Olvera Street & El Pueblo: The 1781 Birthplace of Los Angeles
Why is it significant?
Step onto the red-brick pavers of Olvera Street, sheltered under the broad leaves of massive Moreton Bay fig trees and vibrant paper papel picado banners fluttering overhead. You are standing at the exact birthplace of Los Angeles.
Key Facts
| Place | Olvera Street & El Pueblo: The 1781 Birthplace of Los Angeles |
|---|---|
| Address | 845 N Alameda St, Los Angeles, CA 90012 |
| Geo Coordinates | 34.05770, -118.23840 |
| Part of Walk | Downtown LA & Historic Broadway: Movie Palaces, Bradbury Iron, and Angels Flight |
| Generated | Generated |
Step onto the red-brick pavers of Olvera Street, sheltered under the broad leaves of massive Moreton Bay fig trees and vibrant paper papel picado banners fluttering overhead. You are standing at the exact birthplace of Los Angeles.
On September fourth, seventeen eighty-one, a group of forty-four settlers—known as Los Pobladores, consisting of eleven families of Indigenous, African, and Spanish heritage—established a farming settlement here under Spanish governor Felipe de Neve, naming it El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles sobre el Río Porciúncula.
Stop before the Avila Adobe at number ten Olvera Street: constructed in eighteen eighteen by Francisco Ávila, this whitewashed sun-dried mud brick dwelling is the oldest existing residence in the entire city of Los Angeles. In the nineteen twenties, civic champion Christine Sterling saved the derelict alleyway from demolition, transforming it into the vibrant Mexican artisan and cultural marketplace we celebrate today.
Walk across Alameda Street to the monumental tower of Union Station.