27th Street Historic District
Why it's listed
Several blocks south of downtown Los Angeles, around East 27th Street and Paloma Avenue, form a neighborhood first developed with single-family homes at the turn of the 20th century. Most buildings are one- or two-story wood-framed houses in Victorian styles, with gabled or hipped roofs, clapboard siding, porches and gingerbread ornament. Later additions include Colonial Revival duplexes and Spanish Colonial Revival cottages from the 1920s. Some houses have been divided into multiple units, and small dwellings sit behind many main residences, reached by rear alleys. Institutional buildings include three churches, among them a 1905 Romanesque Revival church, and a four-story YMCA built in 1926 with a gymnasium, swimming pool and dormitory rooms. The YMCA facade carries medallions of Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass. The district contains 43 contributing and 13 noncontributing buildings. It was listed as part of a group of properties associated with African Americans in Los Angeles, and the form notes its consistent character and high level of physical integrity.
Significance in brief: The district is part of a multiple property listing on historic resources associated with African Americans in Los Angeles. The form describes strong consistency in character and a high level of physical integrity, with almost all buildings built during the period of significance. The YMCA building from 1926 has bas-relief panels with busts of Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass. The excerpt does not include the full Section 8 statement of significance.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 09000399, listed June 11, 2009. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | Along 27th St., Los Angeles |
|---|---|
| County | Los Angeles County |
| Listed | June 11, 2009 |
| Reference number | 09000399 |
| Resource type | District |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian (Queen Anne, Romanesque Revival); Late 19th & 20th Century Revivals (Colonial Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival) |
| Areas of significance | Black |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | Current functions listed include single and multiple dwellings, religious facilities and a meeting hall. Common alterations are security doors and window bars, and some houses have been converted to multi-family use. |
| Acreage | 7.8 |
| Coordinates | 34.01589, -118.47379 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 09000399.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q4632654
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.