Central LA, Watts, Compton, and the South Bay - 3/29/2014

On this beautiful spring day we set out to find more local historic sites in the City of Angels.

Our first stop, Lummis Home (CHL 531), didn't open until noon and we hit it around 10 a.m., so we will have to venture back some day to see inside the gates. The home was constructed by Charles Fletcher Lummis using arroyo rocks and centered around the El Alisal trees that grew in the area (particularly a giant one that was in the center courtyard of the home until it died and was replaced with four saplings).

Charles Fletcher Lummis was a very colorful character. He was home-schooled by his schoolmaster father after his mother died when he was 2 years old. He went to Harvard for college and was a classmate of Theodore Roosevelt. He walked across the country from Cincinnati to Los Angeles--it took him 143 days--he wrote articles and poems the entire trip. He became the first city editor of the Los Angeles Times. His love for Native Americans led him to advocate for them and to open the Southwest Museum (which happens to be located on the hilltop above his home). He wrote poetry and books his entire life (except for the year he went blind due to "jungle fever"). He was a womanizer and a heavy partier, but a staunch believer in the preservation of Southern California historical sites. He wrote passionately about saving the missions that had fallen into disrepair and founded the Landmarks Club, a precursor to the Historical Society.

Next we saw the first campsite on the Portolá Trail (CHL 655)-- you may recall in Beverly Hills a few weeks back we saw the second campsite.

These campsites were significant since the Portolá expedition was the first group from Spain to colonize California. They camped at these sites on their way to Monterey in 1769.

We drove on to our next site in Elysian Park, the First Jewish site in Los Angeles (CHL 822). This site was acquired by the Hebrew Benevolent Society of Los Angeles in 1855 for $1 from the city council.

It appears to, at one time, have been a sacred burial ground, but it is now a firefighter training facility. I was relieved to find that the 300 graves were moved between 1902 and 1910 to the Home of Peace, located at the corner of Whittier and Eastern.

A very short drive away was the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Center (CHL 972).

This amazing building is now a firefighter training facility named after a fireman who died here when the building caught fire and he fell through the roof.

Happily the grounds were open today as they were hosting a huge training for high school and college-age kids who are interested in a firefighting career.

Outside they have some cool relics from the days as a naval training building as well as a portion of the World Trade Center building.

Libi read the very moving dedication to all the emergency workers who lost their lives on September 11th.

The building is a beautiful example of art deco architecture with cool relief murals above the doors.

The state plaque is located halfway up the stairs-- showing the pride in their historical landmark status!

The building was designed by California architects Robert Clements and Associates and constructed between 1938-1941. It is the "largest enclosed structure without walls in the world" according to the state. When we pulled up we wondered how this could be, but when a fire captain invited us to look in the "gym" we understood!

The main training room is all ceiling, which leaks according to the fire captain. There are no walls at all!

We felt so lucky to be able to be allowed into such a special place where--since World War II--over 100,000 soldiers were inducted into service and went through their training.

I found a few photos online of what it looked like back in the day, when it was in use by the military. Very cool!

This was a perfect place for a family shot!

Ron noted that the plaque here is incorrect. Anyone notice the mistake?

(Ron here) - I just learned something, too! The Works Progress Administration was renamed the "Work Projects Administration" in 1939. So I was critical of the plaque for being wrong. It's correct.

We drove out of Elysian Park to downtown LA to St. Vincent's Place (CHL 567). This tiny alleyway in the Jewelry District is the former home of the first institution of higher learning in Southern California.

St. Vincent's College was located here from 1868-1887, the college later morphed into Loyola University and is now Loyola Marymount University.

It was founded by Vincentian Fathers in 1865, but was originally housed in the Lugo Adobe near Union Station (one of the very first sites we tried to locate on our adventures).

This is one of those special things that we never would have found without this project. It was the neatest alley full of shops and restaurants--definitely something to re-visit when we have more time to explore (and eat!)

Much to Ron's displeasure, our next site was on the campus of USC. This actually ended up being the most difficult site of the day to locate and get to--which Ron thinks is pretty typical of Trojans :)

The Widney Hall Alumni House was the Original Building of the University of Southern California (CHL 536).

It was dedicated in 1880 and has been continuously in use for educational purposes since then!

A short jaunt away was the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (CHL 960).

The stadium was constructed in 1923, but was enlarged in 1932 for the Olympic games.

When the Olympics returned to LA in 1984 the Coliseum became the first stadium in the world to host the games twice!!

Ron tried to explain to Libi why the statues don't have heads, while I just thought it was funny that the man on the left has a seagull head.

We were so fortunate that there wasn't anything going on today at the Coliseum, because we were able to get a great parking spot and uninterrupted photos!

