California's Proposed New Congressional Districts
- Los Angeles County Map
September 4, 2025, marks the 244th anniversary of the founding of Los Angeles. The city's tiny group of 44 original settlers were perhaps the most ethnically diverse group of founders for any major city in America.
Photo from the California Historical Society Collection at Los Angeles Public Library.
1890. Ice Cream and tamale vendor Nicolas Martinez serves two boys near present-day Olvera Street in Los Angeles. L.A. has a history of street vending that traces back to the 1860s. Nicolas Martinez was the earliest L.A. street vendor on record. He carried a basket on his head, containing tamales and ice cream, separated by a piece of wood, each side insulated with towels. He charged 5 cents for tamales and 10 cents for ice cream, vending around 7th and Spring.
Martinez would be joined on the streets by other tamaleros. The trade came to be successful, but, in 1892, the city tried to scale it back. In 1897, restaurant owners pressured City Council to restrict tamaleros street vending to only after 9pm. That proposal was not warmly welcomed, however. City Council then concluded that more would be gained for the city by charging vendor fees. By 1901, more than a hundred licensed tamale wagons roamed the streets of L.A., each bringing in a dollar per month in city business license fees. The tamale business came to be so lucrative that blacks, whites, and European immigrants joined Latinos in plying the streets of L.A. with tamales.
Who are the indigenous people groups native to Los Angeles County?
