Lost Cemeteries of Los Angeles, Walking Tour with the Barrio Boychik

Los Angeles has a terrible history of willfully forgetting the past, and this is most ghastly demonstrated in the way the dead of early Los Angeles history have been displaced in the name of progress as the city expanded.

We will be exploring the sites and stories of the four original cemeteries of Los Angeles which were in some cases relocated, in other cases just built right over.

● The Campo Santo at the Placita Church – a long forgotten Catholic burial site of many indigenous people and early immigrants

● Fort Moore Hill – the forgotten original Protestant burial site, the first non-Catholic cemeteries

● Old Jewish Cemetery – the lost original Jewish cemetery near Chavez Ravine, near the site of Dodger Stadium

● Old Calvary Cemetery – the old Catholic cemetery, and its former chapel site that has also become important to the historic community of Little Italy

We will be exploring these sites with a special emphasis on the often untold multi-cultural history of early Los Angeles.

This is an entirely walking tour, the entire circuit is about 3 miles that will take us from the Los Angeles Plaza up to the old Cemetery Ravine – near Chavez Ravine, just down the hill from Dodger Stadium – and back.

Your host for this tour will be myself – Shmuel Gonzales, the Barrio Boychik, community organizer and local historian from Boyle Heights. As a Mexican American with roots in early Los Angeles and a Jewish community leader in today’s eastside, it is my great pleasure to share with you the neglected stories of the diverse faith cultures of our great city.

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We will be meeting next to the La Plaza de Cultura y Artes gift shop called “La Tienda,” located at 501 N. Main St, Los Angeles, CA 90012, as our first site to explore is located just steps away next to the Placita church. We will start checking in people and giving out name-tags to participants at 11:45am, to start our walking tour promptly at 12:00pm.

The total walking distance is just shy of 3 miles round trip, walking at an easy pace, and with just a little bit of an incline at one location. An average tour tends to go about 2.5 hours. We do expect it to be a bit warm that day, so dress comfortably. We encourage everyone to bring refreshments and snacks; its important to stay hydrated.

Cancellations must be made at least seven (7) days before the event for a refund. In the unlikely event of rain, we will reschedule this event to another weekend date in November.

Your donations are greatly appreciated, as they enable my activities in community activism.