Country Club Park's History

Country Club Park is a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, HPOZ, between Crenshaw and Western and Olympic and Pico Boulevards in the great city of Los Angeles.

Country Club Park was developed between the 1910s through the 1930s. Although initially segregated, barriers to the community fell as celebrated and affluent African Americans from professional, judicial, legal, medical, religious, and entertainment fields discovered the area.

Among the music industry icons who once resided here were gospel great Mahalia Jackson, Lou Rawls, Lena Horne, Cindy Birdsong of the Supremes, and Hattie McDaniel, who was also known for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind. Religious leader Thomas Kilgore—also an esteemed and influential force in the Civil Rights movement—made Country Club Park his home, as did Civil Rights leader and Tuskegee Airman Celes King. Legal icon Crispus Wright, who endowed his law school at USC with $2 million to establish a scholarship fund, was a neighbor, as was Victor Nickerson, whose family founded the first black-owned insurance company.

Other Country Club Park notables include restaurateur Alex Perino, celebrated for his Wilshire Boulevard hot spot for Hollywood celebs of the ‘30’s through the ‘50’s, “Memory Professor” Arthur Bornstein, founder of the highly successful school of Memory Training, and Borden Milk Company executive Isaac Milbank.

Today, Country Club Park is a vibrant multi-ethnic community whose residents have preservation in mind. The neighborhood was approved in 2002 for Historical Preservation Overlay Zone, and is moving forward with the historical designation process.

The Country Club Park Neighborhood Association

The Country Club Park Neighborhood Association — an all-volunteer, non-profit 501(c)4 organization — aims to make the Country Club Park the happiest place on earth. We unite residents and represent the neighborhood’s interest before city government. Together, with the help of our city councilman, we overcame the morass of Los Angeles bureaucracy to become a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone, build a pocket park on the corner of Wilton Place and Olympic Boulevard and erect gates at the ends of several streets to control traffic.

We meet regularly to discuss how we can improve our neighborhood. We hold an annual holiday party and other events throughout the year. We hold quarterly neighborhood meetings, where we frequently meet with our senior lead officer and other city officials. We also publish a quarterly newsletter that’s hand delivered by board members and volunteers.

Contact any CCPNA board members at countryclubparkinfo@gmail.com or via the contact form below. We’re always looking for dedicated neighbors to join our efforts in improving the neighborhood.

Please Support Us

We are grateful for your donations, which pay for our newsletter production, insurance on the gates, meeting space rental, special events, Web site hosting and a host of other expenses. We ask all residents to make a Patron’s donation or a Standard donation for those living on a fixed income. Please note that because we are a non-profit, 501(c)(4) organization your contributions are not tax deductible.

• Standard donation: $35.00
• Patron’s Donation: $50.00
• Sponsor’s Donation: $100.00
• Supporter’s Donation: $500.00
• Founder’s Donation: $1,000

Make check payable to: Country Club Park Neighborhood Association Mail to: Country Club Park Neighborhood AssociationP.O. Box 19512Los Angeles, California 90019

By Ky Trang Ho, secretary of the Country Club Park Neighborhood Association, and Holly Eubanks, former Country Club Resident and board member of CCPNA.