Jefferson Park, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Geography and transportation
Jefferson Park's boundaries are, roughly, Western Avenue on the east, Adams on the north, Crenshaw Boulevard on the west, and Exposition Boulevard/Rodeo Road on the south. It is bordered by Arlington HeightsArlington Heights, Los Angeles, California
Arlington Heights is a residential district in the Mid-Wilshire region of Los Angeles, California. It is a small neighborhood in the West Adams, Los Angeles district. It derives its name from Arlington Avenue, which runs north-south through the east boundary of the district...
on the north, Mid-City
Mid-City, Los Angeles, California
Mid-City is a district in Los Angeles, California. It is 2.5 miles south of Hollywood and 3.5 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. The Lafayette Square, Victoria Park, Wellington Square, and Vineyard neighborhoods are part of the district.-Geography and history:Mid-City's boundaries are roughly...
on the northwest, Leimert Park
Leimert Park, Los Angeles, California
Leimert Park is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California roughly bounded by Rodeo Road on the north, 4th Avenue and Roxton Avenue on the east, Vernon Avenue on the south, and Crenshaw Boulevard on the west. Crenshaw District lies to the south, View Park to the west, Vermont Square to the east,...
/King Estates
King Estates, Los Angeles, California
King Estates is a neighborhood in South Los Angeles that lies between Jefferson Park and Chesterfield Square/Arlington Park with Exposition Boulevard and Western Avenue being main thoroughfares. The community is the future site of the Metro Expo Line. The ZIP Code which serves the community is...
on the south, and West Adams
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 west of USC...
on the east. Major east-west roads through the district include Adams, Jefferson, and Exposition Boulevards, and 7th, 10th, and Arlington Avenues which run north-south. The Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) runs just north of the district, parallel to and between Washington and Adams.
The neighborhood
Arts and crafts
Arts and crafts comprise a whole host of activities and hobbies that are related to making things with one's hands and skill. These can be sub-divided into handicrafts or "traditional crafts" and "the rest"...
, and Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
mansions, with churches and commercial buildings of commensurate expense. Some wealthy blacks moved into the area as well, leading the neighborhood to be dubbed "Sugar Hill" by many African-Americans of the day. To the south, in the flatter areas along Jefferson Boulevard, a low-rise commercial corridor developed, with small single-story homes and low-rise apartment buildings in the blocks behind. After the 1948 Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
ruling that banned segregation
Racial segregation
Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...
ist covenants on property, most of Jefferson Park's white population decamped to other parts of the region, in turn being replaced by upper-middle and upper-class blacks whose descendants still reside in many of the district's spectacular homes.
A notable characteristic of the neighborhood is the strong Creole influence from the families that moved from New Orleans in the post-World War II period. Harold and Belle's restaurant embodies that tradition today as a bastion of creole cooking in Los Angeles. Author Bliss Broyard meets the LA branch of her Creole family at Harold and Belle's in her book about her father One Drop: My Father's Hidden Life--A Story of Race and Family Secrets. A comment from Greg Jackson on the Los Angeles Times website relates his experience: "My parents and I moved into Jefferson Park, also known as Little New Orleans, in the early 50's. I lived on 7th Avenue just down the street from 6th Avenue Elementary School. It was a great neighborhood... The Creole influence was very noticeable. I lived across the street from and next to two large Creole families who loved to party. And several Creole families were living behind us on 8th Avenue... Jefferson Park was a great place to live. I feel really fortunate that my parents chose for us to live here."
Additionally, many Japanese-American families moved to Jefferson Park in the late 1940s to the 1960s. This is reflected in some old Japanese businesses such as Tak's Hardware, Saki Liquors and Kashu Realty, all on Jefferson Blvd. Distinctive Japanese-style landscaping also shows the influence in yards in the neighborhood. As South Central (now South Los Angeles) deteriorated from the 1970s onward (punctuated by the 1992 Los Angeles riots
1992 Los Angeles riots
The 1992 Los Angeles Riots or South Central Riots, also known as the 1992 Los Angeles Civil Unrest were sparked on April 29, 1992, when a jury acquitted three white and one hispanic Los Angeles Police Department officers accused in the videotaped beating of black motorist Rodney King following a...
), the working-class black population that had moved into the bungalows and ranch homes in the Jefferson corridor was increasingly replaced by Latinos.
Today, like most of South Los Angeles, Jefferson Park is a mix of blacks and Latinos. The Expo Line (light rail
Light rail
Light rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
), which is currently under construction, will likely bring greater prosperity to the district, which is roughly equidistant between Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
and the business districts of Westwood
Westwood, Los Angeles, California
Westwood is a neighborhood on the Westside of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the University of California, Los Angeles .-History:...
and Century City
Century City, Los Angeles, California
Century City is a 176-acre commercial and residential district on the Westside of the city of Los Angeles. It is bounded by Westwood on the west, Rancho Park on the southwest, Cheviot Hills and Beverlywood on the southeast, and the city of Beverly Hills on the northeast...
.
Notable landmarks
First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles
The First African Methodist Episcopal Church of Los Angeles is a megachurch in Los Angeles, California, USA, part of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. It is the oldest church founded by African Americans in Los Angeles, dating to 1872...
, considered the spiritual heart of South Los Angeles and the usual venue for funerals of prominent black Angelenos, lies just northeast of the intersection of Adams and Western. Its rector, Los Angeles icon Rev. Cecil Murray, stepped down in 2004.
The Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
mansion used to depict the Fisher family home in the HBO series Six Feet Under is located on Arlington Avenue in Jefferson Park.
Trinity Baptist Church was one of the first non whites land owners in the area in the 1940's. It was Trinity along with its membership that went to court to tear down white only convenants in the area. Trinity is located at 2040 W. Jefferson Blvd.
Education
Los Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
and is located in the attendance areas for the following elementary schools:
- 6th Avenue Elementary School
- 24th Street Elementary School
- Bright Elementary School
Cochran Middle School (formerly Mount Vernon Middle School) serves as the area middle school.
Some high school students are zoned to Dorsey High School, while others are zoned to Manual Arts High School
Manual Arts High School
Manual Arts High School is a secondary school in Los Angeles, California. When founded, Manual Arts was a vocational high school, but later converted to a traditional curriculum.-History:...
.
External links
- Jefferson Park Historic Neighborhood Profile at The Los Angeles Conservancy
- Los Angeles Times, Real Estate section, Neighborly Advice column: "
[ Jefferson Park:L.A. as it looked a century ago" (10 Aug 2003)] - Bungalow History of Jefferson Park
- University Park Family is a collaborative online community focused on adjacent University Park, Expo Park and the surrounding areas.
- Leimert Park Beat is a collaborative online community focused on adjacent Leimert Park: The Soul of Los Angeles and the African American cultural center of the city.
- LA Times Neighborhoods: Jefferson Park--comment by Greg Jackson, April 18, 2010