Cato Hernández
scours through tons of archives to understand how our region became the way it is today.
Published July 11, 2025 5:00 AM
A flyer for the Al G. Barnes circus.
(
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
)
Topline:
L.A. County has 88 cities, but do you know about the ones that didn’t survive? Barnes City was originally a home to a popular circus. But it ended up splitting a westside neighborhood.
Barnes City origins: Before the city formed in 1926, it was the home base of Al G. Barnes’ immensely popular wild animal circus and zoo. Animals and employees lived there along Washington Boulevard, on the border of the recently formed Culver City.
Annexation problems: That changed in 1925, when Culver City tried to add some of Barnes’ property to their city boundaries. He and other property owners fought back and formed Barnes City.
City uproar: That lasted for less than a year. Barnes City residents didn't like being in a city associated with a circus. So they forced another election that tossed out Barnes’ allies and later voted to join the city of L.A. That’s why in that area, Washington Boulevard is split between Culver City above and L.A. below.
Today Culver City is known for its surging restaurant scene and gorgeous art deco buildings.
But 100 years ago, there was another draw: it was the winter home of the immensely popular Al G. Barnes traveling circus and zoo, with a "thousand wild animals", zebras, lions, tigers galore, who, in their downtime, appeared in the nearby film productions.
For a short time, this three square mile area even became its own city, Barnes City, with its own town hall and services.
And then it disappeared.
Listen
4:47
The short-lived L.A. city that started out as a circus
Barnes City limits
The area today along Washington Boulevard is known officially as the Del Rey neighborhood, and jaggedly straddles the border between Culver City and the city of Los Angeles.
Resident Devora Rogers says she often has difficulties knowing who to call for city services like tree cleaning and trash pick ups. And it was those “wacky” boundaries which got her and her neighbors intrigued.
“ This kind of all made us think about what was this neighborhood before,” she said.
She and her husband did some digging. When she emailed me with its fascinating history, I jumped in to discover just what had happened.
In the early 1900s, the area was simply ranch land before being purchased by Alpheus George Barnes Stonehouse, owner of the Al G. Barnes wild animal circus and zoo.
The entertainment offered was the kind you’d expect in those days: zebras dressed up as clowns, elephants reenacting battlefield scenes and daring human stunts. One “girl trainer” would enter a cage of 30 lions and feed them strips of raw meat with her teeth, according to newspaper reports of the time.
A flyer for Al G. Barnes' 1,000 animal circus, paired with a portrait of him.
(
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
)
Shows reached as far as Canada and as close as Pasadena and Long Beach. During the winter offseason, the circus stayed around L.A. County. And at the end of the 1920 season, Barnes moved the circus’ permanent winter quarters to his ranch land. The homes and later local zoo were by the corner of Washington Boulevard and McLaughlin Avenue.
An undated aerial view of the entrance and layout of Al G. Barnes Circus, headquarters and zoo located near Culver City.
(
Security Pacific National Bank Collection/Los Angeles Public Library
)
While the land was unincorporated, it was right next to the border of the newly created Culver City.
That’s where the circus staff and animals would stay, relatively without issue, until Culver City came knocking in 1925. The city was looking to expand its boundaries and had begun the process of annexing a swath of his land. Barnes tried to stop it in court, arguing it would affect the value of his property and that his front porch would be in Culver City limits while his sleeping rooms would be outside of it.
The circus' facade advertised its large animal shows, Tusko the elephant and Lotus the hippo.
(
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons
)
To get around the annexation, Barnes petitioned the L.A. County Board of Supervisors to permit the area to become its own municipality, to be known as Barnes City.
After much legal and political wrangling, county supervisors set an election in February 1926 for the area’s roughly 400 registered voters, which included much of Barnes’ staff. Cityhood passed with 145 voting in support and 128 opposed.
The ‘political war’
Once the city became officially recognized on Feb. 13, 1926, elected trustees took office. Among those were Barnes’ allies, including his brother Albert T. Stonehouse, who became mayor. But it took less than a month for problems to brew.
Another group of residents, the La Ballona Improvement Association, were unhappy that Barnes’ name — and the name of the circus — had become the moniker of the city. They’d already unsuccessfully challenged it with the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, claiming it would negatively label the area as “Monkeyville.”
