Los Angeles Playground Commission annual reports 1907 to 1916 01

The City of Los Angeles park and playground departments, also referred to as commissions or committees, were the two municipal government agencies which managed parks and recreational facilities in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, before the current Department of Recreation and Parks was chartered in 1947. The Park Department was founded with the first Los Angeles city charter in 1889. The Playground Department was founded in 1904 and was renamed the Department of Playground and Recreation in the 1925 charter.

History

The Los Angeles Department of Parks was organized in 1889. The Los Angeles Playground Commission was organized by the city council in 1904 as an unpaid five-person commission; the commissioners had authority to hire a superintendent and staff. Arabella Page Rodman served as president from the time of its organization. By 1908, they had created two playgrounds, at Violet Street Park and

Echo Park Echo Park is a neighborhood in the east-Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles, California. Located to the northwest of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown, it is bordered by Silver Lake, Los Angeles, Silver Lake to the west and Chinato ...

, and a Spanish Renaissance-style recreation center intended "offer something of what the social settlement or YMCA building furnishes." Planned for 1910 were playgrounds at Hazard Playground and Slauson Avenue Playground. By 1914 Downey Playground and Exposition Park Athletic Field had been established. A municipal bathhouse and a "Mexican settlement" bathhouse were established in 1915. Mrs. Leafie Sloane-Orcutt was president of the Los Angeles Park Commission from 1916 to 1920. She was the first woman park commission president in the United States and the first woman park commissioner in California. Superintendent Frank Shearer and members of the Parks Commission meet at City Hall in 1927

Superintendent Frank Shearer and members of the Parks Commission meet at City Hall in 1927

In 1934 and 1935, the Park Commission was heavily involved in the planning for

Griffith Observatory Griffith Observatory is an observatory in Los Angeles, California, on the south-facing slope of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park. It commands a view of the Los Angeles Basin including Downtown Los Angeles to the southeast, Hollywood to the sou ...

, including approving exhibits such as a

seismograph A seismometer is an instrument that responds to ground displacement and shaking such as caused by quakes, volcanic eruptions, and explosions. They are usually combined with a timing device and a recording device to form a seismograph. The out ...

, a presentation on the

telescope A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption, or Reflection (physics), reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally, it was an optical instrument using len ...

manufacturing process, and a model of an

oil field A petroleum reservoir or oil and gas reservoir is a subsurface accumulation of hydrocarbons contained in porous or fractured rock formations. Such reservoirs form when kerogen (ancient plant matter) is created in surrounding rock by the prese ...

. Eagle Rock Park was conceived at a 1936 meeting of the Park Commission chief and the Eagle Rock Chamber of Commerce. In 1939 the Commission asked the Chief of Police to please look into removing the possibly dangerous "coyotes, foxes, wildcats and mountain lions" of

Griffith Park Griffith Park is a large municipal park at the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. The park includes popular attractions such as the Los Angeles Zoo, the Autry Museum of the Amer ...

. Also that year, Van M. Griffith, whose parents Griffith J. Griffith and Tina (Mesmer) Griffith gave Griffith Park to the city, joined the Park Commission. The Park Commission oversaw the

Griffith Park Zoo Griffith Park Zoo, referred to today as the Old Los Angeles Zoo, is a city-owned former zoo now in ruins, located in Griffith Park in Los Angeles, California. The zoo opened in 1912, closed in 1966 with the opening of the Los Angeles Zoo, and now ...

within Griffith Park. For example, in 1938 the city council asked the Park Commission to investigate the feasibility of buying the Zoopark (formerly the

Selig Zoo The Selig Zoo in Los Angeles, California was an early 20th century animal collection managed by Col. W.N. Selig for use in Selig Polyscope Company films and as a tourist attraction. Over the years the zoo was also known as the Luna Park Zoo, C ...

) collection of birds and animals for the Griffith Park Zoo. In 1941 the Commission approved the establishment of a "bird fountain" in Lafayette Park to be funded in honor of Mickey Bishop, "the famous Ambassador canary." Mickey Bishop was a literal canary, and the bird bath remained standing in the park until at least 1979. While Encino School was under construction in 1956, the Park Commission allowed lunchtime use of Encino Park as a play area.

Governance

The five-person board of the current Recreation and Park Commission is responsible for departmental budget, staffing, contracting, leasing, purchasing and establishment of policies for Los Angeles city parks and recreation facilities.

References

{{Reflist 1904 establishments History of Los Angeles

History

Governance

See also

References