The Militant’s Epic CicLAvia Tour LVIII!!

Interactive map! Click here for full-screen version!

The 15th season of CicLAvia kicks off on Sunday, February 23 – just 77 days after the December route in The Valley. Like our World Champion Dodgers, the CicLAvia offseason would be a short one (tied for the shortest with 2019-2020). This time, the 58th-ever (and first of eight in 2025) Cicla cuts through a 4.1-mile route along south Vermont Avenue in University Park and turning west onto Jefferson Boulevard through the Jefferson Park and West Adams neighborhoods until its western end at La Brea Avenue.

With February being Black History Month, what better way to highlight this Epic CicLAvia Tour than with some locales on and near the route which feature unsung, but important facets of Los Angeles’ Black history (and since this may or may not be the last Black History Month [cue nervous laughter], we might as well pull out all the stops for this one). But the route also features historic sites pertaining to our city’s Korean American and Japanese American communities. Every place has a story, and the streets can be best storytellers.

For those of you clicking onto here from the official CicLAvia Local Gems guide, The Militant wants to give you a shout-out and a Whatup?! The Militant Angeleno, who has attended every single CicLAvia and has never missed a single one, has also written up local guides for every CicLAvia route since 2011 – and he don’t plan to stop. The goal is to give you a new appreciation of the route and the neighborhoods it runs through, while hopefully learning something new about your city (and don’t forget to follow The Militant on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram!).

As usual — Happy CicLAvia, Go Lakers, Go Kings Go and see you or not see you on the streets!

If you found this Epic CicLAvia Tour guide useful and visit any of these sites, please add the #EpicCicLAviaTour hashtag to any social media post that includes it. The Militant will be glad to re-tweet!

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1. Lucas Museum of Narrative Art
2026
One Lucas Plaza (Vermont Avenue and 39th Street), Exposition Park

Taking shape on west side of Exposition Park like a Naboo Royal Starship is the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art (or, “The Luke,” as The Militant would like to call it), a $1 billion state-of-the-art visual, cinematic and interactive museum founded – and 100% funded – by ‘Star Wars’ creator and filmmaker George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson. The site, located in close proximity to Lucas’ alma mater, USC, beat out other site proposals in San Francisco (home of Lucasfilm, Ltd.) and Chicago (Hobson’s hometown) when it was announced in 2017. Originally intended to open in 2021, it was delayed to 2026 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and various construction delays.

2. Masjid Omar ibn Al-Khattab
1994
1025 W Exposition Blvd, University Park

This green-and-white masjid (mosque) with its single towering minaret and dome opened in 1994 but took nearly 20 years to build. In 1977, a Muslim woman who visited her children studying at nearby USC purchased the land on the northwest corner of Exposition and Vermont to establish a mosque, but became ill and died before construction began. Members of the local Islamic community contributed the funds to build the mosque, named in honor of the father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, on the land in her memory. It’s actually the first mosque in California to be specifically designed and built for the purpose of being a mosque, and one of the most visible houses of worship in Los Angeles’ Muslim community.

3. USC Andrus Gerontology Center
1973
3715 McClintock Ave, University Park

Founded in 1880, the University of Southern California is so full of history that can justify an Epic USCicLAvia Tour(?) of its own, but for the sake of this route, we’ll highlight one part of campus along Vermont that has a connection to previous Epic CicLAvia Tour sites. The Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center (visible from Vermont Ave and 37th Place) is a component of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, which conducts academic research in aging-related molecular biology, neuroscience, demography, psychology, sociology and public policy. If you know your Epic CicLAvia Tour guides, the name Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus is a familiar one: Previous CicLAvia guides featured Manual Arts High School further south on Vermont, where she taught at from 1911-1915, and Lincoln High School in Lincoln Heights, where in 1916 she became the first woman in California to serve as a high school principal. She later founded the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP), which happens to be one of CicLAvia’s sponsors (If you’re a Gen-Xer, you know dey always tryin’ to be on yo’ jock…).

