Depression Years (1930-1938)

El Sereno's Legion Ascot Speedway: a lap 'round the historic track of yester-years. Click on the picture to explore our page.

The economic downturn was felt in El Sereno, where no subdivisions were recorded from 1930 to 1939. A new All Saints Catholic Church, completed in 1931, was a major undertaking for El Sereno's Catholic residents. This large Mission-style-church required large donations from its parishioners, as Catholics were a very small minority in the community. The majority of El Sereno's residents were Protestants from Northern European backgrounds.

This decade also saw the building of the first high school in El Sereno. El Sereno High School was built in 1936 on Eastern Avenue on the site of the old Farmdale School. The old school house, minus its tower, was moved to the back of the lot, to be used as classroom space for woodworking. In 1937, the name of the high school was changed to Wilson High School.

Physically separated from the rest of the town, the Sierra Vista neighborhood considered itself a separate community until the late 1930s. Evidence of this sense of community was the Sierra Vista Community Church on Maycrest Avenue, the only local church not located in central El Sereno. The neighborhood, anchored by the Sierra Vista School, expanded westward from the Short Line Villa Tract. The separate community identity was also engendered by the Sierra Vista Pacific Electric Railway Station, which served the community.

Farmdale and Wilson High School

Because the heavy bell had a bad habit of ringing mysteriously in the dead of night, the belfry of the old Farmdale School, originally known as Bairdstown School, at 2911 Eastern Avenue, is being torn down. It was later discovered that some boys had ran a wire and tolled the bell after dark. Date 1937, LAPL collection