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The land on which this district is situated was formerly part of Rancho Los Alamitos. A tract map for this area, created by the Alamitos Land Company for the Alamitos Beach Townsite, Villa and Farm Lots, is dated April 1888. It shows Hellman Street, Tenth Street, Walnut and Orange. The first recorded tract map in this neighborhood, the Alamitos Tract, dated December 17, 1898, is similar in configuration but not identical to the 1888 map. The Sanborn Fire Insurance map of 1902 shows the San Pedro, Los Angeles and Salt Lake Railroad running along Ocean Park (now Ocean) and diagonally along Alamitos Avenue, then north on California (now Martin Luther King). Hellman Street, Orange and Walnut appear as streets, but there were no houses or other improvements indicated in the area.
Hellman Street was named after one of the partners of the Alamitos Land Company, Isaias W. Hellman. Hellman was a German immigrant who came to Los Angeles in 1859 and got a job in a dry goods store. Several years later he opened his own store, and grew into a very prominent and successful businessman and financier. He organized the Farmers and Merchants Bank in 1871 in Los Angeles, and served as its president until his death in 1920. He purchased Rancho Los Alamitos in Long Beach with members of the Bixby family in 1881, and had extensive real estate holdings both in Long Beach and Los Angeles. In 1902 he helped to establish the Long Beach Savings Bank and served on its Board of Directors.
Several tracts in this area were subdivided from the Alamitos Tract in 1905 and 1905. The Bridge Tract between 7th and Hellman was recorded September 24, 1904 and the Hoffman Tract September 6, 1905. Hoffman Street lies in the middle of this tract. The 1905 Sanborn maps show a few scattered small-scale dwellings in this area, although it was still outside City limits.
The pace of subdivision picked up between 1911 and 1919, by which time almost the entire area was divided into different tracts. This coincides with an acceleration of residential construction appearing on the Sanborn maps. The 1914 Sanborns show approximately one-third of the area with dwellings. Tax assessment records show construction dates predominantly from the ‘teens to the early ‘twenties.
A profile of area residents obtained from the 1920 City Directories shows occupants in various trades, several as carpenters. Occupations listed also include actor, plasterer, decorative artist, electrician, bookkeeper, advertising manager, post office carrier, ship worker, meat cutter, cement molder and clerk. (Source: 1920 City Directory, Hellman Street).
The area today still contains most of the original construction and still serves a working-class population. |
