Urban park centered around a scenic lake with walking paths, paddle boat rentals, lotus beds, and open green spaces for recreation and relaxation.
General Information
Paddle boat rentals available: approximately $11–$15 per hour
How to Get There
From Downtown Los Angeles: Take W 1st St or Sunset Blvd west toward Echo Park
Overview
Echo Park is a densely populated neighborhood in Central Los Angeles. The neighborhood is centered on the lake of the same name.
First established in 1892, and long before Hollywood became synonymous with the commercial film industry, the area of Echo Park known as Edendale was the center of filmmaking on the West Coast.
By the 1910s, several film studios were operating on Allesandro Avenue (now Glendale Boulevard) along the Echo Park-Silverlake border, including the Selig Polyscope Company, Mack Sennett's Keystone Studios, the Pathe West Coast Film Studio, and others.
Several silent film stars worked in the Edendale studios, including Mabel Normand, Fatty Arbuckle, and Harold Lloyd, and Gloria Swanson. Charlie Chaplin's first film was made at Keystone Studios, as well as the very first feature-length comedy ever made, which starred Charlie Chaplin and Mabel Normand.
The first pie-in-the-face scene was filmed at what later became the Mack Sennett Studios on Glendale Boulevard near Effie Street. The complex, which is now part of a storage facility, dates from 1909 and includes one of the area's first permanent sound stages, the factories where movies are made. The former studio, 1712 Glendale Boulevard, is City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 256.
Echo Park Lake's earliest use by the city was as a reservoir. The Los Angeles Canal and Reservoir Co. formed Reservoir No. 4 in 1868. The company obtained the water by digging a ditch that sent water flowing from the Los Angeles River — in the area now known as Los Feliz — along a zigzag path that emptied into the reservoir.
In 1891 the four owners of the surrounding area gave up 33 acres (13 ha) of land to the city around the reservoir so that it could be used as a park. The city began work landscaping the park in October 1892. City parks superintendent Joseph Henry Tomlinson is recognized for coining the name of the new park, which later became the name of the neighborhood. He chose the name because of echoes he heard during the construction of Echo Park Lake in 1892. By 1895, the park and accompanying boathouse were completed.
Echo Park has many rolling hills and valleys with a few flat areas like Echo Park Lake. Its main commercial corridors are Sunset and Glendale boulevards.
Elysian Park
Elysian Park is one of the largest in Los Angeles at 600 acres (240 ha). It is also the city's oldest park, founded in 1886 by the Elysian Park Enabling Ordinance. Most of Elysian Park falls in the Eastern neighborhood of the same name, but a small portion of the park does fall in Echo Park.
Angels Point, a small hill in Elysian Park overlooking Dodger Stadium and the Downtown Los Angeles Skyline. Atop the hill is a large metal sculpture art installation by local artist Peter Shire of the 1980s postmodern Memphis Group.
Chavez Ravine Arboretum, opened in 1893 and contains more than 100 varieties of trees from around the world, including what are believed to be the oldest and largest Cape Chestnut, Kauri, and Tipu trees in the United States.
Grace E. Simons Lodge, an event space with waterfalls and reception rooms.
Marion Harlow Memorial Grove is a small tree and plant grove along the Elysian Park hiking trail.
Originally built in the 1860s as a reservoir for drinking water. Today Echo Park Lake is a Los Angeles icon that functions primarily as a detention basin in the City's storm drain system, while providing recreational benefits and wildlife habitat. Echo Park Lake also plays host to community events, such as the annual Lotus Festival every July.
A 10.5 acres (4 ha) urban natural park which features walking trails, streams, meadows, oak savannahs, picnic grounds, sweeping views of Downtown Los Angeles skyline, and a nature-themed playground amidst native Mediterranean vegetation.
The trendy Echo Park area, known as one of "the city's hippest neighborhoods", has many bars, night clubs, and restaurants. The sprawling historic Taix French restaurant (originally known as Les Freres Taix) has been a landmark in the community since moving to 1911 Sunset Boulevard from downtown Los Angeles in 1964. The 321 Lounge cocktail bar inside the restaurant has hosted live music and comedy for many years and is a longtime destination for Los Angeles Dodgers fans to congregate before or after a baseball game.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Echo Park", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0
