Picture of the Month 2015

President Jimmy Carter pays a special visit to El Sereno.

Picture includes El Sereno's Ascot Hills, El Sereno Park (including the historic El Sereno pool, a.k.a. "The Plunge"), the historic El Sereno Clubhouse, Farmdale Elementary, part of the original Wilson High School, as well as many recognizable local streets.

Though El Sereno's history dates further back, June 10, 2015 marks El Sereno's 100 year anniversary as an official community in the City of Los Angeles (part of it was annexed in 1912 and second part annexed in 1915).  Here are 100 photos showcasing El Sereno's 100 years as part of  the City of L.A. 

This month we are featuring a map of the arroyos that made up El Sereno's historic watershed.  
The map, courtesy of L.A. Creek Freak, shows two prominent arroyos:
Arroyo Rosa de Castilla and Arroyo de las Pasas.  
 

Arroyo Rosa de Castilla is the best known of the two. This arroyo is actually a perennial stream which comes from an underground spring and flows year-round.  El Sereno's historic Rancho Rosa de Castilla got its name from this arroyo due to the abundance of wild roses that grew along its bank. It was also the source of water which allowed the rancho to flourish during the 1800s, when the Batz Family took over the rancho (for more in-depth info about this arroyo and its impact on El Sereno, visit our Special Collection page). 
 

Although most of this arroyo has been channeled underground, a portion of it can still be seen running along the 710 south freeway as you enter it from Valley Blvd. The stream eventually drains into the Los Angeles  River.
 

The second is Arroyo de las Pasas, a seasonal arroyo that flowed down from Monterey Road/Collis Ave, to Huntington Drive and into Eastlake Park (today Lincoln Park).  Many believe the name comes from the dried grapes (raisins) encountered along this creek during the Spanish exploration.
 

There are several other minor seasonal creeks on the map as well.  The unnamed creek in-between Arroyo de las Pasas and Arroyo Rosa de Castilla  has been previously featured in our November 2013 Picture of the Month (see Special Collections page).  
 

The red circle shows the location of the historic Pacific Electric Bridge at Soto Street and Mission Road.  The blue lines on the map indicates former creeks, now drained or buried.  The tan colored lines indicate where a creek's original flow has been made into a concrete channel.

This month we are sharing a few photos from Season1 of Fear the Walking Dead, which features El Sereno and our local Wilson High School. We are also sharing a little clip from the show which has a bit of El Sereno's history and even uses the 'G-word' (Gentrification).
 

Click on pic above to view the short clip...photo courtesy of Esmeralda Perez.

Below is a short photo album featuring locations in El Sereno on Fear the Walking Dead.

This month we are graciously featuring a classic photograph submitted by  Patsy Lala.  The picture shows Patsy, age 10, in her snow-covered front yard on Tampico Ave in 1949. The unusually cold weather that year presented Southern California with three days of snow.  It was so cold that there is even a news report of snow falling on Catalina Island!!