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Boyle Heights' Historic Boyle Hotel
Built in 1889, the building now known as the Boyle Hotel was one of the early hotels built in Los Angeles. A Los Angeles Times article from 1891 describes the Los Angeles of only a decade before as, "a quiet, slow-moving, half-way frontier town," with a population of 11,311.
In 1881, East Los Angeles consisted of mostly Downey Avenue, with lots valued at $100 apiece. According to the Times, "Where the [Boyle] Hotel now stands a Spaniard kept a little flour and plenty of whisky," as this was the last place for teams to refuel "this side of Downey."
The Boyle Hotel started life as the Cummings Hotel, also later called the Mt. Pleasant Hotel. The 4-story brick structure was built by George Cummings for $23,000. Cummings, a former forty-niner who began raising cattle in the 1850's, married into the first family of Boyle Heights by wedding to Maria Sacramento López de Cummings, the granddaughter of Estévan López. Cummings and his wife lived on their ranch, and regularly used the Hotel for entertaining.
Once a jewel of this neighborhood, the Boyle Hotel - with its distinctive façade and prominent turret - has long since fallen into disrepair. It has remained, however, a vibrant cultural site, home to many of the inspired mariachis that live in Mariachi Plaza. Under the ownership of the East LA Community Corporation, this building will again be beautiful, and will continue to preserve East LA's unique culture by providing affordable housing to local mariachis.
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For more information on ways to support this project, contact
Development Director
Monica Gomez at 323-269-4214 x250
mgomez@elacc.org
or visit our website at www.elacc.org.
The East LA Community Corporation is grateful to Catherine Lopez Kurland, the great-granddaugter of George Cummings, for the original research used here. |
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