This group, and other factions against Barnes, pushed to have a second city election on April 12 in line with state regulations.
During this time, Barnes had been out performing. So he moved his entire circus back home for a one-day stint to allow his 350 performers to vote.
It was a tight race, but it ultimately went against him. Almost all of Barnes’ opponents won official city roles like trustee and city attorney.
Many residents felt there was only one way to deal with the issue of Barnes City: eliminate it and become part of another city. They opposed becoming part of Culver City because of its onerous regulations, but joining the nearby city of L.A. was another option.
So in September 1926, residents voted to merge with Los Angeles.
Barnes City had lasted a mere seven months.
For Rogers, learning the history has been eye-opening.
“ All of us complain about the fact that we don’t know if we’re supposed to call Culver City or L.A.,” she said. “But knowing why that happened is useful. At least it gives us some context.”
It also gives her something to search for. On Rogers' walks, she likes to look for spots that could’ve been interesting fixtures in Barnes City, like a ticket office or an elephant area.
“ I think it’s part of the funny, quirky history of Los Angeles,” she said.
People walk through a courtyard full of small publishers during LITLIT.
(
Los Angeles Review of Books
)
Topline:
The free book festival LITLIT, celebrates small independent publishers on the West Coast from Seattle to Santa Monica. It’s returning to L.A. the weekend of June 6 and 7.
Why it matters: The “Big Five” major publishers dominate publishing in the country. The literary fair highlights works from small presses on the West Coast.
The backstory: The Los Angeles Review of Books started LITLIT in 2019, to introduce LARB publishing workshop students to the industry; it has since grown into a festival celebrating independent publishers and other local literary arts practices.
Read on... for details on the event.
Held by the Los Angeles Review of Books since 2019, LITLIT, or The Little Literary Fair, started out as a way to introduce students from workshops to the publishing industry.
It has since grown into a gathering of independent West Coast publishers from Seattle to Santa Monica. This year’s iteration on June 6 and 7 is the biggest yet, with more than 50 publishers participating in the event at Sci-Arc in Downtown L.A.
People look through a small library of used books from "A Good Used Book," a Los Angeles based book pop-up, during LITLIT 2024.
(
Los Angeles Review of Books
)
It’s ‘small’ lit
The fair aims to get the public in front of books that don’t originate from the so-called “Big Five” publishers — behemoths like Penguin Random House and HarperCollins.
The Little Literary Fair Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) 960 E. Third St., Los Angeles Preview day: Friday, June 5, 6 p.m. Full fair: Saturday, June 6, to Sunday, June 7, from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Free admission Info and RSVP
“They really get to control what people get to see, and so we hope LITLIT lets people see more of what is out there and what they can support directly,” said Emily VanKoughnett, public programs and engagement director for LARB.
One of VanKoughnett’s favorite independent publishers will be there. Two Lines Press, the publishing arm of San Francisco’s Center for the Art of Translation, deals specifically in translated works.
Two Lines Press, which specializes in translated works, show off their books to attendees of LITLIT.
(
Los Angeles Review of Books
)
They’ve published authors from across the world, translating books from more than 100 different languages into English.
“ We do our work in quiet rooms, so it's really nice to be able to meet readers and talk to them about what's interesting them. These festivals are really valuable to us in that way,” said CJ Evans, publisher and editor-in-chief of Two Lines.
Pressed locally
Local favorite Angel City Press, which operates under the auspices of L.A. Public Library, will also be there with one of their newly published titles, Los Angeles Central Library POPS, that celebrates 100 years of the Central Library.
People at LITLIT 2024 look through different small presses.
(
Los Angeles Review of Books
)
You’ll also find LA-based Errant Press, which specializes in books that break the traditional form — like a poem printed on measuring tape or a matchbox sized poetry collection.
“It’s really cool to see the kinds of risks that people are able to take, the kinds of communities they’re able to serve and really highlight here on the West Coast,” said Irene Yoon, executive director of LARB.
Panels, printing presses, and workshops
The two-day fair also hosts various panels and workshops, including one on the art of comedic writing and another on how to tell the stories of Los Angeles through archival materials.
