“Olvera St.’s Unique Significance” Olvera St. is one of the oldest places in Downtown Los Angeles and is part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles, which is a historical monument. The town was originally established by Latino families in 1800’s and was the foundation of what would become Los Angeles. The street had been planned to be knocked down in the 1920’s, but was saved by a woman named Christine Sterling. Sterling was able to revive the street and turn it into a historical monument. Since then Olvera St. became a very large tourist attraction because it gave people an insight on what Latino culture, specifically Mexican, is really like. The importance of Olvera St. being saved is very significant for multiple reasons. It holds significance to the Mexican community because of its roots and heritage such as how their ancestors may have lived and what their culture was like. It tells the history of one of the first towns in Los Angeles and it is a location that brings a very diverse crowd to the city. Olvera St. serves as a place where people who have Mexican or Latino backgrounds can see what a Latino “old town” in Los Angeles was really like. It gives an example of what their ancestors may have grown up around and what their lives may have been like. One of the most significant features of Olvera St. is the Avila Adobe, which is a house made of clay. The Avila Adobe is the oldest standing house in Los Angeles and is now a small museum. It was the home to countless Latino families and has much to show about how living in the 1800’s was like. There are no lights in the house because there was no running electricity around when it was first built. Therefore the only light you would have during the day would be from open windows and the only light during the night would be from candles. The walls are made from clay and some brick with the floors and ceilings made from wood. The Avila Adobe was built around a grass courtyard that acted as the “backyard,” which originates from Latino culture. Outside on the street, the ground consists of cobblestone and some areas of brick, which are very reminiscent of Latino “old towns.”
As you follow the cobblestone floor across the street, there are restaurants that also portray a large amount of Latino culture. Walking up to the restaurants, the waiters and people who are playing music are the first aspects of Latino culture that you see. The waiters wear clothes that have Latino roots to them such as the women wearing long dresses that are white, ruffle out at the bottom, and have multiple colors that make patterns on the hem. The men’s clothing is more formal with black slacks a white button up shirt, and a bowtie. The genre of music that the people were playing was mariachi. The woman who was part of the band had a very beautiful voice that she was able to project very loud so that people who were across the restaurant could hear as well. The clothing that they were wearing also had Latino roots such as gray suits with the jacket being shorter than the sleeve length and a woman wearing dress that was similar to the waitress’ dress. Overall, the aspects of the Avila Adobe and Latino culture such as the clothing that the waiters and the Mariachi band were wearing show what it would have been like in a Latino “old town,” and are very important to people of Latino culture. Along with the culture that Olvera St. portrays, it also has a very long line of history behind it. It is the birthplace of Los Angeles and was founded by 44 Mexican settlers in 1781. The town was originally called Vine St. and was under the power of Spain until 1821, when Mexico won its independence from Spain. As the city grew and became known as Los Angeles, the name of Vine St. changed to Olvera St. after Agustin Olvera, who was the first judge of the Los Angeles county. Fast forward into the 1920’s and Olvera St. had turned into a run down street and was almost nearly abandoned by it’s Latino founders. Then in 1928, a woman named Christine Sterling who loved history was walking around El Pueblo de Los Angeles and noticed a sign on one of the original houses from the 1800’s, the Avila Adobe. She read into it and found out that the city was planning to demolish the house. She could not believe that the city was going to demolish the oldest house in all of Los Angeles that had so much Latino history and heritage behind it. As a result of her concern, she raised enough money and caused enough awareness to save the house and some of its surrounding buildings on Olvera St. in 1930. Since then, Olvera St. has become a historical monument and over time has caught popularity with people all over the world and causing a large of amount of tourism to visit Olvera St. The significance of the history of Olvera St. is very important because it is what started the development and growth of what would become Los Angeles. The involvement of Latino culture was vital to the making of Olvera St. and over time many diverse cultures have been a part of the street even until today. While walking through Olvera St., the crowd is very diverse ranging from kids who are on a field trip to business people who are on lunch break and to tourists who are visiting. The many cultural aspects of Olvera St. are what bring field trips and tourists to Olvera St. and it easy to spot these groups of people because they have are taking pictures of everything they see and are fascinated by all of the cultural aspects around them. They are able to get a small taste of what Latino culture is like and are able to learn the history of the first Latino community in what is now Los Angeles. The business people on the other hand are attracted to Olvera St. because of the restaurants and their authentic food. Since Olvera St. is in Downtown Los Angeles and is surrounded by corporate buildings, it serves as a place where they can grab a quick bite to eat or a place where they can have a meeting with a client or a friend. The Union Train Station is also right across the street from Olvera St. and is a huge factor in how people are able to get transportation to Olvera St. The train is not very expensive and makes it easy for diverse groups of people to visit the Olvera St. and all of its cultural aspects. In the end, Olvera St. is very significant because of the history it has behind it, the diverse crowd that it attracts and the Latino roots it holds. The history goes back to the 1800s and serves as a base to how Los Angeles was founded. It portrays what a Latino “old town” looked like and how people lived in the 1800s. These aspects as well as the restaurants are what bring such a diverse group of people to Olvera St. and contribute to what keeps Olvera St. alive. Olvera St. is a cultural historical monument and truly gives justice to what Latino culture is really like.

Bibliography
Calle Olvera: The Oldest Part of Los Angeles. CML Media and Entertainment Group, 2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2014