Clover Street

Clover Street .com
"The Clover St community was bounded by the railroad on the south, the L.A. River on the west, North Broadway north, and Daly St east. It was a close-knit community and everyone knew everyone else."

The railroad united the sophisticated eastern culture with the wild west. It was built by immigrants which were mostly Chinese and Mexicans that laid railroad tracks over the High Sierras and Rocky Mountains into the plains of the Midwest. And, in some cases they tenaciously bored tunnels through the mountains to lay their railroad tracks.

ESPEE Switch & Marker
Near N. Main St

Throughout the rail network, there were machine shops and rail yards to support the railroad. These facilities maintained and managed the distribution of locomotives, box cars, and cabooses. They were constantly serviced, taken apart and put back together to keep them running. The Southern Pacific Taylor yards and shops were located at the south end of Clover Street in Lincoln Heights, a community just northeast of the Los Angeles civic center. It attracted many workers in the local area that consisted of machinists, apprentices, their helpers, and laborers. It was a convenient area to live. In the morning many of the workers in their overalls would walk from their nearby homes to the shop swinging their lunchboxes in rhythm with their stride.
At 7AM the Espee whistle could be heard throughout the neighborhood signaling the start of the work day. On the weekends with a 15-cent token one could take the streetcar downtown to go shopping at the major department stores, go to the movies at the big theaters, or take in a live show at the Million Dollar Theater. Otherwise, one could just walk to the Starland Theater on Broadway a few blocks away or to the San Carlos Theater east of Daly St on Main. On Sunday, after going to Mass at Our Lady Help of Christians, many would take the streetcar east to Lincoln Park. They would get their thrills on the various rides of the amusement park, try to catch the gold ring on the merry-go-round, or just go fishing at the lake. Sweethearts might rent a boat and cruise the lake taking care not to scare the fish away. Unfortunately, there weren't many places for the fish to hide in the small lake. Occasionally, classical or

Lincoln Park Carousel "The merry-go round" destroyed by fire in 1976.

The Clover St community was bounded by the railroad on the south, the L.A. River on the west, North Broadway north, and Daly St east. It was a close-knit community and everyone knew everyone else. Houses were seldom locked. Of course not everyone was rich with material things and there was really no reason to lock anything. Nevertheless, if you had a bike, it was prudent to lock and secure it at night. Although protected by natural boundaries, outsiders may sometimes wander through the streets at night.

In the afternoon, many of the housewives would visit each other borrowing that cup of sugar for an excuse to trade recipes and gossip. There was always a pot of beans brewing on the stovetop and the roller pins flour dusted in preparation for making a fresh batch of tortillas.

Mrs. Bernarda Jenkins
Clover Street resident

Albion St Elementary School was nearly at the center of the community, which made a short walk for all of its students. It was one of the first schools to be built in the city of Los Angeles in 1891 opening a year later.
The wooden schoolhouse was initially on Albion St, but later new classrooms were added and the administrative offices were moved to Avenue 18. But, it still retained the original name. Every morning the students would assemble, pledge allegiance to the flag, and sing America. There were after school activities like kick ball, softball, and outdoor basketball. These were complemented with activities at the Downey playground across the street. During the summer there was baseball. In the fall, kids were running around the field playing touch football. The playground provided plenty of materials to build kites to catch the winds during Easter vacation. After awhile, the telephone wires were cluttered with kites and their towlines intertwined communication wires filled with chitchat. But, the kids would just go back to the clubhouse, get some more paper, balsa wood, string and wait for the wind to kick up again.

Albion Street Elementary School
Kindergarten Class 1956.

The Espee railroad tracks ran along the LA River on the west edge of the playground and underneath the Spring St bridge. During the Depression and after the war many men would ride the rails traveling around the country as far as the trains would take them. This was a premier stop for them and the bridge provided shelter. The restrooms of the nearby playground were convenient. There was also the aroma of those beans brewing in the air. A knock on a nearby home and there was a burrito for dinner with homemade beans and fresh tortillas.

Many of the young boys that graduated from Albion and proceeded to Nightingale Jr High were tempted to ride the rail to Figueroa St. However, this never became a habit with anyone. There were always stories of someone getting tangled up and forever living with the nickname of peg leg.

After graduating from Nightingale, the students would continue their education at Lincoln High School at the east end of North Broadway. Besides developing young minds, there were many social events like Sock Hops and Sports Nights. There was the acrobatics of the jitterbug in the late forties, the Latin rhythms of Richie Valens and La Bamba in the fifties, and the gyrations of the twist in the early sixties. In the fall, football was the event. Although the teams were competitive, the school was small and it was a challenge to develop championship teams. Nevertheless, on occasion the right mix of players and coaches would come together and the school would march to the city playoffs. Skippy Giancanelli returned to his alma mater and did just that in the mid sixties. His team faced Manual Arts, the then current football powerhouse from Southeast Lost Angeles. Manual Arts would march down the field with ease, but with their backs against the wall, the gritty Tigers held the line and turned the Toilers away without a score. It was a spectacle. The bands were playing challenging each other with Louie Louie and the theme from Peter Gunn. The crowds were cheering, dancing in their seats doing the hand jive following the lead of the cheerleaders below. The game ended in a 0-0 tie. The win was given to the Toilers, because of the tie breaking rules declaring the win to the team with the most yards inside their opponent's 20-yard line.

Kenny Washington (#13) Lincoln Alumnus ( and from the neighborhood) All-American, UCLA 1939

Most of the homes had cellars. Some kids liked to hang out and there they would assemble. In an effort to be cool like James Dean or Humphrey Bogart, secluded in the cellar, they might experiment with cigarettes and sneak a Lucky Strike from an uncle or in some extreme cases grab a Coors from the ice box. These experiments were difficult to hide since a passerby could easily see the smoke escaping from the cellar vents. Most kids didn't like the bitter taste of beer or the pungent smoke of cigarettes and preferred getting an ice cream drum stick or a nickel 8 ounce femininely shaped bottled coke from one of the local stores and hang out in the cool shade of their front porch.

Neighborhood Children 1934
Clover St., Los Angeles, CA

Hidden at the south end of Lamar St is the San Antonio Winery. In 1917 Santo Cambianica left his home in Italy and settled in Lincoln Heights to open up the winery. While many wineries went bankrupt during Prohibition, he cleverly survived by making sacramental wines for the Catholic Church. His family still makes wines for the church today as well as wines for the general public. It is one of the last wineries in Los Angeles and has been declared a cultural historical monument.

The houses on Clover St have been demolished. The land was converted to parking lots for the Piggy Back trailers of the Union Pacific railroad that bought out the Espee. Later, this land was sold to The United Parcel Service, which built a distribution center for their growing delivery service. The Golden State Freeway now borders the east side of the community.

The aroma of frijoles de holla and tortillas de harina are gone. But on a quiet evening in the summer, if you listen very carefully, you could hear the sea breeze funneling through the space between the buildings and trucks hauntingly whispering a faint call, "Paco Paco ven a casa, vamos a comer!" -R.G.

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