In 1887, the Los Angeles Herald announced that the forthcoming St. James Park would have a stone entrance to "rival the Arc de Triomphe" and would be eventually be surrounded by "the most costly residences yet erected on this coast".[2] Named by George King and his wife, the couple donated the parkland to the city in commemoration of their many trips to London.[3]
In 1896, the Ladies Auxiliary had a benefit for the Stimson-Lafayette Industrial School.[4] The event had a carnival theme, with "myriads of electric lights", palmists, fortune tellers and people in costume. The Los Angeles Lighting Company furnished the electricity as its contribution to the event.[4] There were multiple themed booths, including an American Booth, a Spanish Booth, and two Central American booths. [4] At 11 PM, "the tamale booth, which was one of the most beautiful in the grounds", caught fire from a Japanese lantern. Hours later, the phonograph booth caught fire in the same way and was destroyed. [5]
In September 1906, a Los Angeles Times reporter wrote: "The growing popularity of apartment houses is causing them to encroach on grounds heretofore exclusively reserved for high-class residences". He was reporting on "one of the handsomest apartment-houses in the city", which was designed by Thornton Fitzhue and was to be built on the southern side of St. James Park, "with a north frontage on the botanical gardens". All would have servants' quarters.[6] Landowner John R. Powers completed another apartment building in St. James Place in 1909, with an entrance also on Scarff Street. Designed by George W. Wryman, it was divided into four apartments of seven rooms each; the venture represented an investment of $35,000.[7]
In 1909 the sidewalks of St. James Park were known as a place where nurses attending perambulators would air and care for babies of the mothers who lived nearby.[8]
In 1937, the Times said: "St James Place, Chester Place, Scarff Street - those place-names mean little to present day Angelinos. Yet they spell an aristocratic Los Angeles of the past, and to a good extent, the present. They are of the wealthy Los Angeles of a past generation, and a visitor to the neighborhood will find evidence of its elegance, if somewhat frayed and faded in spots."[14]
Five years later, in 1942, the Times stated that many of the neighborhood's well known residents had moved elsewhere. [3] In reporting on the neighborhood 50 years after its origin, the Times stated: "Although the time had passed, perhaps forever, when gold-leaf painted ceilings, brocade or tapestry walls shall be in vogue, the exquisite colors and quality of those imported materials will live as long as the memory of the vanishing Old World."[3]
The Times would not mention St. James Park again for forty years; In 1984, it reported on a tour of early city homes for "First Century Families" and their descendants. [15]
In 1992, a developer "mis-led" the city in order to get a demolition permit for 2377 Scarff Street in St. James Park.[17][18] The developer, who wanted to build condominiums, 'mis-led" the city by saying the property was damaged during the riots, therefore receiving a demolition permit under a streamlined process designed to hasten rebuilding.[19] Despite being a contributing structure to the St. James Historic District, and having a historic marker on the property itself, the developer was allowed to begin demolishing the home without notifying the surrounding community. [19] The city publicly acknowledged the mistake.[18]
Geography
The St. James Park Historic District is roughly bounded by 21st and 23 Streets., Mount St. Mary's College, West Adams Boulevard and Union Avenue. [16]
Historic-Cultural Monuments
Durfee House, 2008Seaman-Foshay House, 2008
When the neighborhood of St. James Park was added to the National Register of Historic Places, it was noted that the following Historic-Cultural Monuments were in the community:[20]
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Historic West Adams is a residential and commercial region along the route of the Rosa Parks Freeway, paralleling the east-west Adams Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. With variously described boundaries, the area was an exclusive residential district In the late 19th and early 20th centuries for many wealthy and influential people. It underwent a period of deterioration, but many of its stately old buildings have been and are being rehabilitated and preserved.
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