4. Marvin Gaye U.S. Post Office
1972; Dedicated 2019
3585 S. Vermont Avenue, University Park

A post office named after a Motown legend, you ask? Well here’s what’s goin’ on: Originally built in 1972 as the Dockweiler Station Post Office (named after native Angeleno lawyer and politician Isidore Dockweiler, who also had a beach named after him), this postal facility processes mail for both the 90007 and 90089 (USC campus) ZIP codes, because it takes two baby. The Militant heard it through the grapevine that in June 2019 it was re-dedicated as the Marvin Gaye Post Office after the legendary soul singer and songwriter in honor of what would have been his 80th birthday. The location of the post office is somewhat of a trouble, man: For the final 8 months of his life, Gaye lived (and met his tragic, untimely 1984 shooting death at the hands of his own father) at the mansion he bought for his parents on 2101 S. Gramercy Place in the Arlington Heights neighborhood (which is actually in the 90018 ZIP code and is served by the much-closer USPS Rimpau Station post office on Washington Blvd). Ain’t that peculiar?

5. Historic Koreatown
c. 1930s
1368 Jefferson Boulevard, University Park

You may or may already know that Los Angeles’ Korean community is situated in what was formerly known as the Wilshire Center district, situated between the Westlake/Pico-Union and Hancock (“Hankook“) Park neighborhoods, known for all-you-can-eat KBBQ joints, late-night eateries and cafes, noraebang studios and bustling pedestrian-oriented commercial districts. But the Korean community in Los Angeles was once centered a few miles farther south. Though Koreans have been in Los Angeles since 1904, it’s here along Jefferson west of Vermont where the largest concentration of Korean immigrants in the US first emerged in the late 1920s. Back then, a yet-to-be divided Korea was colonized by Imperialist Japan between 1910 and 1945, and many activists who fought for Korean independence sought refuge in the US and other Asian countries. The Korean National Association (KNA) was one of the main organizers of the Korean independence movement. Its North American chapter was founded in San Francisco but moved to Los Angeles in 1935. The Korean Independence Memorial Building on 1368 Jefferson, an unmistakable white edifice with the South Korean and US flags flying in front, was built in 1938 to house the KNA, the Korean Women’s Patriotic League and the Sin Han Min Bo/The New Korea community newspaper. After Japanese occupation ended, the building served as a community and cultural center for Korean Americans in Los Angeles. Next door on 1374 Jefferson Blvd stands the Korean Presbyterian Church, built in 1938 and still houses one of the oldest Korean American congregations in the country. And just a few blocks to the southeast is the former home of Hung Sa Dahn/Young Korean Academy (1929-1979) on 3421 Catalina Street, founded by Dosan Ahn Chang Ho, a major Korean independence activist who lived in Los Angeles. It was saved from demolition in 2021 and became a City of Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 2023.

6. Jefferson Oil Drill Site
1965-2023
1375 W. Jefferson Blvd, Jefferson Park

The 1.86-acre empty lot across from the Korean National Association building is the end result of a successful, decade-long environmental justice struggle here in Jefferson Park. Established in 1965, the Jefferson Drill Site was Union Oil Company’s endeavor to drill over 3,000 feet underground into the Las Cienegas Oil Field and extract oil and natural gas. In 2013, the site was acquired by Arizona-based Freeport McMoRan Inc, which planned to expand the site’s operations with a new well and re-drilling two older ones. This generated a huge community outcry, citing already existing serious health issues suffered by residents who lived in proximity to the site, as well as the general sight of adjacent oil ooze and the strong smell of sulphur and related chemicals. In 2017, Freeport McMoran’s California oil operations were acquired by the Colorado-based Sentinel Peak Resources, who after facing organized community-based opposition efforts and inspections by the South Coast AQMD, eventually shut down the site in 2018 and sold it to the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust in 2023. After the upcoming required environmental cleanup, the site is planned to be converted to affordable housing, a community center and a park.

