West Adams Heritage Association

West Adams Heritage Association

na

West Adams Heritage Association (WAHA).
501c corp.

Among the forces that have worked to revitalize the West Adams area is the West Adams Heritage Association (WAHA). WAHA is composed of area residents who support preservation of the community's architectural and cultural heritage. Founded in 1983, WAHA has grown from a small resident support group into a recognized preservation voice with several hundred members.

WAHA shares many goals in common with most of the residents and organizations of West Adams. It works to promote commercial development of the major streets, to clean up trash, to paint out graffiti, toencourage cooperation between ethnic groups, and to win the same level of
city services that are routine in more affluent parts of town. But there is also a special perspective that WAHA has: it believes that part of what makes our neighborhood unique is the classic architecture of its homes, This is a
treasure for the city, and for the residents of West Adams. WAHA works especially hard to encourage the rebuilding, restoration, and adaptive reuse of as many of the old homes as possible. And it tries to prevent their destruction by short-sighted developers who do not realize what a treasure
they have.

 

WAHA works for you in the following Ways.....

WAHA carries on its work in West Adams community thought seven major committees.

Historic Preservation. WAHA works to protect historically important buildings, residences, or whole blocks of architecturally significant homes by having them placed in landmark status with the City, State, or Federal Government. It nominates structures to the National Historic Register, kept by the Department of the Interior, or the City Cultural Monument list. It researches the history of each building nominated. It works with professional architectural historians to validate each nomination and it works with the property owners of these buildings to assist them in their
nomination and restoration commitment. WAHA's dedicated assistance in the designation process has created three historic districts within West Adams.

Zoning and Planning. WAHA is committed to the ideal of single-family home ownership and low to low-medium density as described in the community's General Plan. WAHA monitors proposed developments and zoning changes in West Adams. It works closely with the city government to encourage commercial development and construction of affordable
housing on appropriate streets while protection the single-family character of residential blocks that have not been broken up by apartment buildings.

Fund Raising. The main source of WAHA's needed operating income is tours of historic sites in the district. WAHA sponsors home tours in the spring and at the holiday season. It also hosts an annual tour at the Rosedale Cemetery. The revenue produced provides opportunities for education, preservation, and enrichment to the Angelenos desiring to
rediscover Historic West Adams. The Fundraising Committee oversees these tours and additionally, seeks funding support from philanthropic organizations and individuals.

Publications. WAHA's main publication is its monthly NEWSLETTER, which informs not only the membership but the community about WAHA events and important issues affecting our community. It provides information on home restoration and preservation., and provides reports on the myriad activities of both the organization itself and the community at large. Production of other WAHA publications are also the province of this committee.

Events Planning. Wee offer our members and the general public opportunities to learn about home restoration, West Adams history, historic preservation, and government affairs that affect out neighborhood. Monthly potlucks and WAHA sponsored meetings provide a social atmosphere where neighbors have the opportunity to become friends. In addition, we provide several events though out the year such as A Day a the Races, an Ice Cream Social, fourth of July, a Garden Contest and others designed to inform and entertain our members and their guests.

Community Relations. WAHA works with local blocks clubs, churches, schools, businesses, and other community groups to collaborate no vital community issues. WAHA has an active Adopt-A-School program. We also provide yearly scholarships for higher education to worthy resident students. Broadening our membership base within the diverse neighborhood and reach out to the many ethnicity's of the community is a continuing goal.

History of West Adams

West Adams is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Though much of its history is on forgotten, it was once an area of grand homes and bustling development.

The great land boom that turned Los Angeles from a Pueblo to a metropolis came during the period of 1887 through 1915. Contractors were opening up choice lots between Figueroa and West Boulevard, moving south from Pico Blvd. To Jefferson. This was the district that came to be known as "West Adams." The new Adams Blvd. Corridor became the magnet for new wealth in the city. Stately mansions with lush landscaping were erected along the tree-lined boulevard while the middle
class settled on the surrounding broad avenues.

Architects filled the area with classic examples of the elaborate styles of the times: Victorian. Queen Anne, Shingle, Mission, and Craftsman. City leaders such as Lawrence Doheny, Isadore Dockweiller, William Andrew
Clark, George Ira Cochran, and Frederick Rindge built homes here. Hollywood stars of the silent era, too., such as Fatty Arbuckle, Theda Bura, and later, Busby Berkeley, lived here.

West Adams was a quiet suburb on the edge to town in 1915. By 1925 the city had surrounded it. The wealthy drifted away to Beverly Hills and Hancock Park. In the Great Depression of the 1930s many homeowners lost their houses to the banks. Or divided them up, renting rooms to boarders.

For ten years from the late 1930s to the end of the 1940s West Adams played a central part in the battle for integrated housing in Los Angeles.
African-American film stars such as Hattie McDaniel and Louise Beavers fought for and won the right to buy homes here. In 1948 African-Americans succeeded to outlawing racial covenants in real estate that had barred nonwhites from property ownership. Loren Miller Park, just south of Adams Boulevard at Hlldale, was named for the judge who
made this historic ruling. By the early 1950s West Adams had become plurality African-Americans neighborhood.

In the 1960s the construction of the Santa Monica Freeway dealt a heavy blow to West Adams. The neighborhood was cut in half. Hundreds of homes were demolished, property values dropped, and many homeowners left the area. Many homes fell under the control of absentee landlords. Commercial development ground to a halt.

By the early 1980s new residents began to discover West Adams. Due to its nearness to downtown and its unique stock of classic homes, even the freeway and commercial neglect could not permanently keep the neighborhood depressed. New immigrants to Los Angeles from Mexicoand Central America, from Korea and Southeast Asia, were drawn by the affordable housing and proximity to downtown jobs. A new generation of
Anglo homeowners settled in West Adams, where theyhave worked with long-time residents to restore many of the homes and work toward rebuilding the commercial streets.

na

na

About our association

West Adams Heritage Associtation

The primary purposes of the Association are to restore, preserve and protect, and to engage in charitable, eleemosynary and educational actives in respect to community revitalization, unification, and land use compatibility, and the restoration and preservation of, the residences and buildings of historical, cultural and architectural interest located in the North University Park District of Los Angeles, California. This District is bound on the North by the Santa Monica Freeway, on the west on the Vermont Avenue, on the south by Jefferson Boulevard, and on the East by the Harbor Freeway.