Some history from the Electric Railway Historical Association:

The Elysian Park Street Railway Company built this line in 1889 on Echo Park Avenue from Temple Street to about 600 feet north of Sunset Boulevard as a horse car line. In the fall of 1890 that part of the line between Temple and Sunset was abandoned and the rails removed. In late 1890 the line was extended about a mile up Echo Park Avenue to Cerro Gordo Street.

The Los Angeles Pacific purchased the line on November 15, 1895. The line was electrified by LAP in 1902, opening for service as such on November 20, 1902. The line was standard gauged in 1909. The Pacific Electric acquired this line in 1911, and it was operated until converted to bus operation on October 1, 1950.

This Master Plan will outline the needs and interests of both sides. The current head of the DWP, S. David Freeman, agreed that planning for the future would be a good idea. Community meetings in the coming months will explore various options and come to a consensus on how both the community and DWP would benefit.

1. The first workshop was held on March 27th. The goal was to introduce the concept of a Master Plan and give the community a chance to express their concerns and desires. Over 2000 invitations were sent out. The mailing list was compile from neighborhood organizations and the results of a title search for addresses near the reservoir. Also, flyers were posted in local businesses and banners hung up on the reservoir fence and at Ivanhoe Elementary School. Approximately 150 people attended the workshop.

2. The second workshop was held on May 20th. The goal was to present some ideas that came from the first workshop and get more suggestions and ideas. In an effort reach as many people as possible, over 20,000 invitations were sent out. The address list was compiled from DWP billing records. As before, flyers were also distributed and banners were hung up. Approximately 240 people attended this workshop.

3. A third workshop was held on July 24th. The goal was to clarify some of the findings in the first two workshops. Over 150 people attended the third Silver Lake Master Plan workshop at John Marshall High School on Saturday, July 24th. The Master Plan team setup large display boards with photographs and drawings highlighting various ideas and proposals that were developed from the first workshop and, based on input from the second workshop, refined for presentation in the third workshop. Since many participants in the second workshop said they did not have time to adequately review the proposals before the presentation or were confused by some of the ideas and concepts being presented, the third workshop was structured so that attendees would be able to view the proposals and concepts between 8:30 and 10:30 AM before the formal presentation. By the time Mia Lehrer and her team started the formal presentation at 10:30, many of the participants had taken advantage of the opportunity to discuss the various proposals and ideas with members of the Master Plan team, SLRA and CSSLR Board members, and their neighbors. This was a great chance to have an in-depth discussion about the Master Plan.

4. A final meeting was originally planned for November, 1999, where the Master Plan team was going to present the Master Plan the community the community. That meeting was rescheduled to either late January or February 2000 to give the project team more time to organize the community input, consult with city officials and to insure that elected officials will be at the final meeting. Please check the community calendar for more news.

All seniors purchasing books at Skylight will receive a discount on any Tuesday before 4 pm. They love special orders and will locate that hard to find book you have been trying to lay your hands on. They also offer a Frequent Buyer Program. Skylight is open every day (except Thanksgiving and Christmas).

Send us an email or come by and see us to sign up for their printed newsletter Skylight Booknotes. Their mailing list and customer information is strictly confidential, and they never sell, rent or give away information about Their customers. They believe that what you read should be no one’s business but your own.

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.

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

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

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 map from 1902. 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 (present day Glendale Blvd. down to Riverside Drive). Its course then follows the hill above the present day 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. Also feeding into the reservoir was the small blue-line to the right, the natural spring from Baxter Street.