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Mesa Avenue

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Departures is researching its next installment exploring neighborhoods in Highland Park and the Arroyo Seco. Contributions like the ones seen below will enrich this next installment as they help identify points of interest, personal anecdotes, and places that are culturally or historically significant.

It was a thrill for me as a child to come to the big city from Claremont to visit Grandpa and Grandma, Harry and Pauline Scher (formerly Herschel Sieradski from Poland). My grandparents built their home at 6163 Mesa Avenue in Highland Park in 1913. I have pictures of the building process. They also helped build Temple Beth Israel in the then Jewish neighborhood. Grandpa was a barber in downtown Los Angeles. He never owned a car, but took the streetcar to and from work every day. He would stop on the way home to buy fresh food for dinner each night. He was known as "The Mayor of Spring Street" and had quite a reputation around town. Everyone knew him because of his friendly manner. There are a few artilces from the L.A. Times about him and the famous people whom he trimmed for $.25 (that's cents) for a shave and haircut. He took good care of his family and his house still stands strong on Mesa Avenue. I love my memories of dirt roads and trails and people caring about one another.

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