Secularization of the missions
The Mexican government ends the California mission system. Mission properties are confiscated, and Spanish missionaries are sent into exile. Native laborers who had lived at the missions find work on the ranchos. The former mission lands comprise rich, coastal areas that are coveted by soldiers, rancheros, and farmers. The government splits land parcels into individual “rancho” grants and either sells or gives them away to private citizens.
RELATED STORIES
Oro
“In Guatemala, green coffee beans are called oro — gold — because the Europeans and people who bought the coffee were paying in gold coins.” Having long been fascinated by the coffee traditions of his mother’s homeland, Yancey Quinones opened Antigua Coffee Roasters in 2005 in El Sereno. Later, after an opportunity arose to relocate…
Building Los Angeles State Historic Park (LASHP)
The 32-acre plot that now houses the Los Angeles State Historic Park (LASHP) is a testament to the power of community activism. Throughout hundreds of “hearing sessions” hosted by California State Parks, nearby residents voiced their wants and needs for the land — and, by doing so, saved it from becoming the “River Station Business…
The Coastal Conservancy
In the late eighties, while in graduate school at UC Berkeley, Christopher Kroll began a part-time job at a relatively new and small state agency: the Coastal Conservancy. Established in 1976, “the Coastal Conservancy was set up to be a project agency to actually work with local governments, and nonprofits, on issues that could not…
Building the Foundations
As Director and Founder of The River Project, and the former Executive Director of Friends of the Los Angeles River (FoLAR), Melanie Winter is no stranger to the many opinions people hold regarding the future of the LA River and its surrounding communities. Over the years, the development of high-rise luxury apartments, large commercial retail…