Soto Street is a major north-south thoroughfare in

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, connecting the southernmost neighborhoods of the Eastside, as well as the southeastern suburbs of Vernon and

Huntington Park Huntington Park is a city located in the South Central region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The area includes the separate communities of Florence, California, Florence, Firestone Park, California, Firestone Park, Graham, ...

. It was first designated and paved as an

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights o ...

in 1927. The street has been the focus of several significant ethnic communities over the years.

Geography

Soto Street begins at its intersection with

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, shortly before entering Vernon and crossing the

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. It then runs north through the neighborhoods of

Boyle Heights Boyle may refer to: Places United States * Boyle, Kansas, an unincorporated community * Boyle, Mississippi, a town *Boyle County, Kentucky *Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, a neighborhood Elsewhere * Boyle (crater), a lunar crater * 11967 Boyle, ...

Brooklyn Heights Brooklyn Heights is a residential neighborhood within the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Old Fulton Street near the Brooklyn Bridge on the north, Cadman Plaza West on the east, Atlantic Avenue on the south ...

. In El Sereno, near Lincoln Heights, Soto Street merges with Mission Road to form Huntington Drive.

History

In 1890 Soto Street was "a dirt road lined with pepper trees."

Japanese American National Museum The is located in Los Angeles, California, and dedicated to preserving the history and culture of Japanese Americans. Founded in 1992, it is located in the Little Tokyo area near downtown. The museum is an affiliate within the Smithsonian Affi ...

, ''Los Angeles's Boyle Heights'', (

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, 2005), .
Excerpts available
at

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. By 1927 the city had decided to pave it as an arterial."Soto Street Paving Plans Being Pushed"
''

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'', September 25, 1927 (pay site). The intersection of Soto Street and Brooklyn Avenue (now called Cesar Chavez Avenue) came to be considered the most important intersection in East Los Angeles, both when it was the center of the Los Angeles Jewish community (the largest Jewish community in the western United States) and later when it became the heart of the largest Mexican-American community in the country.George Ramos
"Heart of the Eastside: Corner of Cesar Chavez and Soto--a Landmark in History of 2 Cultures"
''

'', July 31, 2000. It is the site of the landmark mural by East Los Streetscapers entitled ''El Corrido de Boyle Heights'', and is the major transportation hub for the region. In 2004, a portion of the street in El Sereno known as the Soto Street Bridge, where Soto Street becomes Huntington Drive North, was declared functionally obsolete and scheduled for replacement. The bridge was constructed in 1936 as joint venture between the state, city and

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as an overpass of its Red Car system.

Transportation

Metro Local The Los Angeles Metro Bus is the transit bus service in Los Angeles County, California, operated by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro). Metro Bus operates in the Los Angeles Basin, the San Fernando Valley, and th ...

lines 251 runs along Soto Street. The Metro E Line operates at a light rail underground station at the street's intersection with 1st Street in

Notable Landmarks

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LAC+USC Medical Center Lac may refer to: Places Africa * Lac Region, a district in Chad * Lac Prefecture, a district in Chad America * Rivière du Lac, a tributary of the Montmorency River, in Capitale-Nationale, Quebec, Canada Europe * Laç, a city in Albania * Lac ...

* Salesian High School * Sears Building, Soto Street and Olympic Boulevard

References

{{Streets in Los Angeles Streets in Los Angeles County, California Eastside Los Angeles Boyle Heights, Los Angeles El Sereno, Los Angeles Huntington Park, California Vernon, California 1927 establishments in California