Divine protection

*****

EARLY HISTORY OF THE AREA

SPANISH ERA

MEXICAN AND EARLY AMERICAN ERA

SHOESTRING STRIP ANNEXATION



Detail of map showing annexations of Los Angeles

BEGINNING OF CHESTERFIELD SQUARE

Detail of LARy map showing Chesterfield Square (solid orange lines represent Yellow Car train lines)

Streets lined with Washingtonia robusta

Chesterfield Square Park

HARBOR SUBDIVISION



Diana walking along the Harbor Subivision right-of-way



GROWTH OF CHESTERFIELD SQUARE



Examples of typical homes in the neighborhood

THE CARLTON THEATRE



The Carlton Theatre (image source: Cinema Treasures )

RAY HARRYHAUSEN







Harryhausen's old home (right)



In theWillis O'Brien (the man who was responsible for animating King Kong), a teenaged Chesterfield Square resident named Ray Harryhausen began experimenting with stop motion animation in the garage of his home at 4822 Cimarron Street. When we stopped by the house, the owner was sitting on his porch. Diana talked to him about Harryhausen having lived there, which he was unaware of.





In the 1930s , inspired by the work of(the man who was responsible for animating), a teenaged Chesterfield Square resident namedbegan experimenting with stop motion animation in the garage of his home at. When we stopped by the house, the owner was sitting on his porch. Diana talked to him about Harryhausen having lived there, which he was unaware of.

The building on the left was formerly home to Harryhausen's effects studio





In 1956, Ray Harryhausen began renting a space and operating an effects studio near the intersection of Cimarron and 54th Street. It was there that he created the visual effects for 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958). In 1960 he moved to London, UK and for many years was the biggest name in movie effects. He passed away 7 May, 2013.









WAR YEARS



In the 1940s, World War II helped transform Los Angeles into an important manufacturing center. To meet the demands of the war industry, thousands of working class Southerners moved to the working class neighborhoods of South Los Angeles. Though white immigrants were able to live just about anywhere that they could afford to, blacks were confined to roughly 5% of the city’s area, mostly to the neighborhoods of Watts and South Central.





END OF RACIST HOUSING COVENANTS



In 1947, an incident in Missouri brought the case of Shelley v. Kraemer to the US Supreme Court. As a result, racially restrictive covenants were found to be unconstitutional. Homeowner associations, developers and white gangs would still pursue various methods to keep black Angelenos from moving into “their” communities including restrictions against multi-family residences, drive-by shootings, cross burnings, harassment and physical attacks. Despite all that, black Angelenos quickly spread west and south of South Central.





LEON T. GARR







One black resident who came to South Los Angeles and came to prominence was Leon T. Garr. Garr was born in 1914, in Ruston, Louisiana and moved to Los Angeles in the early 1940s after having served in World War II. After co-founding Coast Construction in 1958 he launched Garr Construction in 1963. In 1991 he transformed a failed savings and loan into Founders National Bank. Along the way he proved himself to be a major force in South Los Angeles and today several Chesterfield Square locations give evidence of his philanthropy including the Garr Child Care Learning Institute, the Garr Academy of Math and Entrepreneurial Studies School, the Leon & Mattie Garr Foundation, and the Garr Banquet Hall. In 2012, Antwone Fisher directed the biographical documentary, This Life of Mine: The Leon T. Garr Story, about Garr. On 23 March he celebrated his 99th birthday.





THE BIRTH OF BLACK CLUBS



Black clubs, in many ways the precursors to modern gangs, began to emerge partly to counter the harassment of black Angelenos at the hands of white gangs. The largest black club on South Los Angeles’s Westside was The Gladiators, whose turf was centered around the intersection of 54th and Vermont, just beyond the borders of Chesterfield Square. As whites increasingly left the region, interracial violence was increasingly replaced by intraracial violence – primarily between the many clubs of South Angeles’s historically black and poorer Eastside and the clubs of the upwardly mobile black Westside. Though there was violence, it wasn’t even close to the level that arose in later decades. Fights over girls, American football rivalries, and class resentment were rarely deadly and in 1960 there were only six gang-related deaths in the entire city of Los Angeles.





CHESTERFIELD SQUARE BECOMES A BLACK NEIGHBORHOOD





By 1960, the previously separate black populations of South Central, Watts, the black Westside and Mid-City had merged to form one large, contiguous black majority region. “South Central,” named after the neighborhood which had flourished along South Central Avenue, became increasingly accepted as shorthand for any and all black communities throughout South Los Angeles and the name “Chesterfield Square” began to vanish from the public consciousness.



