Los Angeles State Historic Park (LASHP) is a California State Park within the

Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Aust ...

neighborhood of

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

. Also known as the Cornfield, the former

brownfield In urban planning, brownfield land is any previously developed land that is not currently in use. It may be potentially contaminated, but this is not required for the area to be considered brownfield. The term is also used to describe land pre ...

consists of a long open space between Spring Street and the tracks of the Metro Gold Line. Located outside the main commercial and residential area in the northeast portion of Chinatown, the area is adjacent and southeast of the Elysian Park neighborhood.

History

This former site of the

Southern Pacific Transportation Company The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

's River Station (1876−1901) is considered the "

Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...

of Los Angeles" where new arrivals from the East first disembarked. Corn leaking from train cars and sprouting along the tracks gave rise to the nickname The Cornfield. The site was established as a California state park in 2001.

Park development

In 2001, a five-foot section of the historical Zanja Madre irrigation canal was uncovered. In 2005, the former industrial site was transformed into a productive

cornfield Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. The ...

for one season as an art project called " Not a Cornfield." In 2006, a contest was held in conjunction with the California State Parks Foundation to select a design for the park. The preliminary park opened on September 23 of the same year. Hargreaves and Associates of San Francisco ultimately won the contest. Development of the park has been slow. California's budget deficit forced officials to scale back plans for the park in 2010, earmarking $18 million instead of the planned $55 million. Plans for a bridge, water fountain, theme gardens, an upscale restaurant, as well as an ecology center with restored wetlands were tabled. The tabled features may be added later if funding becomes available. As of 2018, the park is now open; the campfire circle, restrooms and parking lot are available for public use. Numerous community fairs and gatherings have been held in the park. It also contains several plaques that relate the history of the Cornfield, Chinatown and Downtown Los Angeles.

References

External links

Los Angeles State Historic ParkLos Angeles State Historic Park official blog
{{Protected areas of California, SP California State Historic Parks Parks in Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles History of Los Angeles Protected areas established in 2001 2001 establishments in California Chinatown, Los Angeles

History

Park development

See also

References

External links