ECLECTIC LOS ANGELES ARCHITECTURE - Part 1 of a Series: Early Spanish and Mexican Settlement©

LOS ANGELES.  Its very name conjures up images of palm trees, sandy beaches, film studios and movie premiers, beautiful people who never seem to age, and an extravagant, sometimes "over-the-top", lifestyle.

But in the mid-1800s, that was hardly the case.  

The name "Los Angeles" is Spanish for The Angels. There is much more to this name, however.  In 1769, Father Juan Crespi, a Franciscan priest accompanying the first European land expedition through California, wrote in his journal about a beautiful river they had discovered.  In 1781, a new settlement was established along that same river. That settlement officially came to be known as "El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles", or "The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels".

The oldest house still in existence within the City of Los Angeles is the Avila Adobe, which  is located on Olvera Street, in an area which has preserved Los Angeles' Spanish and Mexican history.

Avila Adobe, late19th century
(Photo source unknown) 

The Avila Adobe was constructed in 1818 by a wealthy land-grant owner, Francisco José Avila, who was mayor of Los Angeles in 1810. Members of the Avila family resided in the Avila Adobe until 1868. From 1868 to the early 1920s, the Adobe went through multiple uses, including being used as a restaurant and as a rooming house.

Historic Olvera Street started out as a short lane called Wine Street.  In 1877 the street was extended and its name changed to Olvera Street in honor of Agustin Olvera, who owned a home at the end of the street across from the Plaza, and who was the first county judge of Los Angeles.

The Olvera Street Plaza, circa 1886
(Photo reprinted courtesy of Los Angeles Public Library Photo Archives)

Several historic buildings line Olvera Street, including the Avila Adobe, the Pelanconi House -- the oldest brick house in the city, dating from 1855 -- and the Sepulveda House, a Victorian structure in the Eastlake style, built in 1887 as both a residence and commercial building.

By 1903 the street had considerably declined, and an electrical substation was built next to the Avila Adobe to provide power for Los Angeles' electric streetcars. The Italian Hall, a center for Italian organizations, was constructed in 1907 at the north end of Olvera Street.  Across the street, the Italian winery expanded its building in 1914.

The condition of Avila Adobe deteriorated over the following years and was finally condemned in 1926 by the City Health Department.  This caught the attention of socialite Christine Sterling, who during a visit to the Plaza and Olvera Street in 1926, was so appalled by the run-down condition of the oldest part of the City, that she began a public campaign to save the Adobe and Olvera Street.   With a vibrant future of the Olvera Street area in mind, Sterling envisioned a colorful Mexican marketplace and cultural focal center. With funding provided by several influential businessmen and publicity from the Los Angeles Times, she established a corporation to revitalize Olvera Street.  

Descendants of the Avila family gave permission to allow Sterling to renovate the Adobe.  In addition, she solicited money, materials and labor to accomplish the repairs. Unusual help received by Mrs. Sterling included engineers from the City Department of Water and Power who drew up plans to grade the street, and the Sheriff's Department who provided prisoners to do the labor.  In 1929, the Los Angeles City Council closed Olvera Street to automobile and bus traffic, creating a lovely pedestrian avenue for people to stroll, shop and dine -- as seen in the attached vintage video produced back in 1937 as a travel promotion, and which is reflective of the 1930s. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx5EW9Nqxxk


Today, both the Avila Adobe and Olvera Street are part of the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District, which is a designated California State Historic Park.  The entire District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and Avila Adobe is a registered California Historical Landmark.  The Avila Adobe is open to the public as a museum -- furnished as it might have appeared in the late 1840s -- and Olvera Street is a favourite of locals as well as tourists seeking a "peek" at what life was like in early Los Angeles.