Nuance and distinction between communities of South Los Angeles began to reassert itself in 1965, when residents in Watts launched a violent uprising in the wake of perceived racism on the part of the LAPD. In the wake of the unrest, which resulted in 34 deaths, the population of upwardly mobile blacks in South Los Angeles increasingly left the Eastside for the Westside, including Chesterfield Square.



THE END OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA & THE BEGINNING OF GANG ERA



The second half of the 1960s saw several key moments in Civil Rights history. In 1965, Malcolm X was was murdered. Martin Luther King Jr was murdered in 1968. Although it might sound like conspiracy theory, it is a matter of fact that the FBI deliberately created conflict between the preeminent Black Nationalist organizations of the day with their anti-dissident COINTELPRO program, hoping that they'd wipe each other out. They were certainly involved in the 1968 assassination of the Panthers’ Fred Hampton and the following year, a fight between the Panthers and US over at the UCLA campus in Westwood turned deadly.



In the wake of the disintegrating Black Nationalist movement, teenage groups like the Baby Avenues (later known as The Crips) and, in the Chesterfield Square vicinity, the LA Brims both coalesced in 1969. Like other clubs at the time such as Compton’s Pirus or the Black P. Stones in Mid-City, they initially all dabbled with Black Nationalism before quickly devolving into mere criminal gangs.





GOOD FRED



Good Fred La Rutan mural

Frederic Douglas "Good Fred" Ellis was born on 21 April, 1946 in Detroit, Michigan. In 1954 he joined the US Air Force and served with the 49th Air Squad until 1958. While in the military he acquired the nickname, "Good Fred." He graduated from barber college in 1961 and opened his first hair salon, La Rutan, in Chesterfield Square on Western Avenue in 1968. In 1971 bought a larger location on 54th Street and began manufacturing The Good Fred Oil, designed specifically for black hair and celebrated in a jazz song of the same name by Dawn Norfleet. La Rutan's patrons included Bobby Womack, Clifton Powell, Nina Simone, Richard Pryor and others. More importantly, he was a philanthropist and positive force in the community, contributing to a variety of local causes. He passed away in 2011 was born on 21 April, 1946 in. In 1954 he joined theand served with the 49th Air Squad until 1958. While in the military he acquired the nickname, "Good Fred." He graduated from barber college in 1961 and opened his first hair salon,, in Chesterfield Square on Western Avenue in 1968. In 1971 bought a larger location on 54th Street and began manufacturing, designed specifically for black hair and celebrated in a jazz song of the same name by. La Rutan's patrons includedand others. More importantly, he was a philanthropist and positive force in the community, contributing to a variety of local causes. He passed away in 2011



GROWTH OF THE LATINO POPULATION



Gonzalez Auto Body Shop with Aztec calendar mural In 1956, Ray Harryhausen began renting a space and operating an effects studio near the intersection of Cimarron and 54th Street. It was there that he created the visual effects for(1957) and(1958). In 1960 he moved toand for many years was the biggest name in movie effects. He passed away 7 May, 2013.In thehelped transform Los Angeles into an important manufacturing center. To meet the demands of the war industry, thousands of working classmoved to the working class neighborhoods of South Los Angeles. Though white immigrants were able to live just about anywhere that they could afford to, blacks were confined to roughly 5% of the city’s area, mostly to the neighborhoods of Watts and South Central.In 1947, an incident inbrought the case ofto the. As a result, racially restrictive covenants were found to be unconstitutional. Homeowner associations, developers and white gangs would still pursue various methods to keep blackfrom moving into “their” communities including restrictions against multi-family residences, drive-by shootings, cross burnings, harassment and physical attacks. Despite all that, black Angelenos quickly spread west and south of South Central.One black resident who came to South Los Angeles and came to prominence was. Garr was born in 1914, inand moved to Los Angeles in the early 1940s after having served in World War II. After co-foundingin 1958 he launchedin 1963. In 1991 he transformed a failed savings and loan into. Along the way he proved himself to be a major force in South Los Angeles and today several Chesterfield Square locations give evidence of his philanthropy including the, the, the, and the. In 2012,directed the biographical documentary,, about Garr. On 23 March he celebrated his 99th birthday.Black clubs, in many ways the precursors to modern gangs, began to emerge partly to counter the harassment of black Angelenos at the hands of white gangs. The largest black club on South Los Angeles’s Westside was, whose turf was centered around the intersection ofand, just beyond the borders of Chesterfield Square. As whites increasingly left the region, interracial violence was increasingly replaced by intraracial violence – primarily between the many clubs of South Angeles’s historically black and poorer Eastside and the clubs of the upwardly mobile black Westside. Though there was violence, it wasn’t even close to the level that arose in later decades. Fights over girls, American football rivalries, and class resentment were rarely deadly and in 1960 there were only six gang-related deaths in the entire city of Los Angeles.By 1960, the previously separate black populations of, the blackandhad merged to form one large, contiguous black majority region. “South Central,” named after the neighborhood which had flourished along, became increasingly accepted as shorthand for any and all black communities throughout South Los Angeles and the name “Chesterfield Square” began to vanish from the public consciousness.Nuance and distinction between communities of South Los Angeles began to reassert itself in 1965, when residents in Watts launched a violent uprising in the wake of perceived racism on the part of the. In the wake of the unrest, which resulted in 34 deaths, the population of upwardly mobile blacks in South Los Angeles increasingly left the Eastside for the Westside, including Chesterfield Square.The second half of thesaw several key moments inhistory. In 1965,was was murdered.was murdered in 1968. Although it might sound like conspiracy theory, it is a matter of fact that thedeliberately created conflict between the preeminentorganizations of the day with their anti-dissidentprogram, hoping that they'd wipe each other out. They were certainly involved in the 1968 assassination of the Panthers’and the following year, a fight between the Panthers and US over at thecampus inturned deadly.In the wake of the disintegrating Black Nationalist movement, teenage groups like the(later known as) and, in the Chesterfield Square vicinity, theboth coalesced in 1969. Like other clubs at the time such as Compton’sor thein Mid-City, they initially all dabbled with Black Nationalism before quickly devolving into mere criminal gangs.

