Connecting Atwater to Points Beyond

MY FASCINATION WITH DEFUNCT Los Angeles transportation systems continues, with this gem of a map from the Metro Transportation Library and Archive Collection. Click the top or bottom half of this Burbank-Glendale Line map to see amazing detail of Pacific Electric Railroad conveniences gone by. In fact look along the top border of the bottom half for a handwritten note, "high bridge," referring to the long-gone Fletcher Drive trestle. And hey, there's the lost city of Tropico again! Red Car Project [Flickr]

Sunday Drive Through Lost City of Tropico

LIKE A LANDLOCKED ATLANTIS, the lost city of Tropico, California (1911-1917), exists only in our imaginations. And on some old maps. This map from 1912 shows a suggested Sunday drive from Los Angeles to points north, winding along the macadamized (paved with crushed stone) Los Feliz Avenue. Drivers would pass Griffith Park and cross into the Los Angeles neighborhood of Atwater Village, bordering the City of Tropico. (Where the symbol indicates "gas and oil" and "garage.") Tropico voted itself out of existence in 1917, and was annexed to the City of Glendale. It remains today as a Glendale neighborhood [PDF], bordered by Chevy Chase Drive on the north, Glendale Avenue on the east and Atwater Village on the west. Los Angeles Mapped [Library of Congress] The Short Life of Former Cities [LA City Nerd] New Townhomes in Old Tropico [AV Newbie] Nearly Six Flags Over Atwater Village [AV Newbie]

Call Us ARTwater Village

One art event per week is usually all we can handle over here in Atwater Village (a.k.a. Far East Hollywood, a.k.a. Tropico Adjacent, a.k.a. Baja Glendale). But this weekend we get two hipster magnets:

CCH Pounder Art
Gallery Re-opening
Pounder Kone Art Space
Friday Sept. 8, 6:00pm
3407 Glendale Blvd.

"Out on the Porch"
Exhibit Opening
jFerrari Gallery
Saturday Sept. 9, 7:00pm
3015 Glendale Blvd.

Read more about Friday's and Saturday's events.

New Townhomes in Old Tropico

Two small signs along San Fernando Rd., where Glendale Ave. ends, are likely missed by drivers-by. They announce an urban infill claiming to be the "first mixed-use condominium development" in an area that "virtually abuts" Atwater Village. Kids 95 years ago might have called this the City of Tropico. Today they call it Glendale. Here's the scoop on the "Vintage" project, from a PDF at Urban Housing Alliance (via glendalecollection.com): 3673-3685 San Fernando Ave., Glendale, CA 70 units with 53 townhomes Budget is $18.7 million Expected completion fall 2007 Three- and four-story stucco over wood frame One level subterranean parking 101,000 square feet residential 7,500 square feet retail No mention of the famous neighbors - Humphrey Bogart, James Stewart - now occupying space across the street at Forest Lawn. UPDATE: Yes, this property does seem to include - by virtue of chain-link fence - the Coffee Shop Dining Room and the Original Barrio Fiesta of Manila. Both are closed and, presumably, headed for a wrecking ball. Horrible cell-phone photo shows the "Vintage" development sign on right, the Coffee Shop behind it on the left.

Nearly Six Flags Over Atwater Village

Theme-park-worthy highlights from A History of Atwater Village to About 1940 by teacher and enthusiast of history Neil Malmberg: 1784 - Spain - As part of Alta California, the rancho that will become Atwater Village falls under Spanish colonial government 1821 - Mexico - Winning independence, Mexico assumes the land 1848 - United States - Mexican-American war puts land under US flag 1850 - California - Admitted to the United States 1910 - Los Angeles - Atwater Village narrowly avoids incorporation into City of Tropico (eventually part of Glendale) and is annexed to LA Say what? Los Angeles has a flag? Apparently.