Eagle Rock is a neighborhood of

Northeast Los Angeles Northeast Los Angeles (abbreviated NELA) is a region of Los Angeles County, comprising seven neighborhoods within the City of Los Angeles. The area is home to Occidental College located in Eagle Rock. History The bulk of the area closer to Pu ...

, abutting the

San Rafael Hills The San Rafael Hills are a mountain range in Los Angeles County, California. They are one of the lower Transverse Ranges, and are parallel to and below the San Gabriel Mountains, adjacent to the San Gabriel Valley overlooking the Los Angeles Bas ...

in Los Angeles County, California. Eagle Rock is named after Eagle Rock, a large boulder whose shadow resembles an eagle.http://www.eaglerockcouncil.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=72 Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council, History of. Retrieved June 24, 2010 Eagle Rock was once part of the

Rancho San Rafael Rancho San Rafael was a Spanish land grant in the San Rafael Hills, bordering the Los Angeles River and the Arroyo Seco in present-day Los Angeles County, southern California, given in 1784 to Jose Maria Verdugo. Geography The rancho includes ...

under

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

and Mexican governorship. In 1911, Eagle Rock was incorporated as a

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

, and in 1923 it combined with the City of Los Angeles. The neighborhood is the home of Occidental College and is known for being an enclave of

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

. As with other neighborhoods in Northeast Los Angeles, Eagle Rock experienced significant

gentrification Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the ec ...

in the 21st century.

History

Before the arrival of European settlers, the secluded valley below the San Rafael Hills that is roughly congruent to Eagle Rock's present boundaries was inhabited by the

Tongva people The Tongva ( ) are an Indigenous people of California from the Los Angeles Basin and the Southern Channel Islands, an area covering approximately . Some descendants of the people prefer Kizh as an endonym that, they argue, is more historicall ...

, whose staple food was the acorns from the valley's many oak trees.Eagle Rock Historical Society Time Line
Retrieved June 24, 2010 These aboriginal inhabitants were displaced by

settlers in the late 18th century, with the area incorporated into the

. Following court battles, the area known as Rancho San Rafael was divided into 31 parcels in 1870. Benjamin Dreyfus was awarded what is now called Eagle Rock. In the 1880s Eagle Rock existed as a farming community. The arrival of American settlers and the growth of Los Angeles resulted in steadily increasing semi-rural development in the region throughout the late 19th century. The construction of Henry Huntington's Los Angeles Railway trolley line up Eagle Rock Boulevard to Colorado Boulevard and on Colorado to Townsend Avenue commenced the rapid

suburbanization Suburbanization is a population shift from central urban areas into suburbs, resulting in the formation of (sub)urban sprawl. As a consequence of the movement of households and businesses out of the city centers, low-density, peripheral urba ...

of the Eagle Rock Valley. Although Eagle Rock—which is geographically located between the cities of Pasadena and Glendale—was once incorporated as Eagle Rock City in 1911, it was thereafter annexed to the City of Los Angeles in 1923 due to need for an adequate water supply and a high school. Several of the major crime sprees that have become part of Los Angeles' late 20th century history have left their mark on the neighborhood. An early victim of the Hillside Strangler was discovered in an Eagle Rock neighborhood on October 31, 1977. The discovery, along with the successive murders of at least 10 other women in the area over the course of five months, rocked what was then a small, close-knit community on the outskirts of Los Angeles. In an opinion piece to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' on December 6, 1977, a resident under the pseudonym Deirdre Blackstone wrote of the fear experienced by the community: "Groups of gum-chewing girls in look-alike hairdos and jeans who used to haunt the Eagle Rock Plaza — they too are keeping close to home ... We are all afraid. For women living alone, ours is an actual visceral fear that starts at the feet. Then it hits the knees — and finally it grips the mind." Two men, Kenneth Bianchi and Angelo Buono, were subsequently convicted of the murders. On the night of March 20, 1985, an 8-year-old girl was abducted from her home in Eagle Rock and sexually assaulted by a man dubbed the "Valley Intruder," "Walk-in Killer" and "The Night Stalker," later identified as

Richard Ramirez Ricardo "Richard" Leyva Muñoz Ramirez (; February 29, 1960 – June 7, 2013), dubbed the Night Stalker, the Valley Intruder (as his attacks were first clustered in the San Gabriel Valley), and the Walk-in Killer was an American serial kil ...

