Olvera Street, a Mexican marketplace located in El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historic Monument and plaza.
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Vendors with Mexican wares and restaurants with Mexican cuisine line this pedestrianized street in downtown LA. This area, in the oldest part of Los Angeles, used to be the heart of the Mexican farming community that settled here when California was part of Mexico. It also contains LA’s oldest house, Avila Adobe, built in 1818.
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The only reason Olvera Street is still around is thanks to the efforts of Christine Sterling in the 20s and 30s, who wanted to preserve a part of the city to celebrate its Mexican Heritage, when LA was thinking of tearing the whole thing down instead. She basically pestered media and politicians until Olvera Street was remade and preserved, showing one person can, in fact, make a difference.
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Though some argue (with some justification) that Olvera Street is a very tourist-friendly version of a Mexican marketplace, and not all that authentic, a lot of the vendors here have had their families working the same shops for generations. It’s a wonderful place to learn a bit about the history of LA as part of Mexico.
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