7. ‘This Fool’ House & Filming Locations
1907/2022
2101 W. 29th St, Jefferson Park (Private residence, do not disturb occupants)

This house on the northwest corner of 29th Street and St. Andrews Place portrayed the Lopez residence in the 2022-2023 Hulu comedy series ‘This Fool’. Set in modern-day South Los Angeles, the show centered around the misadventures of two cousins and has been one of The Militant’s favorite TV shows in recent years for its spot-on portrayal of (non-stereotypical/superficial) Los Angeles life and identifiable characters. The house, built in 1907, is the residence of the show’s protagonists, Julio (Chris Estrada), his cousin Luis (Frankie Quiñones a.k.a the Cholo Fit guy) and their multi-generational extended family, the facade was portrayed prominently in both seasons of the show’s short-but-sweet run. The street also boasts other houses featured in the series: Don Emilio’s house, a.k.a. The Rooster House (2116 W. 29th St.) and the neighbor’s house across the street at 2125 W. 29th St. Further down St. Andrews at 1894 Jefferson is Circus Liquor, which portrayed the store where Julio and Luis were held hostage during the robbery scenes in Season 2.

8. New Orleans Corridor
c. 1880s; Designated 2023
Jefferson Boulevard between Western and 10th avenues, Jefferson Park

This strip of Jefferson Boulevard between Western and Crenshaw was informally dubbed the “Creole Corridor” for decades, but its history wasn’t formally recognized until recently. Black/Creole migration to California from Louisiana began in 1883 with the opening of the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Sunset Route providing a direct train ride from New Orleans to Los Angeles. Many of the migrants settled in the Jefferson Park/Sugar Hill (obliterated by the 10 Freeway)/West Adams/Mid-City neighborhoods to work in the then-nearby agricultural areas, followed by successive waves in the 20th century that primarily worked in So Cal’s manufacturing industry, the most recent after the end of World War II. Many businesses, restaurants and cultural institutions of Black/Creole Louisiana heritage were established in the area, most notably Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church on Jefferson and Cimarron (founded 1921) and Harold & Belle’s restaurant on Jefferson and 10th Avenue (founded 1969). The New Orleans Corridor was officially designated in June 2023 with a New Orleans-style Second Line procession down Jefferson (complete with brass band) and a street festival. The festivities were officiated by the mayors of both Los Angeles (Karen Bass) and New Orleans (LaToya Cantrell), the latter of whom carries her own personal connection between both the City of Angels and the Crescent City: She is a native Angelena who moved to NOLA in 1990 to attend Xavier University.

9. Eddie “Rochester” Anderson Mansion
1940
1932 Rochester Circle, Jefferson Park

Eddie Anderson (1905-1977) was a vaudeville entertainer and Bay Area native who rose to fame in the 1930s playing the butler and valet Rochester Van Jones on The Jack Benny Program radio show (and later on in the television version of the show) in an era where there was scant African American representation in  entertainment. With Benny’s support (who insisted that his writers avoid racial jokes on the show and re-located his touring party from hotels that complained of Anderson’s presence), Anderson also became the highest-paid Black entertainer in the world until the 1950s. In 1940, Anderson built a two-story Colonial Revival house (known as the Rochester Mansion) in the Jefferson Park neighborhood, on a street named after his famous character. He lived there until his death in 1977. The house is owned by the Eddie Rochester Anderson Foundation, which used it for a number of years as a sober living facility for its drug treatment program. It is currently being used by the foundation as a short-term rental property. In 2020, the Rochester Mansion was listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

10. ‘This Fool’ Opening Title Wall
1910
2132 Jefferson Blvd, Jefferson Park

The Jefferson Park neighborhood is home to even more ‘This Fool’ filming locations! The western-facing wall of this 1910 two-story storefront building on Jefferson Boulevard and 2nd Avenue is where the title card sequence of the 2022-2023 Hulu comedy series was filmed (The paletero may or may not actually be there though…). R.I.P. Fatass, Bust-A-Nut and ‘This Fool’!

