The Old Plaza at El Pueblo de Los Angeles from “90210”

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Last week, after reading my post on the Bob’s Big Boy in Burbank in which I mentioned that I had actually stalked the iconic restaurant way back in November, fellow stalker Chas, from the It’sFilmedThere website, sent me a text asking, “If you did not stalk ever again, how many blogs could you write before you ran out?”  My response, “I don’t know . . . but A LOT!”  If I had to guess I would say there are at least 200 locales stored away in my stalking back log.  In fact, there are still quite a few spots from my trip to the Pacific Northwest last May that I have yet to post.  So not to worry – even if I were to never stalk again, I would still be cranking out posts for a very long time to come!  Smile Anyway, Chas’ text got me to thinking about all of the locations that I have pushed to the back burner in recent months – one of which was The Old Plaza at El Pueblo de Los Angeles, which appeared in the Season 3 episode of fave show 90210 titled “The Enchanted Donkey” and which I had dragged the Grim Cheaper out to stalk back in July.  Speaking of 90210, I would just like to state here, for the record, that I am NOT AT ALL happy about the latest developments in the “Lannie” saga.  But I digress.

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El Pueblo de Los Angeles, or the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District as it is also called, is the oldest surviving section of the city and serves as a monument to L.A.’s September 4th, 1781 founding.  On that day, at a site located along the L.A. River just northeast of the Plaza, eleven families, consisting of 22 adults and 22 children, arrived from the Gulf of Mexico and established a small pueblo with mud huts and a village square.  In 1815, a flood washed away that original settlement and it was later rebuilt in 1825 at its current location, which sits on higher ground.  The Plaza immediately became the social, commercial, and cultural center of Los Angeles and remained that way throughout most of the 19th Century.  By the 1920s, the area had sadly fallen into serious disrepair and was set to be largely demolished to make way for a railway station.  Thankfully, a woman named Christine Sterling came along in 1926 and, with help from Harry Chandler and several local businesses, transformed the site into a bustling marketplace and popular tourist attraction.  Today, the 44-acre property, which is considered to be the “birthplace of Los Angeles” and is a State Historic Monument and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, consists of five separate museums, a church dating back to 1861, the Mexican marketplace known as Olvera Street, 27 historic buildings, including L.A.’s oldest firehouse, and a central plaza, aka The Old Plaza.

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In “The Enchanted Donkey” episode of 90210, The Old Plaza stood in for the supposed-Cabo-San-Lucas-area marketplace that Annie Wilson (aka Shenae Grimes) and Liam Court (aka my love, Matt Lanter – sigh!  Winking smile) visited while in Mexico during Spring Break.  It is there that Annie gets bitten by a rabid monkey which lands her in the hospital.  Because the BEST Mexican restaurants in all of Southern California can be found there, the GC and I have visited El Pueblo de Los Angeles countless times over the years.  So when The Old Plaza popped up on 90210, I recognized the place immediately.

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In “The Enchanted Donkey” episode, the rock that the monkey is sitting on is located in the northern-most section of The Old Plaza, under one of the site’s four historic Moreton Bay Fig trees.  Ironically enough, as you can see above, that rock bears a plaque which reads “Los Angeles Plaza”, which, being that the scene was supposed to have taken place in Mexico, explains why it was covered over with a blanket for the filming, .  Ah, the magic of Hollywood!

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While watching the scene, I also immediately recognized the leather clip that Annie was wearing in her hair as being from Murillo Leather, a store that is located about twenty feet from the Old Plaza and that I mentioned in my post about Olvera Street way back in May of 2009.  I have visited the shop, which is owned and operated by Armando Murillo, who made all of the purses and belts worn by Jessica Simpson in the movie The Dukes of Hazzard, countless times over the years and even have a belt that was made by the second-generation leather craftsman.

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So while we were there I just had to stop by to ask Armando if my hunch about Annie’s barrette had been correct.  He confirmed for me that not only did his hand-crafted hair clip appear in the episode, but that Shenae Grimes herself had come into his shop to pick it out.  I was literally drooling hearing Armando talk about meeting Shenae and how incredibly sweet she was.  (This was before I was fortunate enough to meet the actress myself this past August.)  And while I SO wanted to buy a Shenae-style hair clip while we were there, the GC immediately ixnayed the idea, noting that my hair was far too short to ever be able to get any use out of it.  Hmph!

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As I mentioned in my post about Olvera Street back in May 2009, The Old Plaza was also featured in Lethal Weapon 3 as the spot where Martin Riggs (aka Mel Gibson) and Roger Murtaugh (aka Danny Glover) were assigned to work patrol after being demoted for blowing up a building.  It is there that Riggs and Murtaugh threaten to shoot a man for jaywalking and also witness an armored-car robbery.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  Smile

90210 - The Old Plaza location

Stalk It: The Old Plaza at El Pueblo de Los Angeles, from “The Enchanted Donkey” episode of 90210, is located at 1 Olvera Street, across from Union Station, in Los Angeles.  In the episode, Annie and Liam stood in front of the large rock located under the huge Moreton bay fig tree in the northern-most section of The Old Plaza, in the area depicted with a pink arrow in the above aerial view.  Murillo Leather, where Annie’s hair clip was made, is located just up the street from The Old Plaza at 6 Olvera Street in Los Angeles.

