Rediscovering Route 66
Long
forgotten within the hustle and bustle of Los Angeles County, Route 66 has been reinvigorated throughout most of the rest
of the United States. The road that was immortalized in print by John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, in song like
Bobby Troup's "Get Your Kicks (on Route 66)", and on the small screen by the TV series Route 66 has undergone a rebirth
that has saved some towns along its path.
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Lois Gross Built a Business
and a Legacy
By Christine Peters
Set
behind a deep parking lot on Sunset Boulevard is the Pioneer Market, a fixture of the area for many residents. Not many residents
have lived here long enough to have seen Pioneer when it was one of several brick storefronts, close to the street and sidewalk.
One of these long-disappeared
neighboring shops was Gross & Horn, which sold children's clothing, toys and furniture. It stood at the northeast corner
of Sunset and Logan, near Betty's Ice Cream.
I learned of Gross
& Horn from a neighbor, the store's co-owner. Over the course of about four months I sipped tea with Lois Gross, often
talking about Echo Park and its history.
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Sometimes it seems as if the EPHS has nothing but preservation
battles on its agenda. Whether it's convincing the city bureaucracy to protect and respect Echo Park's historic character
or trying to talk a neighbor out of stuccoing their wood-shingled bungalow, preservation demands much of our time and energy.
So it's relatively easy to forget that we are also a "historical society", devoted to researching and raising
awareness of Echo Park's rich and interesting past.
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Photo Exhibit
Opens at Post Office
On March 12 a display
of Echo Park Historical Society photographs opened in the Edendale Post Office. With the help of Adora Atentido, an employee
at the Edendale Station, and with signage created in English and Spanish by EPHS member Jerry Campbell, the display helps
bring appreciation of local history to an even wider audience.
In June, the exhibit moves to the Echo Park
Public Library. And a month later, the exhibit is scheduled to appear in the brand new Edendale Library, in time for the facility's
grand opening.
A special thanks to EPHS member Isa-Kae
Meksin for promoting this exhibit.
Street Names, the Sequel
Last
month the EPHS newsletter gave readers the lowdown on three of our neighborhood’s well-known street names: Scott Avenue,
Parmer Avenue and Morton Avenue.
All have ties to Palmer
Morton Scott, or P.M. Scott, who was a major early landowner along with his wife, Elizabeth.
What we didn't mention, and can't resist bringing up now, is that Elizabeth
Scott's mother also got a piece of the action. E.M. Scott's mother, Lucretia, is now memorialized on maps of our neighborhood.
A special thanks to EPHS member Annalisa Magnusson for tracking down the 1917 newspaper clipping that told the story.
Bungalow Gets
Royal Treatment
When contractor Michael
Kyle took on the challenge of restoring a 1913 duplex on Laguna Avenue, he learned that some mixing and matching would be
necessary if the units were to have the unified, historically accurate look he sought.
The distinctive
Craftsman duplex is known to many in the neighborhood for its lengthy, curving brick staircase that leads from the street
all the way up to the front porch, which faces Echo Park Lake.
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