Memories of Belvedere

Thanks for your interesting article “Five Blocks of East L.A.” (Sept. 13). I was born on Percy Street, one block north of Whittier Boulevard, in 1913 and lived there for 10 years. The area between Indiana Street and the cemeteries was known as Belvedere, and most of its residents were Mexican. Boyle Heights stopped at Indiana Street (the L.A. city boundary), and Belvedere began at Indiana. When the area east of the cemeteries was subdivided, it was called Belvedere Gardens, not East L.A. Even then there were some Mexican stores on Whittier Boulevard, known in my early childhood as Stephenson Avenue. Where Salazar Park is located was once the location of the Jewish Hospital, probably the grandparent of Cedars-Sinai Hospital.

HARRY NISSEN

La Verne