The US National Register Los Angeles Plaza Historic District comprises 42 acres inside the boundaries of the El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument in downtown Los Angeles. The National Register’s district is bounded by Spring Street, Macy Street, Alameda Street, and Arcadia Street.
The district encompasses La Iglesia Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles (more simply known as the Plaza Church), Olvera Street, Plaza Kiosko, and the Victorian-era buildings to the east, south and west of the church.
From the National Register Nomination form: (
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El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic District, the area where Los Angeles was founded and the hub of its growth during the Hispanic and American (19th Century) eras, retains a rich composite group of buildings as evidence of the blending ethnic groups and cultures which founded this City and shaped its subsequent growth.
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Today's Plaza area is the living composite story of Los Angeles' growth from Indian times prior to 1781 through Spanish, Mexican and American periods to become the nation's largest city on the Pacific basin.
The Plaza area of Los Angeles offers a unique opportunity for telling the story of the founding and growth of the nation's third-largest city. This 42-acre area with its historic structures annually attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors coming from every state in the Union and most of the nations of the world, as well as a never-ending stream of local residents, particularly school children.
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BUILDINGS SOUTH OF THE PLAZA
THE PICO HOTEL:
Construction was begun on the Pico House on September 4, 1869 and completed June 19, 1870. Pio Pico had sold half of San Fernando Valley for $115,000 to build the hotel. This was to be the finest hotel in the city and he chose the site on the corner of Main Street and the Plaza. This site had been originally granted to Jose Antonio Carillo (1821) and the Carillo Adobe was razed to make way for the hotel. Newspapers of the period carried full descriptions of the hotel, for a short time the pride of the city.
The building has not been altered basically though many minor changes have been made in interior arrangement. The ground floor originally contained the hotel office, a lobby, two dining rooms and two stores, one of which was occupied by the Wells Fargo Express Company. The second floor was composed of suites; there was also a public parlor. From the gallery around the interior court on this floor, there was a private entrance to the Merced Theatre, enabling the guests to reach the boxes and take their seats without the trouble of going out into the street or mingling with the crowd. The third floor was devoted exclusively to sleeping rooms. The furnishings for the hotel cost $34,000. The total cost was $82,000.
Although the hotel was the finest in Los Angeles, it had a very short period of prosperity: it was closed for over a year mental deterioration and competition. Prior to its construction the Bella Union, the United States Hotel, and the Lafayette were hotels of distinction in Los Angeles. By i860, there had teen added the Nadeau, the St. Charles, the Natick, and the St. Elmo. Although Los Angeles served a large hinterland, a town of 11,000 could not support this many hostelries. By 1880 , Pico had lost the hotel; in 1892 the name was changed, for a decade or so, to the "National Hotel". In 1897, the building was leased by G. Pagliano and G. Berniatico, and in 1930 Pagliano purchased the "building. The story of this "building is intimately involved with that of its founder, the last Governor of California under Mexican rule. In some ways, it is a memorial to this early pioneer and political leader.”