. This was the seventh in a long string of murders and sexual assaults committed by Ramirez in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

before he was apprehended. In 2002, an effort to designate an area of the community as "Philippine Village" for the large

Filipino American Filipino Americans ( fil, Mga Pilipinong Amerikano) are Americans of Filipino ancestry. Filipinos and other Asian ethnicities in North America were first documented in the 16th century as slaves and prisoners on ships sailing to and from New ...

population was stopped. Like the surrounding areas of Northeast Los Angeles, Eagle Rock has undergone

. Beginning in the 2000s and picking up speed in the 2010s, the “authentic urbanism” and “small-town intimacy” of the area's boulevards have played a role in drawing young professionals and fostering an emergent hipster culture. As a result, housing prices have dramatically risen and a new wave of restaurants, coffee shops, bars, and art galleries have appeared over the last decade.

Demographics

The neighborhood is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups and the

creative class The creative class is the posit of American urban studies theorist Richard Florida for an ostensible socioeconomic class. Florida, a professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management at the University of To ...

. Over the past decade the Eagle Rock and neighboring Highland Park have been experiencing

as young urban professionals have moved from nearby neighborhoods such as

Los Feliz LOS, or Los, or LoS may refer to: Science and technology * Length of stay, the duration of a single episode of hospitalisation * Level of service, a measure used by traffic engineers * Level of significance, a measure of statistical significanc ...

and Silver Lake. A core of

counter-culture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

writers, artists and filmmakers has existed in Eagle Rock since the 1920s. According to the " Mapping L.A." project of the ''

,'' the 2000 U.S. census counted 32,493 residents in the Eagle Rock neighborhood — or 7,644 people per square mile, an average population densities for both the city and the county. In 2008, the city estimated that the population had increased to 34,466. In 2000 the median age for residents was 35, about average for city and county neighborhoods.http://projects.latimes.com/mapping-la/neighborhoods/neighborhood/eagle-rock "Eagle Rock," Mapping L.A., ''Los Angeles Times'' The neighborhood was considered "highly diverse" ethnically within Los Angeles, with a relatively high percentage of Asian people. The breakdown was

Latinos Hispanic and Latino Americans ( es, Estadounidenses hispanos y latinos; pt, Estadunidenses hispânicos e latinos) are Americans of Spaniards, Spanish and/or Latin Americans, Latin American ancestry. More broadly, these demographics include a ...

, 40.3%;

whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as ...

, 29.8%; Asians, 23.9%;

blacks Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in ...

, 1.8%; and others, 4.1%. The

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

(35.1%) and

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

(25.1%) were the most common places of birth for the 38.5% of the residents who were born abroad—an average figure for Los Angeles. The median yearly household income in 2008 dollars was $67,253, considered high for the city. The neighborhood's income levels, like its ethnic composition, can still be marked by notable diversity, but typically ranges from lower-middle to upper-middle class. Renters occupied 43.9% of the housing stock, and house- or apartment-owners held 56.1%. The average household size of 2.8 people was considered normal for Los Angeles. Thirty percent of Eagle Rock residents aged 25 and older had earned a four-year degree by 2000, an average percentage for the city.

Geography

Eagle Rock is bordered by the City of Glendale on the north and west, Highland Park on the southeast,

Glassell Park Glassell Park is a neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles, California, in the San Rafael Hills. Population The 2000 U.S. Census counted 23,469 residents in the 2.75-square-mile Glassell Park neighborhood—or 8,524 people per square mile, an averag ...

on the southwest and the cities of Pasadena and South Pasadena on the east. Major thoroughfares include Eagle Rock Boulevard and Colorado Boulevard, with

Figueroa Street Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in Los Angeles County, California, spanning from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington north to Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs just south of Marengo Driv ...

along the eastern boundary. The Glendale and Ventura freeways run along the district's western and northern edges, respectively.

Landmarks

2007September formerEagleRockBranchLibrary

The neighborhood is home to many historic and architecturally significant homes, many done in the Craftsman, Georgian, Streamline Moderne,

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

and Mission Revival styles. There are nine

Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments are sites which have been designated by the Los Angeles, California, Cultural Heritage Commission as worthy of preservation based on architectural, historic and cultural criteria. History The Historic-Cul ...