11. LAPL Jefferson Branch – Vassie D. Wright Memorial Library
1923
2211 W. Jefferson Blvd, Jefferson Park

Established in 1915 as a deposit station (a drop-off center for books located at a local business back in the day) for the Los Angeles Public Library system, it became a permanent branch library in November 1923.  Clarence E. Noerenberg (remember this name for later…) designed the single-story, wood-frame Spanish Colonial Revival Style building surrounded by Washingtonia palms. In 1984, the branch was named after Vassie D. Wright, the woman who, in February 1945 founded Our Authors Study club, a book club which highlights the works of Black writers. Eighty years later, the group still meets at this library on the third Saturday of each month. In 1987, the library was added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2002, the historic library branch was renovated and expanded with a modern wing.

12. Los Angeles Railway – J Line Loop
1939
3012 Jefferson Blvd, Jefferson Park

Jefferson Boulevard was once the right-of-way for the old Los Angeles Railway’s J Line, which ran from Jefferson Park to Huntington Park/Walnut Park (via Downtown Los Angeles) from 1911 to 1963. Up until 1939, the line’s western terminus was at Jefferson and 9th Avenue, but it was extended a block west that year to have a balloon loop passenger terminal facility on the south side of the street (likely the reason why the streetcar-desiring New Orleanian community preferred to live in this area). The ivy-covered concrete building in the center of the property was built in 1958 as a break room for streetcar operators and is the last vestige of this lot’s purpose as a rail transit facility. It was passed down over the years through the succession of transit agencies and is still owned by Metro today as a layover facility for Metro Local bus drivers.

13. Kashu “K” Realty/Seinan Japanese District
1947
3100 W. Jefferson Blvd, Jefferson Park

Like many neighborhoods in Los Angeles, Jefferson Park bears overlapping cultural histories: Korean, Louisiana Creole and Japanese as well. Referred to by the local Japanese American community as the “Seinan (southwest) Japanese District,” the Jefferson and Crenshaw corridors were home to many Japanese American businesses in the Post-WWII era. Shops like Grace Pastries, Tamura Furniture, Bank of Tokyo, Koby’s Drug Store and Kokusai Gekijyo theatre were among those that operated in the area. The area also had a considerable number of Japanese American residents as well, mainly facilitated by Kashu “K” Realty, established on Jefferson in 1947. Founded by Los Angeles native nisei Kazuo K. Inouye, a World War II veteran who exterminated Nazis in Europe as part of the Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team, he helped not only fellow Japanese Americans, but Black, Jewish, Chinese and Latino first-time homebuyers purchase residences in the Leimert Park, Crenshaw, Baldwin Hills, Venice, Culver City and Monterey Park areas – often working through loopholes in a system that was normally discriminatory to homebuyers of color those days. During the realty’s peak in the 1960s, the company sold as many as 50 homes a month. Kashu “K” Realty closed down in the 1980s.

14. Site of Mel’s Fish Shack
1982; Demolished 2024
4524 Jefferson Blvd, West Adams

Mel Powell, a Crenshaw High School math teacher with an an entrepreneurial spirit, opened Mel’s Fish Market on 4026 Jefferson Blvd (at Buckingham Road) in 1982 to serve Louisiana-style fried fish and seafood to a local community that was craving for it (see #8 New Orleans Corridor) and became a beloved community institution. Though the fish market’s namesake passed away in 2001, his daughter Georgette has been in charge of the business since 1997 and moved the business down the street in 2008 to Jefferson and Farmdale, re-naming it “Mel’s Fish Shack.” The bright, aqua-blue exterior was even visible from the nearby Metro Rail line, and even attracted customers like the Militant, who was fond of the red snapper. The shack closed in October 2024 and was razed a few weeks later. Fortunately, Georgette Powell temporarily re-located the business to the northeast – currently known as “Mel’s Farmhouse” , at another Metro-accessible location in Lincoln Heights. She plans to return Mel’s to its roots at its original location on Jefferson (still standing) later in 2025.