Given the time and day of our exploration, most residents of the neighborhood were likely at work or in school but we did encounter numerous people hanging out in parks, on corners, and in lawns and on porches – most all of whom were politely friendly and some of whom shared stories that helped inform this piece. If any of them are reading this, thanks for your kindness, stories, and opinions. I hope you enjoy.Human history of Chesterfield Square andbegan some 13,000 to 15,000 years ago when the first transplants arrived after their ancestors crossed thefrom. We don’t know what they called themselves but around 3,500 the ancestors of thearrived inand displaced or were absorbed into the local population. By 500 CE the Tongva occupied 10,000 km² of land, including most ofThe firstnation,, first visited Southern California in 1542 but sustained contact with the Tongva and othernations only began in 1771, after the construction ofsome 27 kilometers east in the. After conquering the Natives, the Spanish divided most of the land into ranches administered by the missions although the lands that now comprise Chesterfield Square were part of an area of public lands located between theand ranchos to the west.After eleven years of war revolutionary war,gained independence from Spain in 1821. In 1846, when Mexico was just 25 years old, theinvaded and by 1848 had conquered California. The state was admitted to the Union in 1850. Los Angeles County was one of the original counties and then included parts of what are now, andOn 26 December, 1906, after 125 years of being landlocked, Los Angeles finally became a coastal city with thethat expanded the city’s borders to the southwest and, via a narrow corridor, to thein the south.In 1912, two brothers –and– entered the picture. R.D. List was a-based notary public and real estate speculator and he and Charles bought and subdivided a development that they named Chesterfield Square. I haven’t found what inspired their choice of name. Was it the? Chesterfield cigarettes, couches, or overcoats?? Maybe they just liked the way that it sounded.In 1912 the streets of the tract were paved and the’scarhouse was built nearby, on the southwest corner of the intersection ofand. The stations yellow cars ran down(now) and stretches of other streets in the neighborhood.Many of the neighborhood’s streets are still lined with towering, spindlypalm trees planted in those years.Chesterfield Square was also home to (and is still home to), a small but pretty, formal park with axial walkways, mature sycamores, and a walk street –– along its southern edge. There are two other pocket parks, or “parklets,” in Chesterfield Square, located at the intersection ofandandandChesterfield Square’s location was placed just north of the theline, which at that time connectedto a port in. In the 1920s, to capitalize on the oil boom, it was extended to, and. Although mostly used by freight trains, it also served as a passenger rail. The Harbor Subdivision was the ATSF Railroad’s (and its successor, the’s) primary route betweenanduntil the 2002 opening of the more directto the east.A 1923 advertisement in theoffered homeowners the chance to buy a “swell, new modern bungalow, built of the best materials” with “better improvements than in Wilshire District, at half the price.” Sales of homes in Chesterfield Square began to really take off in the– fueled by the real estate and oil boom of the time. Today the neighborhood is still comprised mostly of homes built in the popular styles of that era includingandhomes, evidently chosen from pattern books (in many cases a street with contain several homes of almost identical design distinguished by slight, ornamental variations). Development would eventually grind to a halt when thehit.The neighborhood picture palace, the 1,200-owned, was formerly located at. It was around at least as early as 1924, when it announced the addition of a children’s matinee in the paper. Although thefilmdepicted the premier oftaking place at thein, it in fact first screened in Chesterfield Square’s Carlton Theatre. Before theended, the theater was re-purposed as a church. The building was demolished by 1972 and today the lot is still empty.