Hancock Park

Description:

• Once the most exclusive residential community in the city, this area was developed by Captain G. Allan Hancock circa 1910. His father, Henry Hancock, owned the entire Rancho La Brea area and ran it as a farm until 1905, when Edward Doheny struck oil shoveling into a hillside. The Hancock family then jumped in on the oil craze, which was quickly exhausted but which also led to the discovery of the La Brea Tar Pits. Besides the Doheny and Hancock families, many other prominent Southland families once owned (or still do) estates here, including the Huntington, Crocker and Van Nuys families. The area makes for a great walking or driving tour at your own pace.
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