Olvera Street

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This weekend I dragged my boyfriend and my parents out to stalk a street that is known as the “birthplace of Los Angeles”.  The historic Olvera Street outdoor marketplace has long been a popular tourist attraction and filming location.  But its history began over 200 years ago when the area was built by early Spanish settlers.  At that time it was the center of Hispanic life in Southern California and consisted of a church, a town plaza, and several adobe homes all surrounding a tiny lane known as Wine Street.  In 1877, that small street was lengthened and given its current moniker, Olvera Street, named for Augustin Olvera, the very first Superior Court Judge of Los Angeles County.   Beginning in the 1880’s, Olvera street fell into serious disrepair and was a haven for Los Angeles’ poor and disenchanted.  It remained that way until the year 1926 when a woman named Christine Sterling came along and vowed to restore it.

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It was Christine’s idea to turn Olvera Street, which at the time was little more than a backstreet alley, into the bustling Mexican marketplace that it is today.  She garnered support from Los Angeles Times  publisher Harry Chandler and many local businesses and literally took on City Hall to restore the former plaza.  Christine’s vision was realized on Easter Sunday of 1930 when the Olvera Street Marketplace opened to the public.  She marketed it as “A Mexican Street of Yesterday in a City of Today.”  Christine’s marketplace became a virtual overnight success.  And amazingly that success has held steady for almost 80 years – today over 2 million tourists a year visit Olvera Street! 

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Today’s Olvera Street is a bustling Mexican marketplace bursting with colorful displays, authentic restaurants, hanging pinatas, and ancient adobe structures.  A visit to Olvera Street also includes a history lesson of sorts – there are twenty-seven historic buildings which line the marketplace, including Avila Adobe, which is the oldest Los Angeles home still in existence.   In 1953, Olvera Street and its neighboring plaza, which together are known as El Pueblo de Los Angeles, were named a California State Historic Landmark. 

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Ever since its opening in 1930 celebrities have flocked to the tiny marketplace.  Everyone from Albert Einstein, Gretta Garbo, and Buster Keaton to Ben Kingsley, Oscar De La Hoya, and Art Linkletter in recent years have visited the marketplace.  In the early days of Hollywood stars such as Rita Hayworth, Lauren Bacall, and Humphrey Bogart frequented Olvera Street’s many restaurants, which at the time doubled as afterhours nightclubs.   Numerous American Presidents and their wives have also shopped at the marketplace, including Bill Clinton, John F. Kennedy, Richard and Pat Nixon, and Eleanor Roosevelt. 

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And, of course, there’s also the movies!  Location scouts have been in love with the Mexican marketplace since 1921 when it was featured in the Charlie Chaplin movie The Kid  as the location where The Tramp rescues “the kid” from a welfare office. 

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 Olvera Street also popped up in Lethal Weapon 3.  It’s the place where Riggs and Murtaugh are assigned to work patrol after inadvertently blowing up a building.

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The courtyard of the Avila Adobe stood in for Bogota, Columbia in Mr. and Mrs. Smith  in the scene where the two little homewreckers dance at the beginning of the movie.  “Not a lot of people get to see a movie where their parents fell in love.”  Ugh, spare me, Angelina!  LOL 

The marketplace has also appeared in Death Wish II, True Confessions, Sea Biscuit, and A Street of Memory.     

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But Olvera Street’s connection with the movie business doesn’t end there!  Located right in the middle of the marketplace is a small shop called Murillo Leather, where owner Armando Murillo (pictured above), a second generation leather craftsman, creates handmade items like bracelets, belts, bags, and saddles.  While stalking Olvera Street, my dad stopped into Murillo’s to look for a saddlebag for his Harley (otherwise known as “H”) and, like a moth to a flame, my eyes immediately went to some magazine photographs of Jessica Simpson hanging on the wall. 

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It turns out that Armando made all of Jessica’s belts and purses for the movie Dukes of Hazzard  and sells replicas of them in his shop.  Apparently, Johnny Knoxville had long been a fan of the historic leather shop and before filming on Dukes of Hazzard  began recommended Armando to the costume team.  And the rest is celluloid history. 🙂  You can see Jessica’s belts above.  Now I have to say that Jessica Simpson is my least favorite celebrity.  I absolutely cannot stand the girl!  But, let me tell you, I love her Dukes of Hazzard  belt!  🙂 

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So much so, in fact, that I just had to buy one for myself!  🙂  And I absolutely love it!!!   That’s me posing with my new belt in the above pic.  🙂  Besides Dukes of Hazzard, Armando also made the leather items for the movie There Will Be Blood.  When his father, Manuel, owned the shop, he made several items for Clint Eastwood that were also worn in movies.  If you happen to stalk Olvera Street, a visit to Murillo Leather is a MUST!   Armando is THE nicest guy and makes really beautiful belts, cuffs, purses, and even shoes.  You can bet I will be going back there regularly to shop!  🙂

 I can’t recommend stalking Olvera Street enough.  It is a really fun way to spend a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.  Besides the shops, there are several excellent restaurants located in the marketplace – and they all serve up the BEST taquitos I have ever had!!!!!  🙂

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It:  Olvera Street is located just off East Chesar E. Chavez Avenue, in between North Alameda and North Main Streets, in Downtown Los Angeles.  Murillo’s Leather – maker of the Daisy Duke belts –  is located at W-6 Olvera Street.  The Mentalist’s  CBI Headquarters  building is located just across the plaza from Olvera Street at 430 North Main Street.