Sawtelle, Los Angeles, California
Encyclopedia : S : SA : SAW : Sawtelle, Los Angeles, California
Sawtelle is an area within West Los Angeles, California, that may refer to (1) a district within Los Angeles, (2) an unincorporated county area, or (3) just the Veterans Administration Hospital and former veterans home.
(1) A district within Los Angeles
A 1.82-square-mile district within the city of Los Angeles at one time was an independent municipality but was consolidated with Los Angeles in 1922. It is bounded by Sepulveda Blvd. on the east, Pico Blvd. on the south, the Santa Monica city line on the west and Wilshire Blvd. or unincorporated Los Angeles County on the north.
It includes portions of Zip Codes 90049 and 90025 and all of Zip Code 90073.
Within this district lies a Japanese-American community along Sawtelle Blvd., between Santa Monica and Olympic Blvds. It includes Japanese-oriented markets, restaurants, nurseries, temples, karaoke bars and shops.
History of the city of Sawtelle
Sawtelle existed as a separate city for many years up to 1922. According to "Police Seizure of City Hall Starts Sawtelle on Exit Path" by reporter George Garrigues in the Los Angeles Times (Westside section) of January 10, 1963, the following events took place:
In 1918, the voters of Sawtelle decided by a margin of three votes to merge their city with Los Angeles. The vote was 519-516. But the Board of Trustees, equivalent to a city council, refused to accept the decision and "ordered a challenge in the courts."
The city of Los Angeles, however, did not wait for a court decision but instead "rounded up a squad of policemen and 'swooped' down upon the Sawtelle City Hall, as one account put it at the time."
Sawtelle city officials were locked out of the City Hall and L.A. people took over all the municipal and school activities.
In the meantime, the ousted Sawtelle trustees continued their case in the courts, and on Sept. 15, 1921, the California Supreme Court decided the consolidation had indeed been illegal because the voters "had not been told on their ballots that they would have to pay a proportionate share of all Los Angeles debts for bonds."
"Thirty-two days later the city of Los Angeles moved out of Sawtelle as quickly as it had moved in. Nine policemen packed up the records and left; eight firemen abandoned the fire engine and reported for work elsewhere." The city of Sawtelle was back in operation.
In 1922 another election was held, and once again Sawtelle voters decided to join Los Angeles. This time the merger was permanent. Sawtelle was the fourth city to be merged with Los Angeles, after Wilmington and San Pedro in 1909 and Hollywood in 1910.
(2) Unincorporated county area
An unincorporated area of seven parcels includes the Veterans Administration and other federal buildings.
It is bounded by an irregular line starting at Levering and Veteran Aves. on the northeast, south on Veteran Ave. to the northern boundary of Westwood Park, west or south on Sepulveda Blvd. or the San Diego 405 Freeway to Ohio Ave., west or north on Ohio Ave. or Purdue Ave. to the rear line of properties facing Rochester Ave., west to Federal Ave., north along Federal or Bringham Ave. or the western limit of the former Veterans Home grounds to Chayote Street, east on Chayote to Woodburn Drive, south on the western limit of the hospital grounds to Waterford Street, east on Waterford to Sepulveda Blvd, north to the northern limit of the Los Angeles National Cemetery, and east on a line to Levering and Veteran Aves. (Thomas Guide to Los Angeles County, 2002.)
It is completely surrounded by the city of Los Angeles. It is bordered by the Los Angeles communities of West Los Angeles to the south, Brentwood to the northwest, and Westwood on the east.
This territory consists of six parcels owned either by the U.S. government of the state of California. A private utility company owns a seventh. It is under the zoning and governmental control of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors within the Third Supervisorial District.
(3) The Veterans Administration Hospital and home
The grounds of the former Veterans Home, which was established in 1888, along with a cemetery and hospital for former soldiers and sailors is also referred to as Sawtelle. This area includes the Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital building south of Wilshire Blvd., which was opened in 1977. The Los Angeles National Cemetery on both sides of Sepulveda Blvd. contains the remains of some 85,000 veterans and family members from the Mexican-American War to the present.
Public transportation
The community of Sawtelle grew up after the veterans home was established. It was at first served by a Santa Monica horse car line, which was later electrified. In the early 20th century, the hospital was a stop on L.A.'s Balloon Route, which carried tourists from downtown to the ocean and back.
The area is now served by buses of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority, the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus and the green coaches of the Culver CityBus system.
Cultural reference
In Neal Stephenson's science-fiction novel, Snow Crash, he coined the name "Fedland" for the Sawtelle area, because in the novel it is one of the few bits of land still under the direct control of the United States government (the rest has been taken over by corporations).External links
- [Los Angeles National Cemetery]
- [VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System]
- [Sawtelle Blvd.]
- [Los Angeles in the 1900s, Sawtelle and the Veterans Hospital]
- [Los Angeles City map of annexations and consolidations]
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.