Avila Adobe and Olvera Street are included in our  "Los Angeles Architecture -- An Eclectic Landscape"© custom-designed itinerary, conducted in the Spring in late April/early May to coincide with the Annual Pasadena Showcase House of Design and with the Annual Concours d'Elegance at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills, CA.  For more information about this unique and comprehensive heritage and cultural tour covering L.A.'s architectural history from "early settlement to the present", visit our Website at:   http://www.snobbytours.com/EclecticLAarchitecture.html  

(Photo and Audiovisual sources :   City of Los Angeles, Olvera-Street.com, L.A Public Library Photo Archives)

© 2013 Snobby Tours^®, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

EISENHOWER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY AND MUSEUM: A Glimpse into the Life and Times of the WWII General and Post-WWII US President©

While serving in office, President Franklin D. Roosevelt inventoried the vast quantities of papers and other materials he and his staff had accumulated. Up to that time, many Presidential papers and records had either been lost, destroyed, sold for profit, or ruined by poor storage conditions.

President Roosevelt sought a viable solution.  Advised by a number of noted historians and scholars, he established a public repository to preserve the evidence of the Presidency for future generations.

Beginning a tradition that continues to this day, Roosevelt raised funds from private resources for the new facility and then designated its operation by the United States government through the National Archives.  

Official portrait of Eisenhower
(c) NARA.  All Rights Reserved,

One of the Presidential Libraries which are the legacy of FDR's vision, is the Dwight David  Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, located in Abilene, Kansas.  This facility is part of the Presidential Libraries System administered by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Abilene, Kansas was selected as the site for the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, even though Dwight David Eisenhower was not born in Abilene, Kansas, nor did he die there.  During his lifetime, however, he credited the years he spent in the central Kansas town as among the most important of his life.

The Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum grounds are comprised of several structures.  The two most prominent are the Museum and the Library, which are housed separately.  

Building exteriors consist of Kansas limestone with landscaping using blue stem grass. Marble interior walls are Bookmatched Loreda Chiaro, Italy.   Floors are Roman travertine trimmed with Breche d'Alep & Rouge Fleuri marble from France. 

The Museum was built by the Eisenhower Foundation, with funds raised through public gifts, and is constructed of Kansas limestone. Originally dedicated on Veterans Day in 1954, the Museum was designed to house the materials and objects related to Dwight D. Eisenhower's life. It contains over 30,000-square feet of gallery space, with exhibits showing not only the fine art objects collected by and given to Eisenhower, but also the story of his careers as military leader and President of the United States.

The Library provides a place for scholars to come to work with the historical materials housed there. 

One of the most interesting aspects of the Library is its Oral History Collection.  This Collection  has been built upon two major components: (1) the Eisenhower Presidential Library's own interviews,  and (2) approximately 500 transcripts acquired through a cooperative arrangement with Columbia University's Oral History Project. A third and smaller component consists of a number of oral history interviews donated to the Library by various institutions and individuals.

The list of oral history transcripts gives the names of the persons interviewed, and also the principal positions held by them during the Eisenhower administration or their personal relationship to Dwight D. Eisenhower as documented by their interviews.

The following excerpt is from Eisenhower's speech given at the time of the ground-breaking of the Library on October 13, 1959:  "When this library is filled with documents, and scholars come here to probe into some of the facts of the past half century, I hope that they, as we today, are concerned primarily with the ideals, principles, and trends that provide guides to a free, rich, peaceful future in which all peoples can achieve ever-rising levels of human well-being."


The Dwight David  Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, located in Abilene, Kansas, is one of the five (5) Presidential Libraries located in the US Midwest which we visit on our custom-created USA heritage tour,  "Presidential Libraries and Fall Foliage of the Midwest©" .  This Tour is taken by Motorcoach during optimum Fall Foliage in the American Midwest and the Ozarks -- mid-to late October/early November -- and routes primarily thru Chicago.   For more information about this tour, visit our Website at at: http://www.snobbytours.com/PrezLibMidwestFFChicago.html  

(Source materials: NARA. Materials and photos  produced by Federal agencies are in the public domain unless otherwise noted.)

© 2013-2014 Snobby Tours^®, Inc. All Rights Reserved.