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…

Volunteers of America and the Maud Booth Home in Boyle Heights

Back in spring 2010, this blog featured a post (see http://boyleheightshistoryblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/historic-houses-of-boyle-heights-joseph.html) on the 1882 house of Joseph M. Workman, cousin of Boyle Heights founder William H. Workman. By 1895, however, Joseph Workman lost the house, located at 451 South Boyle Avenue, to foreclosure and the home was occupied by others, including saddler Allan Ball and…

Historic Photos of Boyle Heights: Hollenbeck Park

Easily the most photographed and publicized part of Boyle Heights from the 1890s onward was Hollenbeck Park, a twenty-one acre City of Los Angeles park created in 1892. Following national and international trends, the city actively embarked on a park development program starting in the 188os. Hollenbeck followed such early parks as Central (created as…

Workman Family Papers

The Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University, holds the Workman Family Papers, an archival collection of importance to all persons interested in the history of Boyle Heights. William H. Workman was the chief developer of Boyle Heights in the late nineteenth century, and the records of his development…

Historic Photos of Boyle Heights: The Joseph M. Workman House

As has been stated previously on this blog, Boyle Heights was developed in the 1870s and afterward with an eye to attracting well-to-do residents of Los Angeles. Boyle Avenue, in particular, had a number of large, well-appointed “Victorian” houses built among it, many of which survive. In some cases, some of the early houses became…