L.A. Walks: MacArthur and Lafayette Parks...a Stroll through Time, 2.5 miles 

Another terrific hike from Charles Fleming's series in the LA Times (dated 3/20/15). It helps to remember that MacArthur (formerly Westlake) Park—was built in the 1880s on 32 acres of marshy swampland, and became the centerpiece of L.A.'s fashionable residential district once known as the "Champs Elysees of Los Angeles." The 19th to early 20th century park, lined with elaborate electroliers and surrounded by luxury hotels and mansions, was renamed MacArthur Park in 1942 on a suggestion by Wm. Randolph Hearst to boost WWII hero MacArthur's chances for a run as US President. Over 138 years, the old beauty slipped from high fashion to high crime, but now hosts community festivals, soccer games, amphitheater concerts, and a community of big, fat, bold geese and seagulls who took over the small island at the south end of the lake. Barbara and I entered at the SE end under trees filled with huge birds staring down, daring us to enter. Oh no! The first quarter mile around the lake was daunting. Forget dog walkers, joggers, or bench-sleeping bums—slippery goose/seagull dung covered the path, the concrete benches, and smelled as bad as it looked. But things got better, a lot better. The 1955 MacArthur Monument, with a statue of the general with a concrete map of the WWII Pacific Theater at his feet, is pretty spectacular. We circled the lake then headed through a tunnel under Wilshire Blvd. to the north end of the park to eat cake with sweet green icing (you KNOW we had to) and enjoy the art installations and statues dotting the park. One of my faves, a 1920 statue of Gen. Otis pointing NW to the former site of his mansion (the first built on Wilshire, 1895). At this point, you could feel the old money once dominating the neighborhood. Walking west on Wilshire past old apartment buildings, including the 1913 Beaux Arts & Classical Bryson Building (National Historic Register) and the Wilshire Royale (reserved for folks who could afford $150/mo in 1927,) and on to 1899's Lafayette Park, dedicated to the Frenchman who fought for the colonies in the Am. Revolution. A cool little play park, they renovated basketball court for the 1992 film White Men Can't Jump. More on the way back along 6th— this hike is jammed with history—like the 1932 First Congregational Church housing the largest church organ in the world (22,000 pipes), the Felipe de Neve Branch Library (1929), and the truly impressive, 1925 Art Deco Park Plaza Hotel opened as the most influential Elks Club in L.A. and now renting out as a party/film location. If you can take shit from a few territorial geese, MacArthur Park and surroundings will walk you into the past. "You'll still be the one."