West Adams, Los Angeles, California

West Adams, also known as Historic West Adams, is a large district located in the center of Los Angeles, California, southwest of Downtown and north of USC.

The district is bordered by Pico-Union, Angelus Vista and Harvard Heights on the north, the original South Los Angeles on the east, Vermont Square on the south, and Jefferson Park on the south and west. Its principal thoroughfares are Adams, Jefferson and Washington Boulevards, Western, Vermont and Normandie Avenues, and Hoover and Figueroa Streets. ZIP codes for the district are 90007, 90018 and 90019.

Major subdistricts include North University Park and Kinney Heights. It includes several institutions of higher learning, including Mount St. Mary's College's Doheny Campus (North University Park) and Hebrew Union College (North University Park).

Historic architecture

West Adams is home to one of the largest collections of historic homes west of the Mississippi River. The West Adams area was developed between 1880 and 1925, and contains many diverse architectural styles of the era. Architectural styles seen in West Adams include the Queen Anne, Shingle, Gothic Revival, Transitional Arts and Crafts, American Craftsman/Ultimate Bungalow, Craftsman Bungalow, Colonial Revival, Renaissance Revival, Mediterranean Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Mission Revival, Egyptian Revival, Beaux-Arts and Neoclassical styles. West Adams boasts the only Greene and Greene house in Los Angeles. Its historic homes are frequently used as locations for movies and TV shows including CSI, Six Feet Under, The Shield, Monk, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind and Of Mice and Men.

History

West Adams is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, with most of its buildings erected between 1880 and 1925, including the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. It was once the wealthiest district in the city, with its Victorian mansions and sturdy Craftsman bungalows home to Downtown businessmen and professors at USC. In the 1990s, three areas of West Adams were designated as Historic Preservation Overlay Zones by the city of Los Angeles, in recognition of their outstanding architectural heritage.

The development of the West Side and Hollywood, beginning in the 1920s, siphoned away much of West Adams' upper-class white population; upper-class blacks began to move in around this time, although the district was off-limits to all but the very wealthiest African-Americans. One symbol of the area's emergence as a center of black wealth at this time is the 1948 headquarters of Golden State Mutual Life, a late-period Art Deco structure at Adams and Western that housed what is still the nation's largest black-owned insurer. West Adams' transformation into an affluent black area was sped by the Supreme Court's 1948 invalidation of segregationist covenants on property ownership. The area was a favorite among black celebrities in the 1940s and 1950s; notable residents included Hattie McDaniel, Joe Louis, Little Richard and Ray Charles.

Ray Charles' business headquarters, including his RPM studio, was located at 2107 Washington Boulevard, just outside the northern edge of the district. (The intersection of Washington and Westmoreland Avenue, near the studio, is named "Ray Charles Square" in his honor.)

In the 1950s, the construction of the Santa Monica and Harbor Freeways obliterated much of West Adams, their routes chosen in large part to demarcate areas acceptable for black settlement and those deemed whites-only (in both cases, this was notably unsuccessful, as many African-Americans moved into Mid-City and Arlington Heights during this period.)

The 1992 Los Angeles riots largely spared West Adams' historic buildings. Mirroring changes seen throughout Los Angeles, the district's Latino population have been growing. The area's architecture and proximity to USC have brought many upper-middle-class whites as well [http://query.nytimes.com/search/article-printpage.html?res=9405EFDA1038F937A35754C0A9629C8B63] . Many of the neighborhoods are experiencing a renaissance of sorts with their historic homes being restored to their previous elegance.

Recent developments

West Adams' designation by the city as a historic district in the late 1990s increased property values, while the Southern California real estate boom of the early 2000s has brought new prosperity to the district. The successful reforms of Los Angeles Police Department chief William J. Bratton and neighborhood involvement in Police Advisory Boards (PABs) significantly reduced crime in the area.

The projected 2010 opening of a long-delayed light-rail line from Downtown Los Angeles to Culver City and Santa Monica — which will pass by USC on Exposition Boulevard and have stops in the district at Figueroa Street, Vermont Avenue, and Western Avenue — may bring even greater importance to West Adams. USC has tentatively endorsed the project, although it has expressed an interest in it running as a subway along the campus' southern edge, for aesthetic and public safety reasons. Reportedly this project to build an underground segment and station would cost 100 million dollars, in addition to the 650 million dollar cost of the entire line. USC has indicated that they would be willing to pay up to half of the 100 million dollar cost, but the LACMTA has expressed doubts that they could identify any funds to pay for this additional construction.

Many active residents of West Adams have joined together in block associations to lobby the city for services and to band together to beautify their communities and restore the elegance of their historic homes.

Demographics

West Adams is a large area, covering 11 distinct United States Census tracts. As of the 2000 census, its population was 48,925. Racial breakdown was as follows: 27.6% white, 20.0% black or African-American, 7.7% Asian or Pacific Islander, 0.8% Native American. There were 38.5% of some other race and 5.4% two or more races. 58.1% of persons of any race were of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity.

