CHL # 170 Hancock Park Los Angeles

Guidebook

NO. 170 HANCOCK PARK LA BREA - The bones of thousands of prehistoric animals that had been entrapped during the Ice Age in pools of tar that bubbled from beneath the ground were exhumed from this site. First historic reference to the pools, part of the 1840 Rancho La Brea land grant, was recorded by Gaspar de Portolá in 1769 - first scientific excavations were made by the University of California in 1906. The site was presented to the County of Los Angeles in 1916 by Captain G. Allan Hancock to be developed as a scientific monument.

Location

Hancock Park, 5801 Wilshire Blvd between Ogden and Curson Sts, Los Angeles
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Notes

open 9:30 am to 5 pm every day of the year, with four exceptions. They are closed on: Independence Day (July 4) Thanksgiving Day (fourth Thursday of November) Christmas Day (December 25) New Year's Day (January 1)

Afterthoughts

The La Brea Tar Pits was part of the Rancho La Brea land grant and became Hancock Park in Los Angeles before the turn of the century. The name comes from the Spanish: la brea means "the tar" so "The La Brea Tar Pits" means "The The Tar Tar Pits".