#0170 Hancock Park La Brea
Title
#0170 Hancock Park La Brea
Plaque information:
Private plaquePlaque text:
Hancock ParkLa Brea Pits
Presented to the Citizens of Los Angeles County in December 1916 by Captain Allan Hancock with a request that the scientific features be preserved.
First historic reference to the tar pools recorded in the diary of Gaspar de Portolá in August 3, 1769.
Originally a portion of the Rancho La Brea granted by Governor Alvarado 1840.
Marked by Californiana Parolr 247, Native Daughters of the Golden West April 28, 1940
OHP description:
The bones of thousands of prehistoric animals that had been entrapped during the Ice Age in pools of tar that bubbled from beneath the ground were exhumed from this site. First historic reference to the pools, part of the 1840 Rancho La Brea land grant, was recorded by Gaspar de Portolá in 1769 - first scientific excavations were made by the University of California in 1906. The site was presented to the County of Los Angeles in 1916 by Captain G. Allan Hancock to be developed as a scientific monument.Registered 3/6/1935