“This is, I think, the most panels we've ever done,” VanKoughnett said.
People sit down for a panel discussion at LITLIT 2024.
(
Los Angeles Review of Books
)
Workshops on how to navigate the literary world with a completed manuscript and making your own comics and zines are also on the itinerary.
“It's not until we're all in the same room with all our best books literally out on the table that you get to see kind of what a phenomenal publishing culture Los Angeles truly has,” said Terri Accomazzo, editorial director of Angel City Press.
Josie Huang
is a reporter and Weekend Edition host who spotlights the people and places at the heart of our region.
Published May 31, 2026 5:00 AM
Stephanie Trujillo and her mother Linda Alashti have co-owned Wet Paws since 2023.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
Topline:
After the Eaton Fire displaced most of its customers, Altadena pet groomer Wet Paws faced a June 1 deadline to decide whether to renew its lease. A social media plea sparked an outpouring of community support.
The backstory: Wet Paws estimates its lost up to 90% of its customer base after the fire, leaving it struggling to stay afloat.
What's next: The business has decided to renew its lease banking on Altadena's recovery and more customers returning to the area.
Running a small business is tough under normal circumstances. Running one in a wildfire burn scar can feel nearly impossible.
That's the reality many Altadena business owners are still navigating nearly a year and a half after the Eaton Fire destroyed the community and the local economy. Businesses are grappling with how do you stay open when so many of your customers are gone?
At Wet Paws, a pet grooming business along Lake Avenue, that question recently came to a head.
The shop reopened in January but business remained slow. Wet Paws co-owner Stephanie Trujillo estimates the fire had displaced up to 90% of their customers.
Marley, a Cane Corso from Pasadena, went for her first grooming session at Wet Paws in more than a year.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
Then came a conversation with their landlord several months ago that forced a decision.
"He reached out and said, 'Are you going to re-sign your lease?'" Trujillo recalled.
The answer wasn't obvious.
Marketing Lab+ Los Angeles County has launched a program offering free marketing assistance and storefront improvements to eligible Altadena businesses. The deadline to apply is June 8.
"I said, unfortunately, we're not even making it. We're paying out of our own pocket," she said. "So he said, 'I'll give you until June 1.'"
The deadline meant Trujillo and her mother, Linda Alashti, who have owned the business together since 2023, had only a few months to figure out whether Wet Paws had a future in Altadena.
Wet Paws is hardly alone. As businesses struggle, Los Angeles County recently launched a programoffering free marketing assistance and storefront improvements to fire-affected businesses. The deadline to apply is June 8.
A flag banner and sandwich board on the sidewalk outside Wet Paws advertises its services.
But relief has not arrived quickly enough for many businesses.
One particularly slow April Sunday at Wet Paws drove home how dire the situation had become, when they had only one customer.
As she drove home to Fontana, Trujillo began composing a social media post.
"So this isn't easy for us to share," the post began, "but I wanted to reach out with an open heart and hope."
In the message, Trujillo asked the community to book appointments and spread the word to help their business survive.
Before posting it, Trujillo showed it to her mother.
Wet Paws groomer Elizabeth Ranes takes care of a basset hound client.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
"We're very prideful, and it's very hard to ask people for help," she said. "I felt embarrassed that we had to ask the community for help."
Her mother's advice was simple. "Just post it," she told her. "The worst that's going to happen is nobody sees it or nobody cares."
Instead, the opposite happened. By the next day, the post had been viewed and shared hundreds of times across Instagram and Facebook.
The phone started ringing, said Wet Paws groomer Elizabeth Ranes.
"I got well over 50 calls," Ranes said. "We booked out for the last three weeks of the month when we made that post.”
Customers told Alashti that they “didn't know you were back, because they don't come this way anymore.”
Decor inside Wet Paws embraces a playful canine motif.
(
Josie Huang
/
LAist
)
Among those who returned was Penny Dahlstrom, a Pasadena resident whose 113-pound Cane Corso Marley had been a Wet Paws regular before the fire.
Dahlstrom had tried taking Marley to a large pet store chain while Wet Paws was closed.
