The Echo Park Historical
Society was founded in the Fall of 1995 to promote interest in Echo
Park?s heritage, to preserve and protect natural sites and buildings of historic
significance within our community, to document and collect materials pertaining
to the rich and eclectic history of our neighborhood, and to chronicle the lives
of our past and present residents whose deeds and contributions lend pride and
substance to our lives here today.

Previously, there had been no
mechanism in place to deal with preservation or history-related concerns in Echo
Park. EPHS filled that void, and was instrumental in bringing the Jensen?s
Recreation Center sign to the attention of the Department of Cultural Affairs.
This resulted in the re-lighting of this unique Echo Park landmark on August 20
1997, after five decades of darkness.

EPHS sponsored Echo Park History Day
at Barlow Sanitorium (built in 1902 - Historic Cultural Monument #504). This
open house event featured guest speakers, tours, and an exhibit of vintage
photographs and memorabilia from our archives. ?Old-timers? in attendance were
encouraged to be interviewed as part of our ongoing oral history outreach.

We publish a quarterly newsletter and
hold general meetings three times per year featuring guest speakers on topics
ranging from architectural preservation to historic overviews of our community.

We are a grassroots, non-profit
organization completely staffed by volunteers. Everyone is welcome to
participate in our activities, including non-residents of Echo Park. Our
operating costs are covered solely by membership dues and donations. The general
public is welcome at all of our functions free of charge.

For more information, please contact
us:

Echo Park Historical Society

P.O. Box 261022

Echo Park, CA. 90026

323.860.8874

Echo Park and its lake have always been a touchstone for the community that grew up around it. 

Initially, the area we now know as the park was a natural arroyo that filled with water from a spring-fed stream that originated at Baxter Street and flowed down what is now Echo Park Avenue. In 1868 the Los Angeles Canal and Reservoir Co. dammed the arroyo to make a reservoir that aided in powering a woolen mill at what is now 6th and Figueroa (then known as Pearl St.) and was to eventually serve local residents, walnut orchards and vineyards to the south along Alvarado. The immigrants that worked these orchards and vineyards settled here and began to build small homes along Sunset Boulevard, between Echo Park Avenue and Lemoyne Street.  

In 1875, the woolen mill closed and the reservoir land (then known as the Montana Tract) was sold off. Eventually, Thomas J. Kelley and Dr. W. Lemoyne Wills purchased the land for a business venture. For reasons unknown, the venture wasn?t feasible and in 1888, Mr. Kelley and Dr. Wills donated the land to the city for the expressed purpose of creating a public park for the enjoyment of the people of Los Angeles.  The paperwork was finally completed during the recession of 1889 and in 1891 park development began. The first Superintendent of Parks for the city was an English immigrant named Joseph Tomlinson who was assigned the task of creating the park. Mr. Tomlinson, being somewhat homesick for his favorite park in Derbyshire, England, decided to model the park after his favorite childhood place to play. At the same time, the reservoir was closed and the stream was capped. The park superintendent created a 16-acre lake where the reservoir had been. It cost $5,637.00 to create the lake that is now filled with city water. Once that was accomplished, the planting began on the other 15 acres of park.  

One day, while overseeing the work, Mr. Tomlinson thought he heard his workers talking during a break, but he knew they were across the park from him. The park had an echo! He knew what the name of the park would be! Unfortunately, the plantings he installed destroyed the echo, but the name remained. The park was dedicated and opened to the public in 1895. 

The famous bed of lotuses that grow in the lake at the northwest end of the park, the largest stand of lotuses outside Asia, is a mystery yet to be solved. One legend says that evangelical Chinese missionaries planted them for use as food, but no one knows the real story. They appeared some time in 1923 or 1924. Nonetheless, they remain a beautiful addition to the park and have inspired the city to sponsor the annual Lotus Festival that celebrates Asian and South Pacific Island cultures.

1902 United States Geographical Survey. Note blue-line that starts at the top-right.
This is the Los Angeles Canal and Reservoir Co’s Zanja (ditch) which conveyed water to the reservoir from the Los Angeles River. The zanja started at the present day ‘Travel Town’ and followed the slopes above the river until it veers south above a small valley (Glendale Blvd. down to Riverside Drive). The Zanjas course then followed the hill above what is now Silverlake Reservoir (note the dashed blue-line, a natural ‘waterway’ that is now the bottom of the reservoir). The zanja then follows the present day Silverwood Terrace then turns South-East south of Berkeley Street then down what became Glendale Blvd. to the reservoir (Echo Park). Also feeding into the reservoir was the small blue-line to the right, the natural spring from Baxter Street.    ~M. Scott Fajack