Carlson Park is a suburban neighborhood in central Culver City, California. It is named for Dr. Paul Carlson Park

Dr. Paul Carlson Park

Dr. Paul Carlson Park, or, more commonly, Carlson Park, is a small park located in the Carlson Park neighborhood of Culver City, CA. It is linear in shape and is intended for passive recreational use, featuring open grassy spaces as well as picnic and barbecue facilities. It is named for Dr...

, a city park in the center of the neighborhood, which is named for Culver City native Dr. Paul Carlson

Paul Carlson

Paul Carlson was an American medical missionary of the Evangelical Covenant Church that served in Wasolo, a city in what is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, a medical missionary martyr

Martyr

A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...

ed in the former Belgian Congo

Belgian Congo

The Belgian Congo was the formal title of present-day Democratic Republic of the Congo between King Leopold II's formal relinquishment of his personal control over the state to Belgium on 15 November 1908, and Congolese independence on 30 June 1960.-Congo Free State, 1884–1908:Until the latter...

. Students residing in the neighborhood are zoned either to Linwood E. Howe Elementary or Farragut Elementary, and to Culver City Middle School and Culver City High School

Culver City High School

Culver City High School is the main public high school of the Culver City Unified School District in Culver City, California. It was opened in 1951. The school's colors are primarily blue and silver, and the mascot is the centaur. As of 2008, the enrollment was 2,308...

. Its ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

 is 90232.

History

The current location of the Carlson Park neighborhood was formerly occupied by two racetracks: the first, a horse track, opened in 1923 and closed the following year. On the same land in 1924 a motor raceway, the "Los Angeles Speedway," was opened. This venture was more successful but lasted no later than 1927, when the city council approved the founding of the first park in Culver City. This park, originally named Victory Park by the mayor's wife because "it was a victory to get a park", was later renamed Carlson Park.

Within just a few years, local residents began calling the surrounding neighborhood Carlson Park. Carlson Park's location in Culver City on Los Angeles' fashionable Westside is near the I-10 and I-405

Interstate 405 (California)

Interstate 405 is a major north–south Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass of Interstate 5, running along the western areas of the Greater Los Angeles Area from Irvine in the south to near San Fernando in the north...

 freeways.

Geography

The neighborhood is bounded on the northwest by Culver Boulevard, on the northeast by Jasmine Avenue, on the southeast by Ballona Creek

Ballona Creek

Ballona Creek is an waterway in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, whose watershed drains the Los Angeles basin, from the Santa Monica Mountains on the north, the Harbor Freeway on the east, and the Baldwin Hills on the south...

, and on the southwest by Keystone Avenue. It is located to the southwest of both City Hall and Downtown Culver City. Directly across Culver Boulevard sits Sony Pictures Studios

Sony Pictures Studios

The Sony Pictures Studios are a television and film studio complex located in Culver City, California at 10202 West Washington Boulevard and bounded by Culver Boulevard , Washington Boulevard , Overland Avenue and Madison Avenue...

.

Streets

• Running Southwest/Northeast
  • Braddock Drive
  • Park Avenue
  • Farragut Drive

• Running Northwest/Southeast
  • Keystone Avenue
  • Mentone Avenue
  • Le Bourget Avenue
  • Motor Avenue
  • Vinton Avenue
  • Jasmine Avenue

Transportation

Carlson Park is served by the following Culver CityBus

Culver CityBus

Culver CityBus is a public transport agency operating in Culver City, California, currently serving Culver City, the unincorporated community of Marina del Rey, and the adjacent Los Angeles neighborhoods...

lines:

• Line 3 - Century City
• Line 5 - Braddock Drive
• Line 7 - Culver Boulevard

Notable residents

• Gary Silbiger, former mayor of Culver City
• Steve Rose, former mayor of Culver City
• Stephen D. Doherty II, Philanthropist