3 Huntington Park Historic Spots 

I was born in 1950 and grew up in Huntington Park. My parents always took us to a Mexican cafe called Talk of the Town on Pacific Blvd just south of Florence Ave. It truly was very exotic for my Kasas-raised parents. We lived a few blocks away so it was convenient to get to. I remember being able to go to any of the 3 movie theaters on my bike and it would still be where I parked it when the movie was over unlocked! I'm looking forward to future walks down memory lane with you.

I love the Lane Wells building -- it's one of my favorite streamline moderne buildings! I didn't know about the history of the company, the whole gun perforator invention. That's pretty wild!

I've really been enjoying your 'videologs' (that was the original title of the late Huell Hauser's program) and I like your send-up of Foo Howser!! Keep those great vids rolling. When I was younger, I always wanted to do a sort of videolog of local places and people.

Having eaten at 3 separate locations of Avila's since the 70s, in Orange County, I really love the story!

Great video! Would you ever consider doing a video like this about Torrance or Gardena?

Thanks for showing us HP. It’s Americana.

Amazing video man! keep up the great work!!!

I loved Avilas HP me and my family would always go whether for a birthday, Mother's Day or when grandma from TJ come to visit 😊

Grew up going to Pacific. Fallas Paredes, for school uniforms. JC Penney for clothes, Deardens for furniture, Gallo Giro for tortas and 2x1 at the theatre

That Warners Theatre became a gym and the gym literally just closed down August 31 2024. The inside still looked super cool, they kept the cool architecture inside and outside. Great video man, HP is still kicking around! Need to open up more shops tho, gotta keep that "more shops than a shopping center" sign a reality!

Javier, that was an amazing video! I loved learning about Huntington Park's history and its many stages of evolution. Also, hearing of the great success of the Avila family and the chain of El Ranchito restaurants warms mi corazón. I love all things Mexican to include the tasty food and especially my good friends. Thanks for this really interesting and well-produced video.

Really enjoyed this video! I’ve been on Pacific Bl countless times, I always see the Lane Wells building on Soto St when I go to the post office across the street, and when Diana’s closed I started to take my mom to Avila’s El Ranchito…I live in South Central LA but I think of Huntington Park as a second hometown…

Thank you for another excellent video and a trip back to the town I grew up in! El Ranchito... I can not count the hundreds of times I ate there! Excellent authentic Mexican food! It was a favorite of my parents also. I did eat a lot at Taco Bell on Florence near my home because it was a lot closer and had 19 cent food items lol. When you're a young teenager eating on a lawn mowing income every cent counts lol Sitting at the concrete tables with the gas firepit blazing.... I think it was the 2nd Taco Bell location...? It was great to see old pics of Huntington Park and I noticed that some of the pictures came from the Security Pacific Bank Collection... my mom was a teller at that bank in the early 1960s! My Mom was also the first female motor officer for the Huntington Park Police Dept! I have many fond memories of growing up in Huntington Park in the 60s and 70s, I was really hoping you'd mention the Warner Theater... in the early 1970s my friend and I used to sneak into the upstairs that was old abandoned apartments that had been unused for many years... until we got caught. We went up the stairway on the side of the building and the door was always unlocked! Of course they locked it after we got caught! Also the Pacific Theater(?) that seems to be gone now...? The California Theater? If I am remembering correctly weren't there 3 theaters on Pacific Boulevard at one time...? not counting the X rated adult theater on Florence and Pacific lol. IIRC that one was called "The Pussycat Theater" lol. When I was a kid the trolley tracks were still running down the center of Pacific Boulevard! My grandmother, uncle and aunt rode that line to work. My father leased and operated for a couple of years the Mobil gas station that was on the corner of State St and Flower St (the street I grew up on) and that was right next to the Del Mart market (both long gone now)... we shopped there a lot then as the family grew we shopped more at A&P on Florence and State St (also long gone)... My first "real job" was at the A&W Rootbeer stand on Florence by State Street... also long gone now. I remember my Mom taking me to Salt Lake Park to play in the sprinklers on hot days when I was still in diapers! I remember all the old stores on Pacific Boulevard... Woolworth, JC Penny, and the rest... I went to the Huntington Park Christmas Lane parade every year starting as a baby in 1958 until I moved out on my own and got busy with adult life in early 1976. I did watch it on TV many times after that though. I went to Gage Jr then Huntington Park High... My Mom, aunt and uncle also. Growing up in HP was a blast and it's why I am bilingual and love Mexican and central American food! I feel fortunate to have experienced that. My next door neighbors immigrated from Colombia when I was 7 so I was immersed in their culture as well. My uncle married a wonderful hispanic lady.. My aunt Marie/Maria so my cousins are bi-cultural. I've looked at HP several times on Google Earth (I haven't visited since 2014) and wow how the city keeps changing! HP High class of 76 but not in the HS 1976 annual lol Ex-Mayor Rick Loya was my high school health teacher and he was the coolest teacher on campus! Demographics change over time in every city and town... old buildings and businesses and even people and families are replaced by new ones etc but the great memories will live with me as long as I live. Now I'm just a viejo with too many stories that no one wants to hear. Now that I know there are picture archives of HP I'm going to investigate them. Thank you again for making this and all your great videos! Thank you for featuring OUR hometown! I really look forward to seeing every new one!

I dont shop there because they charge for parking. Imagen that they charge you to go shopping! Remove the charging stations and people would shop there.

Thanks Brother!!

I grew up in Maywood in the 1970s. One summer, when I was about 9, my madrina took her kids, my brother and I for two weeks of swimming lessons at Huntington Park High School. Coincidentally, the movie “Grease” was being filmed at the school. My friends and I got to see the “Hand Jive” portion of the movie get filmed.

Cool video and didn't know all that about Huntington Park. Living in Bell, Cudahy & South Gate I always go to Pacific whether going to California & Warner Theater to catch a movies or just walk around pacific going to Norms and after dinner buy baseball cards whether at a LCS close to Norms or Thrifty & Woolworth

Oh yea HP ❤