About The USC Neighborhood

West Adams, also known as Historic West Adams, is a large district located in the center of Los Angeles, California, southwest of Downtown and west of USC. It is named after Adams Boulevard, the major east-west surface thoroughfare in the district. West Adams is one of the oldest neighborhoods in Los Angeles, with most of its buildings erected between 1880 and 1925, including the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. West Adams was developed by railroad magnate Henry E Huntington and wealthy industrialist Hulett C Merritt of Pasadena. It was once the wealthiest district in the city, with its Victorian mansions and sturdy Craftsman bungalows home to Downtown businessmen and professors and academicians at USC. In the 1990s, three areas of West Adams were designated as Historic Preservation Overlay Zones by the city of Los Angeles, in recognition of their outstanding architectural heritage.

The district includes many smaller neighborhoods: Adams-Normandie, Pico-Union, Angelus Vista, and Harvard Heights on the north, Victoria Park and Lafayette Square on the west, and Jefferson Park on the south.

North University Park is a subdistrict of West Adams, Los Angeles, California a few miles south of Downtown Los Angeles. North University Park refers to the area immediately north of the University of Southern California, bordering University Park. It includes Mount St. Mary's College's Doheny campus and Hebrew Union College, as well as several USC buildings such as the Annenberg Center and Institute for Multimedia Literacy on Adams Blvd.

The area's main thoroughfares are Figueroa Street, Adams Blvd, Hoover Blvd, and Vermont Blvd.

Local Landmarks include:

  • Automobile Club of Southern California headquarters, 1923 (southwest corner of Adams Boulevard and Figueroa Street)
  • Felix Chevrolet (northeast corner of Jefferson Boulevard and Figueroa)
  • Mount St. Mary's College, Doheny Campus (Adams just east of Hoover Street)
  • John Tracy Clinic (Adams just east of Hoover Street)
  • Olympic Village, 1932 Summer Olympics (near intersection of Adams and Hoover)
  • St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Roman Catholic church (northwest corner of Adams and Figueroa)
  • St. John's Cathedral (southwest corner of Adams and Figueroa)
  • University of Southern California
  • William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
  • Forthmann House - At 1102 W. 28th. St. there is a beautiful Victorian home built in 1880. This home is known as the Forthmann House and was built for the founders of the Los Angeles Soap Co. It is characterized by its mansard-roofed tower.
  • Art of Living Foundation Los Angeles Center - At 948 West Adams Blvd, this incredible building was for 100 years the Second Church of Christ Scientists and will now be restored and used as a community center by the foundation.

    Click here for the searchable map of the University Park Campus Neighborhood Resources, located on the University of Southern California (USC) website.