We headed to Watts to visit a landmark that we've only ever seen from the train, the Watts Towers of Simon Rodia (CHL 993).

We were about twenty minutes too late for a tour, but we were able to see a short video about Simon Rodia and his towers in the visitor's center.

Simon Rodia was another unique guy. He was originally from Italy but was sent to America with his brother at an early age to work in the Pennsylvania coal mines. When his brother was killed in a mining accident he moved to Seattle where he met his wife.

They traveled to Oakland where they had three children and divorced. He left Oakland and never saw his children again. Simon eventually moved to Watts and bought a triangle shaped lot where he decided to do something big!

Using hand tools (you can see imprints of below) and his gumption, along with found objects he created the towers for over 30 years.

We enjoyed walking around the site and will have to return someday to take a tour.

Here's one final bit of Watts Towers trivia: the artist, Simon Rodia, is one of the historical figures featured on the album cover of the Beatles' 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He's in the top row, just to the left of Bob Dylan.

Heritage House (CHL 664) in Compton was our next stop. Sadly it was locked up tight (and it looks like it hasn't been open since the holidays).

The home was built in 1869 by A. R. Loomis (not to be confused with our earlier Lummis). It is the oldest house in Compton and was moved to its current location by the city in 1957.

It has been restored, refurnished, and renamed by the citizens in Compton "as a tribute to the early settlers."

Our next Compton site was a complete departure from the first one. Located on lush grounds we found the Dominguez Ranch House (CHL 152).

The Dominguez family was first granted land in 1784 by Governor Don Pedro Fages. Through many government changes--from Spain to Mexico to the US, the family was able to prove their claim to the land and kept every acre that was originally granted to them-- something that was very rare!

The main adobe was built in 1826 by Manuel Dominguez and was continually added on to as the family expanded (they ended up with six daughters). This site is meticulously restored and full of period artifacts (many of which actually belonged to the family!) We all greatly enjoyed our visit here and would highly recommend it for a visit or field trip!

Our next site actually relates to the Dominguez family-- when the air meet was going to come to the United States, they suggested that the air meet be held in Southern California siting our great weather. The Site of the Initial United States Air Meet (CHL 718) was held from January 10-20, 1910.

It attracted a record number of people to see the flying contraptions and led to this area becoming one of the world's leading aviation-industrial centers. It was great that we visited the Dominguez Adobe first, because they have two whole rooms dedicated to aviation, including a scale model of the 1910 event.

Sadly there is no site or plaque left for CHL 383, the Site of the Adobe Home of Jose Dolores Sepulveda.

Jose Sepulveda built his home near here in 1818. He had some trouble with the title to the land so he traveled to Monterey to clear up the matter. On his return trip home he was shot with an arrow by an angry Native American and died at La Purísima Mission. Interestingly enough, the land dispute he had was with the Dominguez family whose home we visited earlier in the day.

Next we turned to the coast and headed to Redondo Beach to visit the Old Salt Lake (CHL 373).

This site is now an energy factory, but it was once a lake where Native Americans and later California settlers obtained salt. In 1879 the salt yield here was 450 tons, according to the state!

Our drive up the coast took us to Manhattan Beach next and the Manhattan Beach State Pier (CHL 1018).

The pier was designed by A.L. Harris and constructed from 1917-1920, with the roundhouse at the end being added a year later.

The site is significant for a few reasons: Harris designed the pier with a rounded end which helped to withstand the force of the waves and it is Southern California's oldest remaining example of reinforced concrete pier construction.

A perfect place for family shot #2!

The Childhood Home of the Beach Boys (CHL 1041) in Hawthorne was next. It was near here in 1961 that the Wilson boys, Mike Love, and Al Jardine gathered to record "Surfin'" for the first time and create a new genre of music.

Sadly, the actual home was destroyed when the freeway was constructed, but the monument is super cool!

Ron and I are making our way through the book 1,000 Recording to Hear Before You Die by Tom Moon after Libi is in bed at night and we discovered a really cool story about the Beach Boys:
Brian Wilson pulled the song "Good Vibrations" from the album Pet Sounds because it didn't sound exactly the way he heard it in his head. He spent several months and over $50,000 to go from studio to studio recording bits and pieces for the song. The 3-minute long song is the result of over 70 hours of tape layered together! You can read more about the story here. Go back and listen to it now, and you will have a new appreciation for the song!

Our final stop for the day was the Centinela Springs (CHL 363) in Inglewood.

There had been a water spring here from the time of the Pleistocene Era that watered prehistoric animals, native people and the early settlers to this area.

The area was named for the sentinels who guarded the cattle who came here to drink.

Libi was thrilled that this area is now a giant park with no less than three play structures, a swimming pool, basketball courts and lots of room to run!