Identifier	post_00003
Title	Central Park, Los Angeles, Cal.
Creator	unknown
Date Published	circa 1915
Subject (Topic)	Parks--California--Los Angeles; Fountains--California--Los Angeles; Public art--California--Los Angeles;
Subject (Place)	Pershing Square (Los Angeles, Calif.);
Type	image
Form/Genre	postcards
Physical Description	1 postcard : Color ; 9 x 14 cm.
Institution	Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library, Loyola Marymount University
Country of Creation	US
Copyright Status	public domain
Copyright Statement	http://library.lmu.edu/collections/digitallibraryprogram/copyrightandreproductionpolicy/
Publisher	Van Ornum Colorprint Co.
Place of Publication	Los Angeles, Cal.
Language	eng
Description	Path to fountain lined with trees, streetlights, and benches. Seated on benches, women, men, and children in pre-WWI clothing are reading newspapers and conversing; child in stroller; woman holding parasol.
Historical Background	Pershing Square is bounded by 5th and 6th, Hill and Olive, Central Park. The oldest park in Los Angeles, it was originally known as La Plaza Abaja, the lower plaza, and was renamed Central Park in the early 1890s. In 1900, the 7th Regiment Monument was erected at the corner of 6th and Hill as a memorial to soldiers of the Spanish-American War. The park was redesigned by John Parkinson in 1911 in a classical style with a central fountain. In 1918, at the end of WWI, it was renamed Pershing Square in 1918 in honor of General John J. Pershing. A statue of a WWI Doughboy was erected in 1924. Pershing Square became known as a popular site for orators and rallies. A parking garage was installed under the park in 1954.
Source	Werner von Boltenstern Postcard Collection