| Los Feliz | |
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| — Neighborhood of Los Angeles — | |
| A view of Downtown Los Angeles from behind the Griffith Observatory, in Los Feliz | |
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Los Feliz
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| City | Los Angeles |
| Government | |
| • City Council | Tom LaBonge, Eric Garcetti |
| • State Assembly | Curren Price (D), Mike Feuer (D) |
| • State Senate | Carol Liu (D), |
| • U.S. House | Diane Watson (D |
| Area[1] | |
| • Total | 2.6 sq mi (6.7 km2) |
| Population (2000)[1] | |
| • Total | 35,238 |
| • Density | 13,511/sq mi (5,216.6/km2) |
| ZIP Code | 90027 |
| Area code(s) | 323 |
Los Feliz,[2] also Rancho Los Feliz ("Feliz Ranch") is an affluent, hilly neighborhood in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles, California, named after its land grantee José Vicente Feliz.
It lies north of East Hollywood and just south of the Santa Monica Mountains, adjacent to the neighborhoods of Hollywood and Silver Lake. Home to the southern face of Griffith Park, the district includes the Griffith Observatory and the Greek Theatre. Los Feliz is bordered by Hollywood Boulevard to the south, Hyperion Avenue to the southeast, Griffith Park to the north, the Los Angeles River to the east, and Western Avenue to the west. It is traversed by Los Feliz Boulevard.
The 6,647-acre (27 km2) Rancho Los Feliz, one of the first land grants in California, was granted to Corporal José Vicente Feliz. An old adobe house built in the 1830s by his heirs still stands on Crystal Springs Drive in Griffith Park, named for Griffith J. Griffith, who donated over half of the rancho to the city of Los Angeles, which became one of the largest city owned parks in the country. Other sections of the rancho were developed and became the communities of Los Feliz and Silver Lake.
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The rugged, chaparral covered mountains of Griffith Park rise just a few miles north and west of downtown Los Angeles. An oasis in a major metropolis, much of the park's land remains in its natural state. One of the earliest leaders and protectors of the pueblo received this land as a token of appreciation by the Spanish government. This area was once the 6,647-acre (27 km2) Rancho Los Feliz, one of the first land grants in California, given to Corporal Jose Vicente Feliz. An old adobe house built in the 1830s by heirs of Feliz still stands in Griffith Park on Crystal Springs Drive.
Rancho Los Feliz had a succession of owners after the Feliz family. One owner, Colonel Griffith J. Griffith, donated over half of the ranch to the city of Los Angeles, which became one of the largest city owned parks in the country.
Long before the Spanish settlers arrived to settle near the banks of the Los Angeles River, Indians were the only inhabitants. The Indians established villages known as rancherias throughout the countryside. One of these settlements was located within the boundaries of what was to become Rancho Los Feliz. Archeological surveys have found evidence of a substantial rancheria that existed in the mouth of Fern Dell Canyon in Griffith Park. It is estimated that the Indians first came to this area approximately 10,000 years ago. The traditional name of this village is not known, but the inhabitants were Gabrielinos. This name was given by the Spanish because of the Indians' association with the San Gabriel Mission. When Gaspar de Portola traveled through the vicinity in 1769 his expedition encountered members of this village.
In 1882, Colonel Griffith Jenkins Griffith acquired 4,071 acres (16 km2) of Rancho Los Feliz. The Lick estate still owned the southwest portion of the rancho and there developed the Lick Tract, which later became a part of Hollywood. Griffith never served in any branch of armed forces in the United States, but he was given a courtesy title of "Colonel" from influential friends in the California National Guard. The title remained a permanent fixture to his name.
Griffith died on July 6, 1919 at the age of 67. Griffith bequeathed $700,000 and his Los Feliz area to the city of Los Angeles to be used for additions to Griffith Park. The park's area was increased to over 4,100 acres (17 km2). In 1930 the Greek Amphitheater was built as designed by Griffith himself. Funds from the Griffith estate were used to build an observatory at the peak of Mount Hollywood. In 1935 the Griffith Observatory and Planetarium was completed and opened to the public. Griffith's will also included a provision for a permanent endowment to maintain the theater and park grounds.