15. Dorsey High School
1937
3537 Farmdale Ave, Baldwin Hills

Named after Susan Miller Dorsey (1857-1946), the former Los Angeles High School teacher (when it was located in Downtown) who became the first woman to serve as the superintendent of the Los Angeles City School District (now LAUSD) from 1920-1929, this high school opened in 1937. Designed by architects H. L. Gogerty (architect of Hollywood’s Palace Theater, now known as The Avalon) and Clarence E. Noerenberg (Jefferson Branch library, remember?) it was part of president Franklin Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration (WPA) program of building new public infrastructure and institutions nationwide. Known for being football and baseball powerhouse, the school boasts countless prominent alumni, from baseball Hall of Famer Sparky Anderson, to countless NFL players (Dorsey High is one of the top NFL-player producing schools in the country), to congresswoman Diane Watson, to musicians Eric Dolphy and Billy “Fifth Beatle” Preston to Beach Boys singer Mike Love and Shalamar vocalist Jody Watley, to hip-hop producer DJ Mustard (MUSTAAAAAAAAARD!!!). Go Dons!

16. Rancho Cienega Recreation Center
1937
5001 Obama Blvd, Baldwin Hills

Named after the 4,200-acre Mexican land grant Rancho La Ciénega ó Paso de la Tijera, which spanned the surrounding area down towards the Baldwin Hills (the rancho’s heart, the 1791 Sanchez Adobe, was featured in previous Epic CicLAvia Tours, remember?), this Los Angeles city-run recreation center opened in 1937 and hosted athletic events for its next-door neighbor,  the newly-opened Dorsey High School. Now spanning 24 acres, the park features an indoor gym, an aquatic center (named after Crenshaw-area businessman Celes King III), basketball courts renovated by the Clippers and a baseball field renovated by the Dodgers. The tennis courts provide not just play areas for locals, but tennis classes and camps for aspiring tennis players, like two local sisters named Venus and Serena Williams, who took the tennis classes as children in the late 1980s. The park was also instrumental in the re-naming of the former Rodeo Road into Obama Boulevard – the 44th president, then a candidate at the time, made one of his first campaign appearances at this very park in February 2007 (The Militant may or may not have been one of the 500+ people there that day…). In 2022, the City of Los Angeles re-named the park’s sports facilities under the title, “Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex.”

17. Airville Industrial District
c. 1908
Jefferson Blvd and Exposition Blvd between Farmdale and La Brea Avenues, West Adams

You may or may not be wondering why there’s a bevy of industrial-type buildings along Jefferson, seemingly nestled within the residential areas of Jefferson Park, the Crenshaw District, Baldwin Hills and West Adams. The Metro (E) Line light rail trains whizzing by provide a clue: Decades before Metro Rail arrived, the tracks belonged to the Pacific Electric Railway’s Santa Monica Air Line from 1908 to 1953. Named not after aviation, but an antiquated early 20th century term for “fast” or “high-speed,” the Santa Monica Air Line was the fastest and most direct (though not the most frequent – headways were hourly at its peak and then reduced to daily) of four PE routes between Santa Monica and Downtown Los Angeles. Like many PE lines, the Santa Monica Air Line carried not just passenger service but freight service as well, and the collection of warehouses, machine shops and manufacturing facilities that were established here needed the accessibility of freight railroad tracks to be viable. “Airville” was the name of an Air Line depot located somewhere between today’s (E) Line La Brea and Farmdale stations. The freight line, run by the Southern Pacific Railroad between the PE Air Line’s discontinuation in 1953 and freight service closure in 1988 sat empty for years until Metro revived it for light rail service in 2012. The industrial zone once served by the old railroad tracks still remain today. Do check out the artsy planter on Harcourt Avenue made out of a canoe!