Little Italy Is Under a Men's Jail? (Los Angeles, Oakland: city hall, houses)

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Is this true?

“I say that my work as an Italian American historian in Southern California is more like chasing ghosts. So much of our history and so much of Little Italy in L.A. has been destroyed. Italian houses were located where the freeway now stands. Little Italy sits under a men’s jail. You look up an address and realize it no longer exists.

Chasing Ghosts: Italian-Americans in Los Angeles | ITALY Magazine

[CALGUY]

Thanks for posting that.
A very interesting article.

Bob.

[Patrolman]

Possibly true, to a small degree. My Los Angeles Italian heritage dates to 1882. Where Union Station and the Men's Central Jail presently stand is the original site of Chinatown. The Italians were primarily settled in present-day Chinatown along North Broadway. Since the demise of Little Joe's Restaurant, the last remnant of Little Italy is St. Peter's Italian Catholic Church, where I was baptized and later married. I still recall the Italian market, Piuma's, located at Sunset & Macy, next to Olvera Street. This article might be of interest:

https://www.scpr.org/news/2016/05/16...story-of-la-s/

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by Patrolman

Possibly true, to a small degree. My Los Angeles Italian heritage dates to 1882. Where Union Station and the Men's Central Jail presently stand is the original site of Chinatown. The Italians were primarily settled in present-day Chinatown along North Broadway. Since the demise of Little Joe's Restaurant, the last remnant of Little Italy is St. Peter's Italian Catholic Church, where I was baptized and later married. I still recall the Italian market, Piuma's, located at Sunset & Macy, next to Olvera Street. This article might be of interest:

https://www.scpr.org/news/2016/05/16...story-of-la-s/

That's a good article -- I think I posted it here a few years ago. BTW, have you been to the Italian museum in DTLA?

[Patrolman]

Originally Posted by Exitus Acta Probat

That's a good article -- I think I posted it here a few years ago. BTW, have you been to the Italian museum in DTLA?

Unfortunately, I have not.

[kttam186290]

It's sad that the Italian community did not speak up and make a big deal about the destruction of their community. Any other populace would have done so.

Hell, the Hispanic community is making a big deal about coffee houses and art galleries in Boyle Heights...which is a joke when you recall that Boyle Heights was at one time a heavily Eastern European Jewish enclave.

I know that, at one point, Eagle Rock and Alhambra were heavily Italian and Irish working class. I think most Italians in So Cal are in far-flung suburbia now (Simi, Saugus, Palmdale, Temecula, Upland) by now. The only significant Italian community within the city of LA is in San Pedro, obviously.

Bakersfield also has a significant Italian-descended population.

As for Northern California, there were, at one point, a lot of Italians in Oakland California too. They pre-dated Oakland's black population to the time before the shipyards were built. Most of them live out in Concord, Pleasanton, Walnut Creek and Pittsburg now.

[LuvSouthOC]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

It's sad that the Italian community did not speak up and make a big deal about the destruction of their community. Any other populace would have done so.

Hell, the Hispanic community is making a big deal about coffee houses and art galleries in Boyle Heights...which is a joke when you recall that Boyle Heights was at one time a heavily Eastern European Jewish enclave.

I know that, at one point, Eagle Rock and Alhambra were heavily Italian and Irish working class. I think most Italians in So Cal are in far-flung suburbia now (Simi, Saugus, Palmdale, Temecula, Upland) by now.

Bakersfield also has a significant Italian-descended population.

This is spot on. I think the reason why this happened is the sense of assimilation was so deep that these ethnicities (including even Russians up north) just melted away and their descendants no longer felt attached to original ethnic enclaves. The Boyle Heights thing is drummed up by communists and agitators and is faux outrage. Perhaps even most multi generational Mexican descended people are entirely Americanized have little attachment to original enclaves.

[jm1982]

Originally Posted by kttam186290

It's sad that the Italian community did not speak up and make a big deal about the destruction of their community. Any other populace would have done so.

Hell, the Hispanic community is making a big deal about coffee houses and art galleries in Boyle Heights...which is a joke when you recall that Boyle Heights was at one time a heavily Eastern European Jewish enclave.

I know that, at one point, Eagle Rock and Alhambra were heavily Italian and Irish working class. I think most Italians in So Cal are in far-flung suburbia now (Simi, Saugus, Palmdale, Temecula, Upland) by now. The only significant Italian community within the city of LA is in San Pedro, obviously.

Bakersfield also has a significant Italian-descended population.

As for Northern California, there were, at one point, a lot of Italians in Oakland California too. They pre-dated Oakland's black population to the time before the shipyards were built. Most of them live out in Concord, Pleasanton, Walnut Creek and Pittsburg now.

Yeah it’s a shame and it seems the hateful and intolerant people are winning . Many art galleries have moved out of the area of course they say it wasn’t do to the attacks and harassment they received by lets be real they are just trying to be politically correct .

It’s a shame though we have local politicians always preaching about “tolerance and diversity “ but just a stones throw from City Hall this stuff is going on and we get crickets about it .

[Pilot1]

Probably because most "Italian-Americans" just became Americans.

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by Patrolman

Unfortunately, I have not.

I've been considering visiting it, but I don't want to deal with parking and I don't want to take an L.A. bus all the way down there.

BTW, based on the dates you mentioned, I'm guessing your family members were from the north -- Abruzzo by any chance? That's from where some of my great grandparents came.