early
1900s. Yoakum was injured in a buggy accident in 1894 and the following year moved to Los Angeles to recuperate. In 1897 he claimed to have discovered a way to prospect for gold using x-rays and subsequently offered stock in his new mining company. After first speaking in tongues whilst pursuing mining interests in Mexico, Yoakum began referring to his Garvanza home as
Yoakum's Sanatorium, where he purported to reform "drunkards and outcasts." In 2000, the Pisgah Home received a preservation grant from the
Getty Trust and in 2007 was added to the
National Register of Historic Places.
Abbey San Encino -
Clyde Browne was an Ohio-born printer/typographer. Around 1902, Browne and his wife moved to Los Angeles where he began working for the Los Angeles Examiner in 1904.After leaving the paper, he co-founded the printing firm of Browne and Cartwright in 1910. For more than thirty years they printed USC's The Daily Trojan and The Occidental Weekly.
In 1915 Browne began building the Abbey San Encino on his property out of found and scavenged materials. He even built a small-gauge rail to carry stones from the Arroyo Seco. It was mostly completed by 1921 but the family didn't move in until 1926.
Clyde Browne's son,
Clyde Jack Browne, continued to work in the newspaper business -- although he developed an interest in
jazz and was apparently a talented musician. Browne was stationed in
Germany during the
1940s on a job assignment with the
Stars and Stripes newspaper and it was there that his wife gave birth to their sons,
Jackson and
Edward Severin Browne. The two brothers, who grew up to be musicians of note, were raised alongside their sisters,
Roberta and
Gracie, in Abbey San Encino. The cover of Jackson Browne's second album,
For Everyman, is a photo of the courtyard of the Abbey which, on the day of my most recent visit, appears to still be undergoing repairs.
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Ruins of the Tower of Amon Sûl?
Typical Garvanza homes
GARVANZA CHURCHES
Church of the Angels (annexed by Pasadena)
As Dooley and I explored tiny Garvanza, we occasionally found that we'd strayed into other neighborhoods. First we crossed into Arroyo View Estates -- a neighborhood of
1960s ranch homes that looks quite unlike Garvanza. Thinking that we were back in Garvanza, I approached the
Church of Angels as its bells chimed 3:00. The charming church was built in 1889, when the area was part of Garvanza. However, it was long ago annexed by Pasadena -- as part of the
Cheviotdale Heights Annexation of 1923.
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - Dooley and I found ourselves standing in front of The
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church when the bells
chimed 3:30. Built in 1922, it's the oldest of the
English District's (a
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod thing) churches in California.
Hansammul Church
Hansammul Church - When Dooley and I arrived at Hansammul Church it was 4:00 but no bells chimed. The church was built in 1940.
Garvanza Foursquare Church - The
Garvanza Foursquare Church, also known as "
The Lighthouse," was was built in 1908.
PARKS
Garvanza Park sign
Another view of Garvanza Park
Garvanza Park - The main park in Garvanza is
Garvanza Park, a fairly small park that's dominated by a baseball diamond and the old
Garvanza Pumping Station and Highland Reservoir, which was designated
Los Angeles Historic Cultural Momument #4112 in 1989. In 2007, a skate park opened within the park.
San Pascual Park
San Pascual Park - There's also
San Pascual Park. Though located on the west bank of the Arroyo Seco, it's mostly located within South Pasadena. As Dooley and I explored the park, we passed a group of day-drinkers on the Garvanza side of the park and after crossing into South Pasadena, saw a group of people playing baseball. Closer to the Arroyo Seco, along which the park is situated, we encountered a seemingly friendly hermit living in a lean-to.
Highland Park Adult Senior Citizens Center - There's also the
Highland Park Adult Senior Citizens Center, the name of which begs the question -- are there senior citizens who aren't adults? A banner proclaims "seniors welcome" which I assume means that junior citizens are not so all I could do was stare through the fence at the rose garden, a sign reading "Shuffleboard Club," and an auditorium that hosts bingo.
MUSIC & FILM OF GARVANZA
Other than Jackson and Severin Browne, my research didn't turn up any Garvanza-associated musicians. Walking in Los Angeles one is constantly exposed to all sorts of music from
Chinese Opera, to
Armenian dance music,
banda,
trival, and
hip-hop. As I walked along I encountered a man sitting on a porch listening to
La Ranchera 930 -- Los Angeles's only
ranchera station (it's my belief that
Los Angeles's AM band is vastly more interesting than the FM band). Other signs of music included a skater in an
AC/DC T-shirt and a woman walking a bulldog rocking a
Notorious B.I.G. T-shirt depicting the rapper wearing a golden crown. None of these talents are Garvanza natives, though. So as usual, if any readers know of and filmmakers, actors or musicians born in Garvanza, please let me know in the comment section. Same goes for films or television set in and/or filmed in Garvanza.
