Cypress Park, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia
Cypress Park is a neighborhood in Northeast
Los Angeles
. It is located at the confluence of the Los Angeles River
and Arroyo Seco
and is less than 2.5 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles
. Cypress Park is currently becoming closely associated with the movement to revitalize the Los Angeles River, due to the Los Angeles River Center and the Rio de Los Angeles State Park within its boundaries.
The area was granted as Rancho San Rafael to Jose Maria Verdugo in October 1784. In 1859, Julio Verdugo sold the Southern tip of the Rancho to Jessie D. Hunter, who had first arrived in Los Angeles in 1847 as a Captain in the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican-American War. Hunter had previously acquired the Rancho Cañada de Los Nogales, which contains most of present day Glassell Park. Hunter had established the first kiln-fired brickyard in Los Angeles, but sold it and took up farming when he acquired the Rancho land.
After Hunter’s death the land was subdivided as the Hunter Tract and, in 1882, Cypress Park became the first of the Arroyo Seco communities to come into existence, predating Highland Park by three years.
The murder of Stephanie Kuhen
occurred around 1:45 AM on September 17, 1995, in Cypress Park when members of the "Avenues" gang shot a vehicle containing a family. A 3-year old girl named Stephanie Kuhen died, and another occupant of the car sustained injuries. The perpetrators were arrested and convicted. The killing caused a lot of media attention in the United States
and lead to crackdowns on Los Angeles street gangs.
bus lines 81, 83, 84, 90, 91, 94, and 794.
The neighborhood's main thoroughfares are Cypress Ave., San Fernando Rd., and North Figueroa St., and is served by the Golden State Freeway and Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as the Pasadena Freeway.
: One of only two California State Recreation Areas in Los Angeles County, this 40-acre park boasts one of first steps toward revitalization of the Los Angeles River by restoring natural river wetlands to the area. During the rainy season this part of the park floods and during spring it becomes a premiere location in the City of Los Angeles for wildflower viewing. Through a partnership with City of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, the park also includes numerous sports fields, a children's playground and a recreation building.
LA River Center and Gardens: Located at the former site of Lawry’s California Center, over 6 acres of mission-style buildings and gardens, this complex is operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and is host to numerous environmental non-profits, such as Friends of the Los Angeles River, Northeast Trees, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, LA Works, and the National Parks Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. The River Center gardens as well as the adjacent River Garden Park are open to the public during daylight hours; 570 W. Avenue 26.
Cypress Park Recreation Center: A public park with a baseball field, basketball courts, children's playground, and auditorium; 2630 Pepper Ave.
Greayer’s Oak Park: A pocket park named after WWI aviator Greayer Clover
; corner of N. Figueroa St. and Marmion Way.
schools:
HCM No. 404: the Huron Substation; A Los Angeles Railway traction power substation, built in 1906 and used until 1958 for the Yellow Car system.
HCM No. 735: the Jeffries House; The last remaining houses of the Jeffries family, made prominent by James J. Jeffries
, boxing heavyweight Champion of the World. Built in 1911, this house was his brother’s.
HCM No. 849: the Nickel-Leong Mansion ; a large Antebellum-style Greek Revival Mansion at Isabel St. and Thorpe Ave. This house was built in 1905 for restaurateur Max Nickel and later owned by the Leong family of Chinatown. The house was designed by John C. Austin
, a Los Angeles architect who was one of the designers of Los Angeles City Hall, Griffith Observatory, and the Arroyo Seco Bank Building at Figueroa St. and York Blvd.
HCM No. 908, Riverside-Figueroa Bridge.
Additionally, the Richard Henry Dana Branch (3320 Pepper Avenue), a former branch library of the Los Angeles Public Library, is #47 on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles.
In order to stem economic blight, the City Council of Los Angeles in January 2010 approved an ordinance that banned any new auto-related businesses from opening in Cypress Park and Glassell Park.
The neighborhood's wealth of Victorian, Craftsman, and California bungalow houses is currently being restored by private real estate investors.
Northeast Los Angeles
Northeast Los Angeles is an area of the city of Los Angeles, northeast of Downtown Los Angeles, east of the Los Angeles River, bounded on the north by the cities of Glendale and Pasadena, and bounded on the east by several cities of the San Gabriel Valley...