"My husband went in to pick her up, and he hears crying, and it was her," Dahlstrom said. "That's not just her nature."
The social media appeal didn't just bring back former customers. It also introduced the business to new ones, Trujillo said.
But recovery remains uneven.
Some days are still slow. And the shop continues to deal with lingering fire-related electrical damage in the back of the building.
Wet Paws is operating on a temporary electrical system, limiting how much power it can use at any given time.
"If we run our AC, and the neighbors run their AC, we lose power," Trujillo said.
As the June 1 lease deadline approached, Trujillo and her mother weighed their options. They could walk away and cut their losses. Or they could commit to rebuilding alongside a community they had come to love.
Ultimately, they thought about the response to their post and the customers who had shown up when the business needed them most. And they had faith that Altadena would rebuild to its full strength.
They chose to renew the lease for another three years.
"I can't imagine what the community is going through, losing their homes and losing everything that they had," Trujillo said. "Yet they're still coming back."
And as long as they do, she said Wet Paws will be there for them and their fur babies.
Keep up with LAist.
If you're enjoying this article, you'll love our daily newsletter, The LA Report. Each weekday, catch up on the 5 most pressing stories to start your morning in 3 minutes or less.
Fiona Ng
is LAist's deputy managing editor and leads a team of reporters who explore food, culture, history, events and more.
Published May 31, 2026 5:00 AM
Mural by Geoff McFetridge.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
Topline:
A collective of artists has painted more than 70 murals across seven elementary schools in and around Los Angeles to bring art to students in under-resourced communities.
Why now: The collective just wrapped up their latest murals at Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights.
The backstory: The idea to paint murals at schools came from Erik Caruso, a fifth-grade teacher in Paramount, after he found out that many of his students had never been to an art museum.
On a recent Monday, students at Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights started their day like no other — with a tour of the murals hand-painted over the weekend across the playground.
It’s the latest of seven elementary schools in and around L.A. to get the treatment. Over 70 murals in the last 13 years, brought by a collective of artists to students in under-resourced neighborhoods with little access to art education.
“The kids were so excited,” said Stefanie Barbee, a math teacher at Breed. “Just pure joy.”
The students snaked through the paintings on handball courts and school walls: cartoon animals, bright orange flowers, a circle of meticulously painted lines. The works span genres and sensibilities.
Mural by artist hi-dutch.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
“It's grassroots. We're not getting money from anyone,” said Erik Caruso, the fifth-grade teacher in Paramount who's the group glue. To them, they are just an assembly of like-minded friends — and friends of friends — who spend one weekend out of the year hanging out and painting murals for school kids.
But the collective is anything but typical. It includes artists like the late Rich Jacobs, who died from leukemia this year; Tim Kerr; pro skater Ray Barbee; and Japanese artists Yusuke Hanai and hi-dutch. The vibe's always low-key, and somehow they've managed to stay under the radar.
Mural by artist Yusuke Hanai.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
Mural by artist Yusuke Hanai.
(
Sandy Yang / James Hamblin
)
“The kids have no idea that they show in huge galleries or have pieces hanging in museums,” said writer Martin Wong, co-founder of the pioneering Asian pop culture magazine Giant Robot. "Or they're famous in the skateboarding scene or surf or music."
Their reward is the Monday morning after, seeing the happiness on the kids’ faces.
“The artists are waiting all weekend — it’s that moment,” Caruso said.
Mural by artists Sandy Yang and James Hamblin.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
James Hamblin was at Breed for the meet-and-greet earlier this month. He painted a mural designed by his partner Sandy Yang on one of the handball walls.
“Sandy's design is pretty abstract, so it was interesting because the kids were [asking], you know, ‘ What is it?’” Hamblin said. “It was great because I could tell them I had no idea and like, ‘What do you guys think it is?’"
Bring the art museum to the school
Erik Caruso.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
The idea came to Caruso in 2011, after he took about two dozen students from his Paramount school to MOCA and discovered that only four had ever been to an art museum.
“I wonder if there's a way we can bring the art museum to the school,” he said.
Caruso, a 24-year veteran, was no stranger to bringing art — and artists — directly to his students. In 2009, he launched a monthly art project for fifth-graders that culminated in a year-end show where they met and shared work with living contemporary artists.