Update:
Daniel J. W!shington (ne
Daniel Joseph),
Surprise Vacation,
Stalefish's
Daniel Wong, and
Gimme Gimme Records owner
Dan Cook are all based in Garvanza although I'm not sure if any, besides apparently Surprise Vacation, are actually from the neighborhood originally.
GETTING THERE AND GETTING AROUND
A stairway connecting Lantana Drive and Avenue 64
Being as small as it is, Garvanza is easily walkable and bikeable.
Walkscore gives the neighborhood a walk score of 75, a bike score of 68, and a transit score of 41. It's served by
Metro's
81,
176, and
256 lines as well as
LA DOT DASH Highland Park/Eagle Rock line. Exploring the neighborhood I spied some of the old
Los Angeles Railway tracks that once brought
Yellow Cars and their passengers to and from the area. Although today the
Metro Gold Line passes through the neighborhood, its nearest stop is
Highland Park Station (located less than a kilometer outside of Garvanza).
Hough Street Stairs in Garvanza
There are also public stairs, which have become popular destinations in and of themselves since the publication of
Charles Fleming's book,
Secret Stairs: A Walking Guide to the Historic Staircases of Los Angeles. I'm not sure if Garvanza is included in the book but there are plenty of public stairs in the vicinity. The
Hough Street Stairs were long ago artistically tiled by students from
San Pascual Elementary.
A view of the tiles of Hough Street Stairs (and Dooley's hind quarters)
There are also efforts by
Caltrans and
Metro to extend the 710 freeway north to either the 2 or 134 Freeways. In 1997 a group of activists prevented the 710 from extending beyond its northern terminus at the intersection of Alhambra, El Sereno and University Hills. Two of the options that are being considered would extend the 710 through Garvanza. As I walked around I counted 8 "Stop the 710" banners and none in its favor.
GARVANZA EATS (AND DRINKS)
OK Chinese and the Dr. John Lawrence Smith Residence, visible in the background
Early in its history, Gavanza was promoted with (among other methods) all-you-can-eat
BBQs. There's still BBQ today -- at
Bro's BBQ.
Highland Park Din Din a Go-Go is a rally of food trucks that takes place in the neighborhood. There's also
Donut Star,
Italiano's Pizza,
La Perla Bakery,
Mando's Family Restaurant,
Martha's Mexican food truck,
My Taco,
OK Chinese Restaurant,
Penny's Burgers, and
Super Panda.
There are also a few markets including
A's Market,
Cali-Mex Family Market,
Hi Ho Market, and
Uno Produce Market No. 5. There's only one bar that I know of that's located in Garvanza --
Dusty's Sports Bar. There's also one liquor store,
York Square Liquors.
GARVANZA SOCIETIES
For those eager to get involved in Garvanza, there are at least two neighborhood organizations:
Highland Park Heritage Trust (established in 1982) and
Garvanza Improvement Association (revived in 1985)
FURTHER READING
For those interested in reading more about Garvanza, a neighborhood newspaper called
The Garvanzan debuted in 1887. After it was acquired by the improbably-named
Winfield C. Hogaboom in 1888, it was renamed the
Garvanza Gazette but ceased publication after just seven months, in February of 1889.
More modern histories include several books in the
Images of America series. They include
Charles J. Fisher and the
Highland Park Heritage Trust's
Garvanza (2010) and
Highland Park (2008).
Rick Thomas's
The Arroyo Seco (2008) also includes some interesting history and photography from Garvanza.
Back in 2007, LAist undertook a series called
The Neighborhood Project, which covered
Angeleno Heights,
Baldwin Hills,
Chinatown,
Franklin Village,
Miracle Mile,
Northridge,
Sherman Oaks,
Studio City,
Watts, and
Garvanza. Some of them are quite thorough for blogs -- far more than my own neighborhood pieces which I began at almost the same time. To read
Lindsay William-Ross's piece,
click here.
There's also a great Facebook page called
Historic Garvanza, Rose Hills, & Highland Park in Northeast Los Angeles.
Ye Olde Trash Tree
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As always, I welcome corrections, additions, and personal accounts of Garvanza experiences.
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