Mickey Mouse was "born" in Los Feliz—Walt Disney drew his first image of the now-legendary character in the garage of his uncle's house which was located on Kingswell Avenue between Vermont and Rodney. Disney's first animation studio was on Kingswell Avenue, just down the street from his uncle's house and east of Vermont (now a photocopy store). The second, larger studio (now a Gelson's supermarket) was located at the corner of Griffith Park Blvd and Hyperion Avenue, on the Silver Lake side of the Los Feliz-Silver Lake boundary. Los Feliz was also home to many other early studios, such as that of D. W. Griffith; the site is currently home to The Prospect Studios (formally known as First National-Warner Brothers and more recently ABC Television Center), at the intersection of Prospect Avenue and Talmadge Street. On Sunset Boulevard was Monogram Pictures (currently KCET public television), where early Charlie Chan movies were filmed, as well as "Hurricane" starring Dorothy Lamour and the camp classic "Johnny Guitar". (The western street from that movie remained until the mid 1980s when KCET razed the set to make way for a much-needed parking structure—but they threw a huge studio-wide party there on its final days.) The neighborhood has historically been home to movie stars, musicians, and the Hollywood elite. It boasts some of the best known residential architecture in the city, including two homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright: Ennis House and the Hollyhock House, and Richard Neutra's Lovell House.
As of the census of 2000, it is estimated that there were 40,573 people residing in the Griffith Park/Los Feliz area. The ethnic or racial makeup of the area was 70.54% non-Hispanic White, 3.77% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 8.61% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 2.37% from other races, and 6.45% from two or more races. 16.48% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median income for a household in Los Feliz was approximately $52,104.[4]
Residents in Los Feliz reside in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It provides the following school for Los Feliz residents:
Elementary: Los Feliz Elementary School (K-5 school)[5] Franklin Elementary School (K-5 school, California Distinguished) [6]
Middle School: King Middle School
High School: John Marshall High School.
Private schools include the Lycée International de Los Angeles, a bilingual (French/English) school founded in 1978, and Immaculate Heart High School, a private Catholic high school for girls, established in 1906.
Libraries: Los Feliz Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library is located in Los Feliz Village.
Los Feliz village is home or in close proximity to numerous restaurants and bars. They are mostly located on Hillhurst between Los Feliz Boulevard and Prospect Avenue, and on Vermont between Franklin Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard. Some were classic dives in their hey-day, frequented by the likes of Charles Bukowski, Lawrence Tierney, sundry working class drunks, poets, artists, writers and other creative types.
The Derby, at Hillhurst and Los Feliz, the last remaining location of the historic Brown Derby chain, was featured in the movie Swingers. It closed in 2009.
The Dresden Room on Vermont, also featured in the film Swingers, has live entertainment by Marty and Elayne. (Marty and Elayne make brief, performing appearances in both Swingers and the fourth-season Mr. Show episode Rudy Will Await Your Foundation.)
Griffith Park is home to the Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles Zoo and the Greek Theatre. It also contains various children's play areas, two 18 hole golf courses, a driving range and other sports fields as well as hiking and equestrian trails in the mountains away from the residential district. At Traveltown there is a miniature railroad operated by the Los Angeles Live Steamers and a collection of railroad locomotives, passenger cars and streetcars.
Buena Vista Street, the new entrance to the California Adventure theme park at the Disneyland Resort, is partly modeled after Los Feliz during the 1920s, when Walt Disney first arrived and set up shop in Los Angeles. [7] The area had special importance to Disney since his original animation studio was located here, before moving to the adjacent Silver Lake community, and then to the present location in Burbank.
When completed, Buena Vista Street will include a retail location called Los Feliz Five and Dime. [8]
|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". Los Feliz School. http://www.lausd.k12.ca.us/Los_Feliz_EL/.|title= specified when using {{Cite web}}". Franklin Avenue Elementary. http://franklinavees-lausd-ca.schoolloop.com/.
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