Echo Park

Echo Park is a hilly neighborhood in Los Angeles, northwest of Downtown Los Angeles and southeast of Hollywood.

Local attractions include Echo Park and its small lake, which at one time was said to contain the largest planting of lotuses outside Asia. The lotus plantings suffered significant die-back between 2005 and 2008, and have been disappeared completely since then. Plans for re-planting, including solicitation of contributions, have been on hold as of 2010-2011 until the cause of the plant's demise is understood.

There is a Cuban festival held annually on the Sunday closest to May 20, to commemorate Cuba's Independence from Spain and to also honor Cuban poet and patriot José Martí, who has a statue in the park.

Bordering the park are the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and the famous Angelus Temple, a large Foursquare Gospel church built by Canadian-born Pentecostal evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923.

Built by Max Sennett in 1912 Keystone Studios at 1712 Glendale Blvd. was the first totally enclosed film stage and studio in history. Located in the Edendale quarter of Echo Park, the studio still exists in all its structural entirety, though now passes time as a public storage facility. Some of Keystone's original auxiliary buildings are still standing (with modified facades) on both sides of Glendale Blvd.

Some of this information is courtesy of wikipedia.com