Los Angeles Plaza Historic District Go South LA City Guide #1

Hello readers. Welcome to the first edition of the Go South LA City Guide series. My name is Randal Henry. I’m the author of Go South LA (GSLA), an afrocentric guide to the city of Los Angeles. GSLA features 225 distinct categories highlighting over 700 things that you can do – in and around South LA – listed from A to Z. In GSLA you’ll find everything from Adobes, Airports and Architecture; Books, Bars and Bar-B Que; Leimert Park, Destination Crenshaw and Nipsey Hussle Square; Parks, Pools and Golf Courses; the Taste of Soul Festival, Soul Food and Creole/Cajun Cuisine; the Watts Towers, Wine and Wetlands; Mexican Excursions and, Malcolm X’s, Martin Luther King’s and Biddy Mason’s Commemoration Sites. Reading the GSLA City Guide series can help you learn more about interesting things to do in Los Angeles. This month’s article describes the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District.

Did you know that the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District (aka La Plaza) was the geographical center of historic LA? Did you know that twenty-six Black pioneers helped found the City of Los Angeles? Did you know that there is a plaque in La Plaza honoring their achievement? Like to know more? Well…on 9/4/1781, after an 1,100 mile trek north, 44 pioneers – including 26 Black people – founded the City of Los Angeles on the site of La Plaza. The Los Angeles Plaza Historic District contains the site of the original pueblo of Los Angeles, historic buildings and a plaque honoring – Los Pobladores – the city’s founders.

Los Pobladores named the city El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles (The Pueblo of the Queen of the Angels), and La Plaza was the social, administrative and geographic center of LA throughout the 19th century. Many significant buildings in the district surround the historic Plaza, including the Plaza church (Nuestra Señora La Reina de Los Angeles) constructed in 1822, the Avila Adobe, Los Angeles’ oldest residence (1818), the Italianate style Masonic Hall (1858), and the Italian Renaissance Revival style Merced Theater (1869). On Jan. 11, 1935, the Los Angeles Plaza was designated a California Historic Landmark (No.156) The Marker on the site reads: “NO. 156 LOS ANGELES PLAZA – A part of the original pueblo lands of El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula founded in 1781 under the Spanish Laws of the Indies during the reign of King Carlos III, the plaza is located close to the site of the original plaza. It was the center of the settlement founded by Governor Felipe de Neve. When the Plaza Church was completed in 1822, this site was reserved as a public plaza. It was landscaped in 1871 and has served since that date as a public park.” In 1953, Los Pobladores, the name used to honor our city’s founders, were commemorated with a plaque that was established at Olvera Street and El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Monument was dedicated in their memory. Other places of interest near La Plaza include the Italian American Museum of Los Angeles, the Chinese American Museum, the Los Angeles Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the Pico House, Olvera Street and Union Station. No trip to Los Angeles is complete without a visit to La Plaza. 

Thanks for reading. See you next month.