History
Tataviam Village 450 AD
The history of the town of Pacoima is traced back more than 1500 years when the people indigenous to the area began establishing villages. These proud natives are known as Tataviams, meaning “People facing the Sun,” who had territorial governing reign over this area, which they called “Pacoinga Village.”
Tataviam tribal life, which dates back to 450 AD, contained a strong sense of community. Men led the tribe but women had political and ceremonial ranks. There was a prevailing harmony that worked well within the tribal system for more than a thousand years until the European invasion.
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The brutal colonization of the California territory by Spain had a disastrous impact on the Tataviam tribe. In 1769, a Catholic priest named Junipero Serra was commissioned to build missions up and down the coast. These Missions were primarily designed to convert Native Americans to Christianity and abandon their own beliefs, while the Spanish military built presidios to wage war and made a concerted effort to eliminate the Indian race.
Although the Tataviam tribe had territories in the San Fernando Valley, Simi Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, and Antelope Valley, they are still struggling for Federal recognition. Their history is evident by names such as Topanga, Cahuenga, Tujunga, and Pacoinga (Pacoima) which are all linguistically traced to the tribe.
The story of Rogerio Rocha is perhaps the most tragic documented account of the 1800s in the San Fernando Valley. Rocha was a tribal captain of the Tataviam tribe who lived at the San Fernando mission during the mission era. He was a skilled locksmith who acquired land in San Fernando, via a land grant from Pio Pico, the last California governor under Mexican rule.
In 1874, a former U.S. Senator named Charles Maclay purchased 56,000 acres in the San Fernando Valley, along with cousins Benjamin and George Porter. He also established the city of San Fernando.
Rogerio Rocha lived a peaceful life until former senator Charles Maclay forcibly removed him and his 80-year-old wife on one cold winter night. They were dropped off on the outskirts of the city with only their belongings during a horrific storm. His wife, who was ill at the time, was taken to shelter at the San Fernando Mission but succumbed to pneumonia. Rocha ended up an old homeless wanderer until he died in 1906. Maclay's quest for valuable water rights appears to have been his motivation for the Rocha atrocity.
Rogerio Rocha
In 1887, Jouette Allen purchased 1000 acres and named the town Pacoima. In anticipation of traffic from the Southern Pacific railroad and a frenetic real estate boom, Pacoima was one of the many new cities that was founded by speculative investors. The land was developed as an exclusive community that would attract the highest class of settlers. However, after the great flood of 1891 Pacoima became an agricultural community.
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The name is a rendition of “Pacoinga Village” as it was called for many years by the Tataviam tribe. Translation of the word is “la entrada” or “the entrance”. Traditional history reported the meaning to be “rushing waters” however that was a romanticized meaning of the word, which was incorrect.
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Because of California's long tenure under Mexico's rule, many people of Mexican descent had been living in the Pacoima area for a number of years. However, In the early 1900s, Mexico was experiencing a major conflict between its government and the working class. The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 and led many to flee the violence and head to the United States. This ended in 1920 however, another set of circumstances in 1926-1929 brought more migrants when the Mexican government and the Catholic church bumped heads.
The Mexican Revolution war, which began in 1910, led to a significant Mexican migration into California. Many began making the arduous journey, mostly by covered wagon and some decided to settle in Pacoima. This was due to racial covenants that limited where they could live and the abundance of agricultural jobs in the area.
The Lozano family arrived to Pacoima in 1920
In the 1920s many Japanese also migrated to Pacoima and began successfully cultivating the land. Pacoima quickly became known as the only place people of color could purchase land in the San Fernando Valley and was on its way to becoming the most diverse town in the city of Los Angeles.
Other groups also settled in the town including Italian, Korean, Jewish, and a small number of African Americans.
In 1938, horrific flooding devastated Pacoima and the San Fernando Valley. Homer and Marie Hansen owned a sizable ranch in Pacoima. This land was acquired via eminent domain to construct Hansen Dam, which was built in 1940.
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December 7, 1941, was the bombing of Pearl Harbor and began a horrific time for the Japanese in the San Fernando Valley. They were sent to concentration camps where they endured racism and untold horrors during the World War II saga. After the war, the Japanese-American citizens of Pacoima founded the San Fernando Valley Japanese-American community center.
Construction began on Hansen Dam in 1940
Grand opening of the San Fernando Valley Japanese-American Community Center in Pacoima
The war era brought hundreds of families to the east side of the San Fernando Valley. With Lockheed jobs and the opening of General Motors in 1947, housing became a high priority in the Valley.
In 1951, land developers decided to lure African Americans to Pacoima by naming a new housing tract after a famous African American world heavy weight boxer Joe Louis. This housing tract brought in Black buyers by the droves and was the beginning of a Black middle-class community unlike any other in the country.
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African-American couple in Pacoima on Van Nuys Blvd in 1949
The Broadous family was prominent in Pacoima history
1957 saw a horrific plane crash that killed 8 children at Pacoima Junior High. It also saw the rise of the town's most celebrated icon Ritchie Valens, who was a Mexican American that reached the national stage at a time when people of color were frowned upon.
The sixties and seventies saw the community come together. While the San Fernando Valley focused on practicing discriminatory practices in housing and jobs and labeled the community as poverty-stricken and crime-ridden, Pacoima’s youth sought out higher education.
In 1968, Blacks took over the administration building at San Fernando Valley State College (now known as Cal State University Northridge) demanding to be heard about the racial injustices at the school. The result was Pan African Studies and Chicano studies departments at colleges and universities throughout the state and possibly the country.
In 1968, Pacoima youth protested at SFV State College against racial injustice
Rev. Authur Broadous leads a community protest against drugs and gangs
Pacoima during the 60s until the 90s became nationally known for its activism. The NAACP and community churches organized and strategized to curtail police brutality and successfully spearheaded bans on the chokehold and use of the battering ram. Housing discrimination was a focus of organizers as well.
The grassroots protests led to a host of lawmakers and politicians from Pacoima. United States Congresswoman Barbara Lee was the first San Fernando High graduate to go to Washington. Subsequently, US Senator Alex Padilla, US Congressman Tony Cardenas, , and State Assemblymember Luz Rivas, all SFHS graduates, followed. Two additional Pacoimains, Richard Alarcon, and Monica Rodriguez were also elected to the city council positions representing the 7th District of Los Angeles.
US Senator Alex Padilla
US Congressman Tony Cardenas
