The mission of the Highland Park Heritage Trust is to preserve the heritage of Los Angeles’ Arroyo Seco communities through education, advocacy and preservation projects for the benefit of present and future generations. LA’s Arroyo Seco communities consist of Highland Park, Garvanza, Mt. Washington, Hermon and Montecito Heights. We hold monthly general meetings on the second Monday of each month – see our calendar for dates, time and location!
HPHT’s community outreach and education is accomplished through walking tours, awards programs, special events and printed materials, such as our newsletter and brochures. We created a preservation project fund in 1998 called “Operation Save” after assisting in the moving and rehabilitation of two historic homes, which are Contribution Structures to the Highland Park Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ).
Originally founded as an offshoot of an ad hoc committee of a City-funded Improvement Association, HPHT became a legal non-profit in 1984, just two years after its inception. In consort with the community, local organizations and elected officials, HPHT was instrumental in working to establish the Highland Park HPOZ. It is the largest historic district in the City of Los Angeles with over 2,500 Contributing Structures and the first HPOZ to include both residential and commercial properties. Since 1983, HPHT has successfully nominated over 50 Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments, in part making the Northeast Los Angeles area the steward of a large percentage of all historic resources listed in Los Angeles.