in Eagle Rock: * The Eagle Rock - located at the terminus of Figueroa Street, it is Historic-Cultural Monument #10. * Eagle Rock City Hall - Located at 2035 Colorado Boulevard, it is Historic-Cultural Monument #59. Once a separate municipality, this was Eagle Rock's original City Hall. * Eagle Rock Branch Library - Located at 2225 Colorado Boulevard, it is Historic-Cultural Monument #292. The original library, which was built with the aid of a Carnegie grant in 1914, was replaced in 1927 with a new structure which used one wall and the basement of the old library. It now serves as the Center for the Arts Eagle Rock.Warren, Eric. ''Images of America Eagle Rock''. Arcadia Publishing 2009 * Residence at 1203-1207 Kipling Avenue - It is Historic-Cultural Monument #383. * Loleta House - Located on Loleta Avenue, it is a cultural hub and home to the Loleta Boys. * Argus Court - Located at 1760-1768 Colorado Boulevard, it is Historic-Cultural Monument #471. * Eagle Rock Playground Clubhouse - Located at 1100 Eagle Vista Drive , it is Historic-Cultural Monument #536. * Eagle Rock Women's Twentieth Century Clubhouse - Located at 1841-1855 Colorado Boulevard, it is Historic-Cultural Monument #537. * Swanson House - Located at 2373 Addison Way, it is Historic-Cultural Monument #542. * Eagle Rock Women's Christian Temperence Union Home - Located at 2222-2244 Laverna Avenue & 2225-2245 Norwalk Avenue, it is Historic-Cultural Monument #562.

Parks and recreation

* Eagle Rock Recreation Center - 1100 Eagle Vista Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90041 * Eagle Rock Dog Park - 1100 Eagle Vista Drive Los Angeles, CA 90041. * Eagle Rock Hillside Park - North of the Ventura Freeway and South of Valle Vista, Los Angeles, CA 90041. * Richard Alatorre Park - Figueroa and 134 Freeway, Los Angeles, CA 90041. * Yosemite Recreation Center - 1840 Yosemite Dr., Los Angeles, CA 90041.

Education

Eagle Rock, LA, California Jan 1969 (cropped)

Higher education

Eagle Rock is the site of Occidental College, which was first established in

Boyle Heights Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include: Disambiguation *Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...

in 1887, but a fire destroyed its original site in 1896; from there the college moved to a temporary location in Downtown Los Angeles until 1898 when it moved to Highland Park, and then to Eagle Rock in 1914. The campus was designed by architect

Myron Hunt Myron Hubbard Hunt (February 27, 1868 – May 26, 1952) was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California and Evanston, Illinois. Hunt was elected a Fellow in the American Institute of Archi ...

.Occidental College; A long Tradition
Retrieved on June 24, 2010

Schools

Eagle Rock children attend schools in District 4 of the Los Angeles Unified School District. *

Eagle Rock High School Eagle Rock High School (ERHS) is a public school located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of northeast Los Angeles, California. History The school opened its doors on September 12, 1927. It was in the Los Angeles City High School District un ...

, 1750 Yosemite Drive. Eagle Rock High School was built in 1927 by the City of Los Angeles, as promised at the time of Eagle Rock's annexation. The building was demolished in 1970 over concerns about its earthquake safety. It was replaced by a contemporary brutalist style building at the rear of the same school site. * Renaissance Arts Academy, charter high school, 1800 Colorado Boulevard * Dahlia Heights Elementary School, 5063 Floristan Avenue * Santa Rosa Charter Academy, middle school, 3838 Eagle Rock Boulevard * Eagle Rock Elementary School, 2057 Fair Park Avenue * Rockdale Elementary School, 1303 Yosemite Drive * Delevan Drive Elementary School, 4168 West Avenue 42 * Toland Way Elementary School, 4545 Toland Way * Annandale Elementary School, 6125 Poppy Peak Drive * Celerity Rolas Charter School, 1495 Colorado Boulevard. Closed for 2018–2019 school year.

In popular culture

Eagle Rock locations appear in '' Top Gun'', '' The Hunt for Red October'', and a second-season episode of ''

The O.C. ''The O.C. '' is an American teen drama television series created by Josh Schwartz that originally aired on the Fox network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. "O.C." is an initiali ...

'' ''Star Trek III'' was partially filmed on the campus of Occidental College. Other movies filmed almost entirely in Eagle Rock include; all of the exterior scenes of '' The Incredible Shrinking Woman'' (1981) starring

Lily Tomlin Mary Jean "Lily" Tomlin (born September 1, 1939) is an American actress, comedian, writer, singer, and producer. She started her career as a stand-up comedian as well as performing off-Broadway during the 1960s. Her breakout role was on the varie ...

, ''Record City'' (1978) with Ed Begley Jr. was filmed in its entirety in a defunct auto paint shop, and ''The Unwed Father'' (1974) starring Joseph Bottoms and Kay Lenz had all of its exterior location shots filmed on the Eagle Rock High School campus. *

This Is Us ''This Is Us'' is an American family drama television series that aired on NBC from September 20, 2016, to May 24, 2022. The series follows the lives and families of two parents, and their three children, in several different time frames. It s ...

