This must be West Adams

With Victorian mansions and Craftsman bungalows tucked off its boulevard, driving down West Adams can feel like you’re traveling back in time. Many of the core structures were built between the 1880s and 1910s, making the South L.A. neighborhood one of the oldest in the city. But pops of vibrant street art bring you back to the present, like David Flores’ pensive portrait of Bob Marley set against crimson poppies or the mural of a little girl in a backward cap who holds her hand up in a “W” sign, a nod to the West Coast.

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“It’s both a historic neighborhood and one that is in transition,” said Ryan Wilson, co-founder of West Adam’s private co-working club the Gathering Spot. “There are a lot of things that are emerging.”

Founded by wealthy Pasadena industrialists Henry E. Huntington and Hulett C. Merritt, West Adams’ first denizens were of similar economic stature. But as Beverly Hills and other Westside neighborhoods were developed, well-to-do white residents were persuaded to resettle in those areas.

Affluent Black Angelenos took their place, including architect Paul R. Williams, who designed the nearby headquarters of the Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co. — once the largest Black-owned insurance company in the West — as well as more than 2,000 private homes, with celebrity clients like Frank Sinatra and Lucille Ball. Oscar-winning actor Hattie McDaniels, blues musician Ray Charles and attorney Johnnie Cochran also had homes in the neighborhood that was then known as Sugar Hill.

In the 1950s, the expansion of the 10 freeway fractured a core section of West Adams, leading to the demolition of numerous homes through eminent domain. A second exodus left the area somewhat neglected.

More recently, the neighborhood’s relative affordability has made it a target for developers. In response, longtime residents are stepping up to protect the legacy of the majority Black and Latino neighborhood.

In 2020, siblings Jasmine and Giovanni Maldonado, who grew up in West Adams, began hosting the monthly pop-up Midcity Mercado as a way to remain in the neighborhood and combat ongoing gentrification and displacement. Taking place in the parking lot that Jasmine’s retail store Persona shares with her mother’s long-running restaurant Mariscos Marias, the family-friendly market features more than 30 rotating BIPOC vendors.

“Midcity Mercado is a celebration of survival,” Maldonado said. “It’s a really beautiful way to share our perspectives and our stories. It unites us in a way where we can appreciate the change and at the same time celebrate what once was.”

And even though the neighborhood is changing, there’s still plenty of history to explore. You can visit one of 70 sites recognized as cultural landmarks, such as UCLA’s William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, or meditate in the verdant gardens of an Italian Renaissance mansion. The neighborhood also has long-standing favorites for Oaxacan food and Creole cuisine; a community-oriented bookstore concept; a cannabis-friendly ceramics studio; special-occasion-worthy Japanese dining and more.

If you think you know West Adams, it’s worth taking another look.