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| March 2008 |
| Billie Silvey |
| Oil was discovered in 1892 near the present location of Dodger Stadium. By 1923, Los Angeles was producing a quarter of the world’s oil supply. |
| In 1822, New Spain won independence from its mother country, and Los Angeles became a part of Mexico. This is the earliest adobe in Los Angeles, built in 1818 and now a part of Olvera Street. In the 1840s, after the Mexican War, California became an independent republic. It was annexed by the United States in 1850, and on April 4, Los Angeles was incorporated as a city. Compelled to confirm their land grants in U.S. courts, 10% of the old landowners lost their land. Some were absorbed into other communities, while others resisted Anglo power. |
| Los Angeles was first settled by the Tongvas, or Gabrielinos, a tribe that lived in villages around the Los Angeles basin. Juan Cabrillo landed at what’s now San Pedro in 1542, and, seeing smoke from the Indians’ fires, described the area as “the valley of smokes.” Even then, the natural topography of the region created smog. Franciscan missionaries led by Fr. Junipero Serra established missions at San Gabriel and San Fernando in the 1770s. At that time, some 5,000 Tongvans lived in 31 villages. |
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| A History of Los Angeles |
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| On Sept. 4, 1781, a group of 44 pobladores (townspeople) escorted by a military detachment and two priests from San Gabriel mission founded a settlement known as El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles sobre El Rio Porciuncula, or Our Lady Queen of the Angels on the Porciuncula River. |
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| A thriving Chinatown was the site of a tong war between rival gangs in 1871. When a white man was accidentally killed, a mob of 500 white men attacked Chinatown, killing 19 Chinese men and boys, only one of whom had been involved in the original killing. A white man who was trying to protect the Chinese was killed, and homes and businesses were looted. |
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| Growth continued as the population soared from 5,000 in the 1870s to 100,000 by 1900, stimulated by railway connections with Central Pacific and San Francisco in 1876 and with the East by Santa Fe in 1885, which resulted in a land boom. |
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| In 1905, the people of Los Angeles voted for $22.5 million worth of bonds to build an aqueduct from the Owens River. William Mulholland, chief engineer of the Los Angeles Water Department, opened the project in November 5, 1913 with a speech of five words: “There it is. Take it.” |
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| The burgeoning film industry in Los Angeles and the arrival of the Okies from the plains states illustrate the economic extremes of 1920s Los Angeles. Films grew out of a desire to escape the hard reality of the times. |
| The City of Los Angeles mostly remained within its original 28-square-mile landgrant until the 1890s. The first large additions were Highland Park, Garvanza and South Los Angeles. In 1906 came the annexation of Harbor Gateway, a narrow strip of land leading south to the port. Port cities of San Pedro and Wilmington were added in 1909, and Hollywood in 1910, bringing the city up to 90 square miles and giving it a barbell shape. |
| Los Angeles grew rapidly in the 1940s as war production drew workers from across the nation. |
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| 1965 was the year of the Watts Riots, and the year we moved to Los Angeles. From then on, the history of Los Angeles has been tied up with the history of our family. |