Sitting at the corner of Evergreen and Folsom streets in Boyle Heights is a 1914 Mission Revival structure that has recently been nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. The facility was originally the Forsyth Memorial School for Girls, an institution established by the local Presbyterian Church as a facility to “Americanize” Latinas. The…
The Travels and Travails of the Haym Salomon Statue, Part Three
This is the third and final part of a post by Boyle Heights Historical Society Advisory Board member Rudy Martinez on a little-known statue for a largely-forgotten figure from the American Revolution, Haym Salomon. We hope you’ve enjoyed this post and come back soon for more posts on the fascinating history of Boyle Heights! –…
The Travels and Travails of the Haym Salomon Statue, Part Two
This is the second part of a post by Boyle Heights Historical Society Advisory Board member Rudy Martinez on a little-known statue for a largely-forgotten figure from the American Revolution, Haym Salomon. Enjoy and check back soon for the next installment! – Paul R. Spitzzeri After a good deal of planning was instituted for the…
The Travels and Travails of the Haym Salomon Statue, Part One
This is the first part of a post by Boyle Heights Historical Society Advisory Board member Rudy Martinez on a little-known statue for a largely-forgotten figure from the American Revolution, Haym Salomon. Enjoy and check back soon for the next installment! – Paul R. Spitzzeri In June 2008, a small rededication ceremony was held for…
Historic Photos of Boyle Heights: Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple
Here is a great photo of over sixty persons, mainly young children and about twenty teens and adults, posed on the wide and tall stairs at the Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple in Boyle Heights. Taken on 4 January 1925, the image is almost certainly for education classes for Japanese children, although there are no inscriptions…
The Early History of Hollenbeck Park
In the early 1890s, Boyle Heights and Los Angeles were experiencing some tough times. A growth boom, often called the Boom of the Eighties, erupted a few years previously, peaking during the 1887-88 mayoral term of Boyle Heights founder William H. Workman, but it went bust by decade’s end.
The Hollenbeck Home Souvenir Manual, circa 1900
Several years after the untimely death of John E. Hollenbeck, an early resident of Boyle Heights, whose business activities and land ownership was significant in the Los Angeles region over the short span of the decade from 1875-1885, his widow, Elizabeth, created a “memorial monument” in the form of what was then called The Hollenbeck…
The Introduction of Electric Light to Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, Part 4
This is the fourth and final installment of this post on the introduction of electric power to Los Angeles and Boyle Heights by Rudy Martinez, Advisory Board member of the Boyle Heights Historical Society. Research included scouring online newspapers, poring through many articles and books, and diligently searching through public archival records. Thanks, Rudy, for…
The Introduction of Electric Light to Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, Pt. 3
This is the third of four posts on the coming of electric lighting to Los Angeles and the Boyle Heights neighborhood by Boyle Heights Historical Society Advisory Board member Rudy Martinez. The fourth and final installment will be posted tomorrow. – Paul R. Spitzzeri In October 1882, Charles Howland incorporated the Los Angeles Electric Company…
The Introduction of Electric Light to Los Angeles and Boyle Heights, Pt. 2
This is the second of four posts by Boyle Heights Historical Society Advisory Board member Rudy Martinez on the early 1880s introduction of electric street lighting to Los Angeles, including an arc lamp built at First and Boyle in Boyle Heights. The third and fourth installments will be posted next week. – Paul R. Spitzzeri…