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
. It is located at the confluence of the Los Angeles River
Los Angeles River
The Los Angeles River is a river that starts in the San Fernando Valley, in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the western end of the San Fernando Valley, nearly southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
and Arroyo Seco
Arroyo Seco (Los Angeles County)
The Arroyo Seco, meaning "dry stream" in Spanish, is a seasonal river, canyon, watershed, and cultural area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The Arroyo Seco has been called the most celebrated canyon in Southern California.-River course:...
and is less than 2.5 miles north of Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
. Cypress Park is currently becoming closely associated with the movement to revitalize the Los Angeles River, due to the Los Angeles River Center and the Rio de Los Angeles State Park within its boundaries.
Demography
Cypress Park is a mostly Latino, working class neighborhood. According to the 2000 US Census, the neighborhood has 9,764 residents and is 82.1% Latino, 11.1% Asian, 4.9% White, 0.9% Black, and 1.3% Other. The median household income is $42,615.Geography
Cypress Park lies within a historic alluvial floodplain shared with the Elysian Valley neighborhood, which is bounded by Elysian Park and Mt. Washington. The boundaries of Cypress Park are roughly considered to be the Los Angeles River to the west, the Arroyo Seco to the south, Mt. Washington to the east, and Division St. to the north.History
The land on which Cypress Park currently occupies was first settled by the Tongva tribe of the Shoshone Native Americans. When Gaspar de Portolà and his expedition first encountered the Los Angeles River in August 1769 and described the area of the confluence of the Arroyo Seco as “a very lush green valley”. The Pueblo de Los Angeles was later founded adjacent to this location.The area was granted as Rancho San Rafael to Jose Maria Verdugo in October 1784. In 1859, Julio Verdugo sold the Southern tip of the Rancho to Jessie D. Hunter, who had first arrived in Los Angeles in 1847 as a Captain in the Mormon Battalion during the Mexican-American War. Hunter had previously acquired the Rancho Cañada de Los Nogales, which contains most of present day Glassell Park. Hunter had established the first kiln-fired brickyard in Los Angeles, but sold it and took up farming when he acquired the Rancho land.
After Hunter’s death the land was subdivided as the Hunter Tract and, in 1882, Cypress Park became the first of the Arroyo Seco communities to come into existence, predating Highland Park by three years.
The murder of Stephanie Kuhen
Murder of Stephanie Kuhen
The murder of Stephanie Kuhen in 1995 in Los Angeles created significant media attention in the United States and led to crackdowns on Los Angeles street gangs....
occurred around 1:45 AM on September 17, 1995, in Cypress Park when members of the "Avenues" gang shot a vehicle containing a family. A 3-year old girl named Stephanie Kuhen died, and another occupant of the car sustained injuries. The perpetrators were arrested and convicted. The killing caused a lot of media attention in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and lead to crackdowns on Los Angeles street gangs.
Transportation
Cypress Park is served by two stations on the Gold Line, the Lincoln Heights/Cypress Park Station located at W. Avenue 26/Lacy St. and Heritage Square/Arroyo Station located at French Ave./Marmion Way. It is also served by Metro LocalMetro Local
Metro Local is a bus system in Los Angeles County operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority . This retronym designation was placed to differentiate it from the Metro Rapid service...
bus lines 81, 83, 84, 90, 91, 94, and 794.
The neighborhood's main thoroughfares are Cypress Ave., San Fernando Rd., and North Figueroa St., and is served by the Golden State Freeway and Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as the Pasadena Freeway.
Parks
Rio de Los Angeles State ParkRio de Los Angeles State Park
Rio de Los Angeles State Park is a California State Park along the Los Angeles River north of downtown Los Angeles in the neighborhood of Cypress Park. The park includes restored wetlands featuring native plants as well as sports fields, a children’s playground and a recreation building...
: One of only two California State Recreation Areas in Los Angeles County, this 40-acre park boasts one of first steps toward revitalization of the Los Angeles River by restoring natural river wetlands to the area. During the rainy season this part of the park floods and during spring it becomes a premiere location in the City of Los Angeles for wildflower viewing. Through a partnership with City of Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation, the park also includes numerous sports fields, a children's playground and a recreation building.
