Explore HistoricPlacesLA…
The following is just a small sample of places of historical and cultural significance inventoried through SurveyLA and now on HistoricPlacesLA.org
• The Sugar Hill Historic District is a small neighborhood of 25 properties significant for its association with the African-American community and the movement to abolish deed restrictions that promoted racial segregation. In 1945 African-American homeowners hired Loren Miller, a prominent civil rights attorney, and sued for their right to own homes in Sugar Hill, leading to a Supreme Court decision that such restrictions were unenforceable nationwide. Bounded by 22nd St., 25th St., Harvard Blvd. and Hobart Blvd.
• The Boathouse Thematic Group are 12 identical single-family “boathouse” residences constructed in 1959 and located in the hills along the south side of the Cahuenga Pass. A team of Norwegian shipbuilders assisted in the construction, using hand-axes rather than saws for cutting wood to achieve a handcrafted look. Located along Woodrow Wilson Drive and Pacific View Dr.
• The Brady Residence is a 1959 contemporary ranch house in North Hollywood used as the exterior for the Brady Bunch television series (1969-1974). 11222 Dilling St.
• Norwegian Methodist Episcopal Church is a Gothic Revival church constructed in 1902, and an early building associated with the Norwegian community that historically resided in San Pedro. 238 N. Mesa.
• Canyon School Schoolhouse, built in 1894 and located in the Pacific Palisades, is an extremely rare example of a 19th-century schoolhouse in Los Angeles. It may also be one of only three remaining schoolhouse buildings in the Los Angeles Unified School District. 421 N. Entrada Dr.
• The former homes of Ray Charles, Ella Fitzgerald, Shirley Temple, Amelia Earhart, and other famous names are searchable in the system. 3910 S. Hepburn Ave., 3971 S. Hepburn Ave., 231 N. Rockingham Ave., 10042 Valley Spring Lane.
• Edgar Rice Burroughs Office is a revival building connected with Edgar Rice Burroughs, noted author of the Tarzan novels and developer of Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley. This continues to be the home of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and appears to be the only remaining building associated with Burroughs, as his Tarzana residence has been demolished.
• Dalmatian-American Club of San Pedro is an Art Deco social club constructed in 1935 and associated with San Pedro’s Croatian community. 1639 S. Palos Verdes St.
• Originally constructed as the Mexican Methodist Episcopal Church, St. John's United Methodist church was built in 1936 for a Mexican American congregation. It is one of the oldest and largest churches remaining in Watts and represents a significant association with the Mexican American community. 1715 E. Santa Ana Blvd. North
• Weeks Poultry Colony includes four of seven surviving examples identified in the survey of rare, early San Fernando Valley farmhouses from Winnetka’s Charles Weeks Poultry Colony, a utopian agricultural community active between 1923 and 1934. At 19811 Stagg St., 20136 Strathern St., 20147 Strathern St., and 20259 Lanark St.
• The Ebell Club South on Menlo Avenue is an intact women’s club building important to the social history of South Los Angeles and women in Los Angeles. It’s also noted for its Zig- Zag Moderne and Egyptian Revival design. 7101 S. Menlo Ave.
• Thelma Todd’s Sidewalk Café is a rare example of a 1920s neighborhood commercial building in Pacific Palisades. Built in 1928 in a Spanish Colonial Revival design by noted Westside architect Mark Daniels, the building served as a shopping center for the nearby Castellammare housing development. In the early 1930s, actress Thelma Todd opened a restaurant on the ground floor of the building; she lived in an ocean view apartment on an upper floor, while an exclusive Hollywood Club called Joya occupied the rest of this floor. 17575 Pacific Coast Highway.
• The Guadalupe Community Center is a Catholic community center originally established to help the area's needy people. It is significant for the role it has played in support of the Latin American community in Canoga Park since 1950. It is also significant for its association with the Orcutt family, who assisted in the center's establishment.
• Salka and Berthold Viertel House is the longtime Pacific Palisades home of prominent members of the German Jewish intelligentsia who hosted a weekly salon for the émigré community at this residence every Sunday from the late-1930s to the late- 1940s. Guests included emigres such as Thomas Mann and Berthold Brecht, members of the entertainment industry such as Charlie Chaplin and Greta Garbo, and other prominent intellectuals, including Christopher Isherwood. 165 N. Mabery Rd.