Wilshire Vista, Los Angeles
History
A portion of Wilshire Vista was part of a 120-acre farm purchased in 1870 by Joseph Masselin, a French miner who had failed at prospecting in the 1849 California Gold Rush and then settled in the Los Angeles area in 1870. His heirs sold 73 acres fronting on Wilshire Boulevard to Walter G. McCarty, John A. Vaughn and John Evans, who combined it with other land to form the Wilshire Vista tract.
Sales and development began in 1922 on 85 acres of high, rolling ground between Pico, Cahuenga and Wilshire boulevards, with "the promising of a [street]car line, the new Los Angeles High School within eight minutes walk, the Page Military Academy on the adjoining property, the convenience to the city and beaches via the boulevards, as well as Country Club Drive and San Vicente Boulevard running across the tract."
In 2001, the Los Angeles Times noted that Wilshire Vista was historically an African-American community, but had now become more varied in ethnic composition with the arrival of young families and single professionals.
in 2015, the northwest corner of Wilshire Vista was determined historically significant by SurveyLA and was named the "Orange Grove Avenue-Ogden Drive-Genesee Avenue Multi-Family Residential Historic District". This part of Wilshire Vista contains a unique district of multifamily homes adjacent to single family homes, built between 1927-1950 and most of which (96 percent) are still in their original condition.
Geography
Wilshire Vista is bounded by San Vicente Boulevard on the north, Hauser Boulevard on the east, Pico Boulevard on the south and Fairfax Avenue on the west.
Notable Landmarks
- Charlotte Chase Apartments -1074-76 South Genesee Avenue - Los Angeles Cultural Historic Monument 1179
- Charles H. Bevis Duplex - 1080-82 South Genesee - Los Angeles Cultural Historic Monument 1180
- Packard Well Site: 5733 W. Pico Blvd. - Opened in 1968, The Packard Well Site is a drilling location disguised to look like a nondescript office building from street level. There are 51 active wells and the site continues to produce thousands of barrels of oil each year.
References
- ^ "Big Addition Made to Wilshire Vista," Los Angeles Times, December 17, 1922, page V-5
- ^ "Wilshire Vista Started With a Selling Boom," Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1922, page V-2
- ^ Los Angeles Times "Looking for the Hotspots" April 29, 2001
- ^ SurveyLA report: "Orange Grove Avenue-Ogden Drive-Genesee Avenue Multi-Family Residential Historic District" October 15, 2014
- ^ "Wilshire Vista residents seeking Historic District Designation LarchmontBuzz August 4, 2019
- ^ P.I.C.O. Neighborhood Council Map
- ^ Wilshire Vista Neighborhood Association map
- ^ List of Cultural Historic Monuments
- ^ The Atlantic "Urban Oil Fields of Los Angeles" August 26, 2014
- ^ "Pico Blvd. Drill Sites". STAND - L.A. Retrieved 23 November 2022.
Packard Well Site: 5733 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles / Well Count: 51 total active wells / Company: Freeport-McMoRan / Distance from homes: 125 feet