LA River Center and Gardens: Located at the former site of Lawry’s California Center, over 6 acres of mission-style buildings and gardens, this complex is operated by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and is host to numerous environmental non-profits, such as Friends of the Los Angeles River, Northeast Trees, the Los Angeles Conservation Corps, LA Works, and the National Parks Service Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program. The River Center gardens as well as the adjacent River Garden Park are open to the public during daylight hours; 570 W. Avenue 26.
Cypress Park Recreation Center: A public park with a baseball field, basketball courts, children's playground, and auditorium; 2630 Pepper Ave.
Greayer’s Oak Park: A pocket park named after WWI aviator Greayer Clover
Greayer Clover
Greayer Clover was an American aviator in the First World War. After graduating from Los Angeles High School in 1915, he entered Yale University but left in his sophomore year to join the American Field Service as an ambulance driver. He persuaded five classmates to join him in this venture...
; corner of N. Figueroa St. and Marmion Way.
Education
Residents are zoned to Los Angeles Unified School DistrictLos Angeles Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District is the largest public school system in California. It is the 2nd largest public school district in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population...
schools:
- Loreto Street Elementary School
- Aragon Elementary School
- Florence Nightingale Middle School
- A choice between Lincoln High School , Franklin High SchoolFranklin High School (Los Angeles)Benjamin Franklin High School is a public high school in the Highland Park neighborhood, approximately seven miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles, California, United States...
Landmarks
Cypress Park has several Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments on the East and Northeast Sides designations.HCM No. 404: the Huron Substation; A Los Angeles Railway traction power substation, built in 1906 and used until 1958 for the Yellow Car system.
HCM No. 735: the Jeffries House; The last remaining houses of the Jeffries family, made prominent by James J. Jeffries
James J. Jeffries
James Jackson Jeffries was a world heavyweight boxing champion.His greatest assets were his enormous strength and stamina. Using a technique taught to him by his trainer, former welterweight and middleweight champion Tommy Ryan, Jeffries fought out of a crouch with his left arm extended forward...
, boxing heavyweight Champion of the World. Built in 1911, this house was his brother’s.
HCM No. 849: the Nickel-Leong Mansion ; a large Antebellum-style Greek Revival Mansion at Isabel St. and Thorpe Ave. This house was built in 1905 for restaurateur Max Nickel and later owned by the Leong family of Chinatown. The house was designed by John C. Austin
John C. Austin
John Corneby Wilson Austin was an architect and civic leader who participated in the design of several landmark buildings in Southern California, including the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles City Hall, and the Shrine Auditorium.- Life :Born in Bodicote, Oxfordshire, England, Austin was an...
, a Los Angeles architect who was one of the designers of Los Angeles City Hall, Griffith Observatory, and the Arroyo Seco Bank Building at Figueroa St. and York Blvd.
HCM No. 908, Riverside-Figueroa Bridge.
Additionally, the Richard Henry Dana Branch (3320 Pepper Avenue), a former branch library of the Los Angeles Public Library, is #47 on the National Register of Historic Places in Los Angeles.
In the media
Cypress Park and businesses within it are frequently used as filming locations in feature films and music videos. The movies The Fast and the Furious, Catwoman, and Date Night as well as the television series Heroes filmed scenes in the Huron Substation. Local bar Footsie’s was used for the music video to the song “Live Your Live” by T.I., featuring Rihanna.Future
Cypress Park is currently in the beginning stages of economic revitalization, having been noted by the Los Angeles City Council and Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) to have potential for economic growth. The CRA/LA has included Cypress Park in two of their proposed redevelopment plans, the Northeast Los Angeles River Project and the Cornfield Arroyo Seco Redevelopment Project.In order to stem economic blight, the City Council of Los Angeles in January 2010 approved an ordinance that banned any new auto-related businesses from opening in Cypress Park and Glassell Park.
The neighborhood's wealth of Victorian, Craftsman, and California bungalow houses is currently being restored by private real estate investors.