Caruso's 5th grade art project, featuring works by artist Tim Kerr.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
The murals were next.
They painted their first ones at his school in 2012. Soon, the project expanded to the rest of Los Angeles.
Crew at work
Mural by artist Chris Johanson.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
Mural by artist Chris Johanson.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
The painting takes place between Friday and Sunday, but planning takes months.
At Breed, the connection was made through math teacher Barbee — wife of Ray — who is on a two-year stint at the Boyle Heights school to help students catch up on the subject.
“I had sort of planted that seed that at some point I would love for a school I was working at to be the recipient of the beautiful work,” she said.
Breed Street Elementary in Boyle Heights.
(
Sandy Yang / James Hamblin
)
She brought Caruso out for a site visit last September.
“He has a really amazing kind of vision about where to place the artists … based on just their artwork and where it is in relation to the street view,” Barbee said.
Next came an introduction to the principal and the approval process.
“One of the biggest challenges with what we are doing is, you know, they want flipping dolphins and stuff like that,” Caruso said. “But we want to cross over into fine art pieces.”
Mural by artists Lookout & Wonderland
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
Mural by artists Lookout & Wonderland
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
Paying it forward
Caruso estimated that as many as 40 artists and musicians have joined the effort.
The core group now, he said, is about 11 people, and friends and families often tag along to help out, given they have just 16 hours over three days to finish the job.
Mural by artist Oitama.
(
Sandy Yang / James Hamblin
)
Mural by artist Lori Damiano.
(
Operation Creative Freedom
/
Operation Creative Freedom
)
Among the regulars: Wong and his wife, Wendy Lau, who once organized DIY punk shows to fund music education at their daughter's Chinatown school. In Caruso, they saw a kindred spirit.
Caruso later brought the collective to paint at that school and eventually invited their daughter, Linda Lindas bassist Eloise Wong, to join his fifth-grade art and music project.
“All of these kids on the blacktop were all just screaming their hearts out,” Eloise said. “It's cool how Erik — Mr. Caruso to them — shows them, like, raw ways to express themselves through cool art.”
Robert Garrova
explores the weird and secret bits of SoCal that would excite even the most jaded Angelenos. He also covers mental health.
Published May 30, 2026 5:00 AM
(
Altadena Musicians
)
Topline:
A new free record shop for survivors of last year’s Eaton and Palisades fires is celebrating with a grand opening party Saturday night.
The backstory: After losing his home in the Eaton Fire, Brandon Jay founded Altadena Musicians to get instruments back into the hands of musicians who lost gear in the fires. Now he’s doing that with vinyl records, too.
Read on ... to find details.
A new free record shop for survivors of last year’s Eaton and Palisades fires is celebrating with a grand opening party Saturday night.
After losing his home in the Eaton Fire, Brandon Jay founded Altadena Musicians to get instruments back into the hands ofmusicians who lost their gear in fires.
Now he’s doing that with vinyl records, too.
Record Shop grand opening Altadena Music Center 1260 Lincoln Ave., Suite 1300, Pasadena Saturday, May 30 Record donations starting at 1 p.m. Grand opening party is 6 - 9 p.m. For more info and to register a free ticket, check out the Altadena Music Center event page. LAist is a media sponsor for the event.
“We want to be here to help replace those items and support music in people’s lives that can’t necessarily afford it right now because they’re saving all their pennies just to live and also just to rebuild their homes,” Jay told LAist.
Jay says they’ve seen roughly 3,000 records donated so far. Now they have a dedicated space on Lincoln Avenue where fire survivors can sign up for time slots and shop for up to 10 records a month.
“It’s a really lovely distraction but it kind of keeps me going as well just to know that we’re trying to build something great for the community and keep us all moving forward,” Jay said.
The store will carry copies of the benefit album, Gimme Shelter: Songs for LA Fire Relief. The compilation features cover art by Shepard Fairey and L.A. specific tracks from artists like Elliott Smith ("Angeles" of course), Norah Jones, The Flaming Lips, as well as a cover of "Burning Down the House" by Talking Heads performed by Jay and about 50 other fire-impacted musicians.
