The Aliso Tree

The Aliso Tree. The Pico House and Merced Theatre. , The Aliso Tree , One of the most visible landmarks of the early pueblo was a large Sycamore tree near the Los Angeles River. The "council tree" served as the center of the Tongva village of Yaanga. In 1837 the site became home of the Vignes Winery, founded by Jean-Louis Vignes, a native of France and the first commercial wine maker in California. In tribute to the Tongva, a new Sycamore tree (also known as Aliso) now graces the entrance to LA Plaza Village on Spring Street. , The Pico House and Merced Theatre , Pío de Jesús Pico was Alta California's last governor under Mexican rule. He was among the pueblo's wealthiest and most influential citizens. Pico commissioned prominent local architect Ezra Kysor to construct the Pico House on the southern end of the Old Plaza, perhaps in an effort to return the historic center of the Mexican pueblo to its former glory. It was the city's first grand hotel when completed in 1870 with 82 rooms on three floors, featuring luxury amenities like running water and restrooms on each floor, an interior courtyard, and a grand staircase. The adjoining Merced Theatre is the city's oldest surviving theatre, built in 1870. Today, the Pico House is owned and operated by the City of Los Angeles and is used for events and exhibitions. The City of Los Angeles is restoring both structures as living land-marks of the pueblo's proud history. , La Plaza de Cultura y Artes , La Plaza de Cultura y Artes opened in 2011 as a museum and cultural center that celebrates the city's Mexican and Mexican American history. The museum's two buildings were restored by the County of Los Angeles to their original Victorian design and are federally-registered structures. The site consists of the two-story Plaza House, constructed in 1883 as a commercial and retail office building, and later as a rooming house with shops and a popular bakery-restaurant. The five-story Vickrey-Brunswick Building, completed in 1888, housed apartments and commercial spaces and was later transformed into the Brunswick Drug Company.