Income and poverty figures are unreliable due to the large presence of students, many of whom are claimed as dependents by their parents, in the district.

These demographics are almost the opposite of the University of Southern California itself however, as while 13% of all students in the university are Hispanic, 58.1% of all residents in the neighborhood are Hispanic.

Fire service

Los Angeles Fire Department [http://www.lafd.org/fs26.htm Station 26] (West Adams) is in the area.

Education

Primary and secondary schools

As of 2007, according to the Van Buren Place Community Restoration Association, 13 elementary schools, 4 middle schools, 6 non-charter high schools, and 2 charter high schools are located in the boundary of West Adams [http://www.westadams-normandie.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=131&Itemid=61] .

Public schools

West Adams is zoned to the Los Angeles USD.

Adams Middle School is located in West Adams.

West Adams Preparatory High School was opened in West Adams in fall 2007 [http://www.laschools.org/project-status/one-project?project_number=55.98021] . Prior to the opening, the land around West Adams Preparatory was zoned to Manual Arts High School.

Landmarks

*Automobile Club of Southern California headquarters, 1923 (southwest corner of Adams Boulevard and Figueroa Street)
*Felix Chevrolet (northeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa)
*Golden State Mutual Life (nation's largest black-owned insurer) headquarters (northeast corner of Adams and Western Avenue)
*Mount St. Mary's College, Doheny Campus (Adams just east of Hoover Street)
*John Tracy Clinic (Adams just east of Hoover Street)
*Olympic Village, 1932 Summer Olympics (near intersection of Adams and Hoover)
*St. Vincent de Paul Roman Catholic church (northwest corner of Adams and Figueroa)
*St. John's Cathedral (southwest corner of Adams and Figueroa)
*University of Southern California
*William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
*At 1102 W. 28th. St. there is a beautiful Victorian home built in 1880. This home is known as the Forthmann House and was built for the founders of the Los Angeles Soap Co. It is characterized by its mansard-roofed tower.
*Located at 2625 Portland St. is the Russell Johnson Waters Carriage House. This house was originally built as a carriage barn for a Victorian mansion with decorative door frames and a series of attractive towers.
*The house at 650 W. 23rd. St. was designed in 1904 by Joseph Cather Newsom. It is part of a group of Victorian residences and a Mission Revival house with stucco walls and red tile roofs.
*The Salisbury House is considered to be one of the grandest Victorian Manors in the neighborhood. It was designed by Bradbeer and Ferris in 1891. The house portrays the late Queen Anne style and demonstrates the ornamental potential of wood. Its rich details of shingles, spindlework, corbels, and window frames make it an outstanding architectural landmark. The house is located at 2703 S. Hoover St.
*Also designed by Bradbeer and Ferris but in 1894 is the Cockins house (2653 S. Hoover St.) which stands out for its multiple gables and its dramatic corner tower, and now serves as the USC Center for Occupation and Lifestyle Redesign.
*2639 S. Monmoth Ave. is the place where Adlai E. Stevenson was born on February 5, 1900. Stevenson served as United Nations Ambassador.
*Built in 1891 for $12,000 at 1160 W. 27th St. stands a beautiful Victorian house with wraparound porches and fish-scale shingles.
*The oldest of these Victorian homes is located at 1163 W. 27th. St. It was built around 1890 and it is the Miller and Herriott house. It is also characterized by its lofty square tower and fanciful spindlework and balustrades.
*On the strip between 2629 and 2647 S. Magnolia Ave. we have a number of Victorian homes built around 1905. At the corner of Magnolia and Adams we find the Salisbury Manor (1898) which portrays a rusticated stone foundation and a beautiful galvanized tin roof with red tile.
*The house at the corner of Arlington Ave. and W 25th St. is the fictional location of Fisher and Sons from the highly acclaimed HBO television series Six Feet Under.

ee also

* South Central Los Angeles
* List of Registered Historic Places in Los Angeles

References

External links

* [http://www.westadamsheritage.com/ WAHA West Adams Heritage Association]
* [http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/features_westadams.php KCET West Adams: Life & Times]
* [http://www.latimes.com/classified/realestate/printedition/la-re-guide11sep11,0,774177.story?coll=la-class-realestate Los Angeles Times: Saving Harvard Heights]
* [http://www.westadams-normandie.com/ Van Buren Place Community Restoration Association]
* [http://www.westadamsheightssugarhill.com/ West Adams Heights/Sugar Hill Neighborhood Association ]
* [http://www.ah-na.org/ Arlington Heights Neighborhood Association]
* [http://www.unnc.org/ United Neighborhoods Council]
* [http://www.1912bungalow.com/ Restoration of a West Adams Bungalow]
* [http://www.preservela.com/ Historic Preservation in Los Angeles]
* [http://www.usc.edu/ University of Southern California]