EL SERENO
“CITY OF THE MIST”
EARLY ON IN L.A. HISTORY, EL SERENO WAS CALLED “FARMINGTON”
IN THE EARLY 1900s THE TOWN BEGAN TO GROW NEXT TO THE TRACKS RUNNING ALONGSIDE THE OLD PACIFIC ELECTRIC RAILWAY, THEN AFTERWARDS IT CONTINUED TO BUILD UP ALL ALONG “THE DRIVE”(HUNTINGTON DRIVE)
FROM THE 20s AND 30s ON UP, THE COMMUNITY BECAME ETHNICALLY MIXED; ITALIANS, JAPANESE, WHITES AND BROWN RAZA ALL MADE FARMINGTON THEIR HOME
FARMINGTON’s NAME WAS OFFICIALLY CHANGED IN THE MID-1940s
IT WAS RENAMED “EL SERENO,” THE QUIET PEACEFUL SERENE PLACE
“CHANGED TO” ACCORDING TO ANGLO SOCIETY IN THEIR MINDS, BECAUSE THE NAME FOR THE COMMUNITY SOUTH OF 'THE DRIVE' WAS ALREADY WELL KNOWN AS EL SERENO BY THE LOCAL OLD RAZA WHO HAD ALREADY BEEN LIVING THERE SINCE EVEN BEFORE THEIR FIRST CHURCH FOR THE BARRIO WAS BUILT BACK IN THE MID-20s
BUT EVEN SO, THOUGH THE NAME CHANGED FROM FARMINGTON TO EL SERENO,THE PLACE WAS AFFECTIONALLY REFERRED TO AS “LITTLE TOWN," AND ALL THROUGH THE 1940s and 50s THAT’S WHAT IT WAS STILL CALLED “LITTLE TOWN”
BY THE 1950s THEE “EL SERENO VARRIO” GOT ESTABLISHED SOUTH OF THE DRIVE, MOSTLY CONCENTRATED RUNNING EAST FROM EASTERN AVENUE, IN ALL THOSE STREETS LIKE, NAVARRO, TEMPLETON, GAMBIER, BALLARD, And LOMBARDY
..
THE VARRIO EL SERENO GREW UP IN THE FIFTY’s
EXPERIENCING THEIR FIRST DRIVE-BY IN 1958
EL SERENO RAZA GREW UP PARTYING IN PLACES LIKE THE AMERICAN LEGION HALL WHERE ART LABOE PUT THINGS TOGETHER, AND BANDS LIKE THE MIDNIGHTERS AND LOCAL BANDS LIKE EL SERENO’s OWN “THEE SKYLIGHTERS” WOULD PLAY THEE SOUNDS OF THE VARRIO.
BY THE 1960s EL SERENO HAD BECOME MAINLY RAZA POPULATED, AND BY THE 1970s EL SERENO RIFA WAS A WELL ESTABLISHED AND RESPECTED VARRIO, KNOWN AND HEARD ABOUT FAR AND WIDE.
IN THE 70s, EL SERENO HAD THE “MIDNIGHT CRUISERS” LOWRIDING CLUB, THEY ALSO HAD THE “BALLARD STREET” CLIQUE DOING CRAZY THINGS, AND THEN CAME OTHERS LIKE THE “GAMBIER LOCOS” AND THE “CYRIL STREET LOCOS” DOING THEIR COSAS.
BY THE 1980s EL SERENO WAS SO FULL OF HEADS THAT OTHER RAZA STARTED HAPPENING, LIKE THE STONER GENERATION; JP BOYS, HAVEN BOYS AND THE IRON BOYS.
BY THIS TIME EL SERENO HAD GROWN OUTSIDE ITS ORIGINAL BORDERS, AND THE HIGHLANDS, AURANT, HILLSIDE VILLAGE AND UNIVERSITY HILLS (METRO HILLS) GOT ADDED TO THE MAP.
EL SERENO RIFA WENT ON TO BE REPRESENTED BY THOSE LIKE..
LOCKE STREET BOYS
THE DITCH LOCOS
ITHACA STREET LOCOS
GUARDIA STREET LOCOS ~
~(NORTH PARK LOCOS)
HILL SIDE
AND LOWELL STREET LOCOS BEFORE THE GREEN..
WHICH THEN GOT SEMI-BROUGHT BACK IN AFTER THE GREEN
THE HISTORY OF EL SERENO CONTINUES TO BE WRITTEN…
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