History

Glassell Park was named for Andrew Glassell (1827 - 1901). He was an early land owner, a prominent Los Angeles attorney, and the first
president of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Glassell was born on a plantation called Richland, in Virginia, to a family whose roots in
America predated the Revolutionary War. In 1852 Andrew headed west during the Gold Rush. He carried with him a recommendation letter from a
Supreme Court Justice and was named a federal attorney for the city of San Francisco. He refused to pledge loyalty to the Union during the Civil
War, and consequently he was barred from practicing Law. Glassell switched careers and operated a saw mill in Santa Cruz before moving to Los
Angeles in 1868. Andrew's younger brother William was a submarine captain for the Confederate Navy and after the Civil War followed his sibling
to California and founded the town of Orange, (named after his Grandmother's birthplace in Virginia.) A sister, Susan, also relocated to Southern
California after the death of her husband, Civil War Colonel George S. Patton; grandfather of the famous World War II General of the same name.

Andrew purchased the land that became Glassell Park from the Rancho San Rafael tract. Los Angeles had a rich Spanish and Mexican history
before and during the arrival of the Anglos. In 1784 Jose Maria Verdugo, a corporal in the Spanish Army, received a land grant from Governor
Pedro Fages to settle what he called the Rancho San Rafael. The tract was 36,403 acres in size, including much of Northeast Los Angeles.

Many of the streets in our neighborhood are named after Glassell family members. Toland Way, for example, was named after Glassell's wife,
Lucie Toland. Andrita and Marguarite Sts. are named for his daughter and daughter-in-law, respectively. Drew St. is named for Glassell's
grandson. Weldon, Roswell and Edward Streets are named after family friends.

In 1889 the Glassells built a stately Victorian home they called "The Ranch House" on an elevated site where Washington Irving Middle School
now stands. The house had a huge basement with a shooting gallery and also contained a dark room. Moss Avenue was the wide driveway that
approached the house from the East. The Glassells owned miles of land surrounding the house and planted it with citrus orchards and a walnut
grove at San Fernando near Fletcher. During the depression the family sold a 62-acre parcel of land which would become Forest Lawn
Cemetery. In 1936 the City of Los Angeles took their house by eminent domain to build Washington Irving Junior High School for a price of
$25,000.

Around 1907 one of the first subdivisions in Glassell Park called, the Torthorwald Tract, was begun
between Verdugo and San Fernando Roads. Lots ranged in price from $500 and $1,350. Down
payments were only $5.00 and homeowners paid $2.00 per week in mortgage payments. The area
was served by the Red Car line which ran down Eagle Rock Blvd. Back then, Eagle Rock Boulevard
was known as Glassell Boulevard.