220 homes destroyed in la Loma!

This is the first of three blogs whose purpose is to tell the stories of the Chávez Ravine communities that were destroyed to make way for what ultimately became Dodger Stadium.  This blog is dedicated to  la Loma, the first Chávez Ravine community to arise, beginning in 1909.

New databases are being built that will list the names of every individual who lived in Chávez Ravine at the time of the census returns of 1910, 1920, 1930, and 1940.  (The 1950 census will not be available to the public until 2022.)  Addresses are tied to images of the census returns.

In addition, the database includes the dates of all of the permits that were issued for home construction, along with the names of the owners, the size of the buildings and the number of rooms, and the cost of construction.  Also included are the names of the architect and contractor, if any.

When this project is completed, it will provide the most comprehensive set of linked databases that represent the nearly 1,100 families that were displaced during the evictions of the 1950s in Chávez Ravine.  These databases and blogs are dedicated to los Desterrados.

The growth of la Loma, 1909–1940

La Loma grew slowly, beginning with a single house in 1909.  During the next decade, from 1911–1920, 25 permits were issued.  The decade of greatest growth occurred during the 1920s, when 118 permits were issued and the number of census heads of households increased nearly eightfold.  This period coincided with the beginning of growth of Palo Verde, and which was the decade of greatest growth for that community, too.  Then, during the 1930s, there were only 4 permits issued for la Loma.  Growth in the rest of Chávez Ravine slowed during that period as well.

Over the  years, there have been 198 unique census addresses in la Loma.  Of those, construction permits were issued for 145 of those addresses; for the others, the Los Angeles Department of Public Works permit database has no record.

During the period represented on the graph, from 1909 to 1938, the average house in la Loma was roughly 16' x 24' in size and 12–15' high, one story, containing 2–3 rooms and built at a cost of $531.

The first house:  John Radulovich, October 1909

John Radulovich, 23, an Austrian who came to the United States in 1902, was newly married when he applied on October 4, 1909, for a permit to build a house at 814 Spruce Street in what was to become la Loma.  The house was permitted for one room, 12' x 12' in size and at an estimated cost of $50.  For the next three years, his was the only house in la Loma.  In the 1910 census, taken in June of that year, he was living there with his wife, Angelina Katherine, 19, and their 3-month-old daughter, Violet, both of whom were born in California,

What became of the Radulovich family is not known, but in 1912, Luigi Gotta, an Italian, received a permit for a four-room, 24' x 25' house at the same address.  It was one of three houses built in la Loma that year; the other two were on Effie Street, built by a speculator named Berry McKelvy, who built a total of 15 houses in la Loma, most of them in 1922–23.

The first house on Spruce Street was built in 1913; then, in 1914, six more houses were built, all on Spruce Street.

Development flourished during the 1920s

The period from 1921 to 1930 was a period of explosive grown in la Loma.  There were 118 permits issued for homes during that decade, and the 1930 census listed 164 more families than were there in 1920.  The year of greatest growth was 1923, when 38 construction permits were issued.  By the end of that decade, there were homes on all of la Loma's streets:  Agua Pura, Spruce, Phoenix, Brooks, Yolo, Pine, and Effie.

The 1940s: la Loma continues to grow

Although there were no permits issued for new house construction in la Loma during the 1940s, the community continued to grow.  The number of census households increased by about 25% during the period as families rented out parts of their houses or built additions (including additions that were classified as 'garages') that became rental units.  In 1940, the number of households in la Loma was 222 and there were 848 people living in them, for an average of 3.8 people per household; by 1950 the number of households was estimated at 270.  Using the 1940 average of 3.8 persons per household, there were, by the time of the evictions, more than 1,000 people living in la Loma.

Why don't all the houses have permits?

The answer to that question has two parts.  First, while it is possible that some houses were built without their owners' having obtained a permit, it is important to understand that nearly three-quarters of the houses that were built in la Loma from 1909 through 1950 were done so with a permit.  One of the criticisms of the Chávez Ravine communities at the time of the evictions of the 1950s was that it was full of immigrant squatters.  The fact that so many of the landowners in la Loma were living there within the law belies that accusation.  Second, as it is anywhere, there was certainly some construction that was performed without a permit, and it is easy to demonstrate that some householders rented out portions of their property, often presumably without first obtaining a permit.

The City provided services, primarily sewers and electrical power, to most of la Loma.  The provision of City services plus the high conformance with permit regulations, further belies the accusation that Chávez Ravine was nothing more than a squatter community and a slum.  Yes, many of the people were poor; but does that make their homes collectively a slum?

La Loma had stores ...

Serafín Castillo maintained a store at his residence at 1760 Brooks Avenue in 1939, when he applied for a permit to install asbestos siding shingles at a cost of $450.

Don Normark, in his classic book, Chávez Ravine, 1949:  A Los Angeles Story, has a photograph of some men outside a store in la Loma.  The photograph is titled "Gennaro's Store"; is it possible that this is the same store that was owned by Serafín Castillo during the previous decade?  Solano Canyon may be seen in the background.

Gennero's Store, 1949 [Don Normark]

In addition to Gennaro's, then was a second store, the Elysian Grocery, located on Phoenix Street just down the hill from Gennaro's.  And a short distance away, in Solano Canyon, there was yet a third store, located at 728 Amador Street, which was built in 1922 by Valentino Mazzarini, who lived there with his family until at least 1940, and which was in business continuously from 1922 until the 1980s.

... and an old-age home

Dr. Charles Johnson maintained the Hilltop Rest Home at 1705 Pine Street in 1930.  That address is at the very top of the loma.  In 1930, there were 23 men living there, all either single, widowed, or divorced, and ranging in age from 38 to 75.  They came from ten different states and four foreign countries.

Johnson acquired the property at 1705 Pine by 1923 from W. R. Frye, who had built a two-room house there in 1921.  Johnson owned three contiguous lots at 1701, 1705, and 1707 Pine Street.  Johnson added a room in 1923, another in 1924, and built a second, three-room house on the property later in 1924.  He added yet another room in 1927, and finally, in 1929, another building was added.

Dr. Johnson moved away from la Loma by 1935, and he died in Los Angeles in 1959 at the age of 90.  The property was owned in 1940 by Vincent Speranco.

There are two of Don Normark's photographs of the Hilltop Rest Home.

1705 Pine Street, la Loma, 1949

In this photograph, the tiny houses (Normark calls them shacks) can plainly be seen.  The trail to the right is Phoenix Street, which was never paved and was no more than a narrow trail, suitable only for foot traffic and horses.

1705 Pine Street, la Loma — Solano Canyon in the background

This is a view of one of the 'shacks' at 1705 Pine Street in la Loma.  Here, two of los viejitos, single Anglo men all, talk on the front porch.  At the base of the steps is Phoenix Street, and beyond that, in the background, is Solano Canyon.

The end comes

In 1950, of course, the Chávez Ravine evictions began, and everything built by man — literally everything — was destroyed.  The exact number of homes that were destroyed is not known with certainty, but it was something on the order of 220.  While some portions of a few of the streets remain, notably Brooks, Spruce, and Agua Pura, along with the odd sewer manhole, la Loma was wiped clean by the end of the 1950s.

The irony, or course, is that, except for that portion of the loma that was reduced to accommodate the Solano Gate to Dodger Stadium, the rest of the land has not been used for any other purpose.  One can walk along Spruce street today and hear echos of the voices of the nearly 1,100 people who once lived there.

They are crying, for they are los Desterrados.