Echo Park is a 120-year-old, walkable neighborhood just west of Downtown L.A. Since its start, this diverse community has been home to working class families and blossoming artists, musicians and writers. Before World War I, the neighborhood was nicknamed “Red Hill” because of the political radicals living in the area, like folksinger Woody Guthrie who lived on Preston Avenue at Ewing St. in the 1930s.
Echo Park is home to the annual Lotus Festival, the Cuban Festival, and historic Filipinotown, as well as world-class dining, beautiful craftsman-style homes, modern architecture, great schools, parks and libraries.
The community was originally founded by Thomas Kelly, a carriage maker turned real estate developer. Legend says that Echo Park got its name after workers building the reservoir remarked that their voices echoed off the canyon walls.