- Pearson family home, 5223 Shearin Avenue. *

Reservoir Dogs ''Reservoir Dogs'' is a 1992 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino in his feature-length debut. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen, Tarantino, and Edward B ...

- Pat and Lorraine's Coffee Shop, 4720 Eagle Rock Boulevard. *

Clueless ''Clueless'' is a 1995 American coming-of-age teen comedy film written and directed by Amy Heckerling. It stars Alicia Silverstone with supporting roles by Stacey Dash, Brittany Murphy and Paul Rudd. It was produced by Scott Rudin and Robert ...

- Occidental College. *

Beverly Hills, 90210 ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (often referred to by its short title, ''90210'') is an American teen drama television series created by Darren Star and produced by Aaron Spelling under his production company Spelling Television. The series ran for ...

- Occidental College served as "California University". * Aquarius - Cindy's coffee shop, 1500 Colorado Boulevard. * Pharrell's music video " Happy" - locations include the

CVS Pharmacy CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is an American retail corporation. A subsidiary of CVS Health, it is headquartered in Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It was also known as, and originally named, the Consumer Value Store and was founded in Lowell, Massachusetts, in ...

on Eagle Rock Blvd.,

and the All-Star Lanes. * Avril Lavigne's music video " Complicated" - locations include the Eagle Rock Plaza Mall.

Notable residents

Ben Affleck Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a Volpi Cup. Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the PBS education ...

, a former Occidental College student, lived on Hill Drive with then-roommate and co-writer

Matt Damon Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...

while they wrote the script for ''

Good Will Hunting ''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American psychological drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver. The film received positive r ...

'. *

Maria Bamford Maria Bamford (born September 3, 1970) is an American actress and stand-up comedian. Her work has drawn critical acclaim and controversy because her humor often uses self-deprecating and dark topics, including her dysfunctional family, depressio ...

(comedian) * Marlon Brando (actor)Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society
/ref> * Mike Carter (American-Israeli basketball player) * John Dwyer (musician) *

Zack de la Rocha Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Agains ...

(musician)Metro Boston News Sunday October 5th
* Paul Ecke (botanicals) *

M.F.K. Fisher Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (July 3, 1908 – June 22, 1992) was an American food writer. She was a founder of the Napa Valley Wine Library. Over her lifetime she wrote 27 books, including a translation of ''The Physiology of Taste'' by Brillat- ...

(writer) *

Lloy Galpin Ava Lloy Galpin (1877 – April 19, 1935) was an American educator, clubwoman, suffragist, temperance activist, and politician, based in Southern California. Early life Ava Lloy Galpin was born in Saginaw, Michigan,Parrello, Frank"The Galpins o ...

(suffragist, teacher) * Jack Kemp (Congressman, quarterback, HUD Secretary - Occidental College alumnus) * Carlos R. Moreno (jurist) *

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

(44th President of the United States - Occidental College student) * Zasu Pitts (actress) *

Hanson Puthuff Hanson Duvall Puthuff (August 21, 1875 – May 12, 1972) was a landscape painter and muralist, born in Waverly, Missouri. Puthuff studied at the Art Institute of Chicago before moving to Colorado in 1889 to study at University of Denver Art School. ...

(artist) * Mark Ryden (artist)"Ryden and Peck,
Bizarre
June 2009. * Robert Shaw (conductor) * John Steinbeck (author) * Madeleine Stowe (actress) *

Marshall Thompson James Marshall Thompson (November 27, 1925 – May 18, 1992) was an American film and television actor. Early years Thompson was born in Peoria, Illinois. He and his parents, Dr. and Mrs. Laurence B. Thompson, moved to California when he was a ...

(actor) * Dalton Trumbo (screenwriter, author) *

Lindsay Wagner Lindsay Jean Wagner (born June 22, 1949) is an American film and television actress, model, author, singer, and acting coach. Wagner is best known for her leading role in the American science-fiction television series '' The Bionic Woman'' (197 ...

(actress) *

Virginia Weidler Virginia Anna Adeleid Weidler (March 21, 1927 – July 1, 1968) was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s. Early life and career Weidler was born on March 21, 1927, in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles County, C ...

(actress)
* Keith Wyatt (Musician, educator)

References

External links

Eagle Rock Neighborhood Council

Eagle Rock Valley Historical Society

Eagle Rock crime map and statistics
{{Authority control 1906 establishments in California 1923 disestablishments in California Former municipalities in California Hipster neighborhoods Neighborhoods in Los Angeles Northeast Los Angeles Populated places established in 1906 San Rafael Hills