Eagle Rock, Los Angeles

Eagle Rock is a neighborhood of Northeast Los Angeles in the San Rafael Hills, Los Angeles County, California.Eagle Rock is named after a large rock outcropping, resembling an eagle with its wings outstretched. The land was part of the Rancho San Rafael under Spanish and Mexican governorship. It was divided into parcels in 1870. It became a city in 1911 and joined Los Angeles in 1923.Today it is an ethnically diverse, relatively high-income neighborhood known for being the home of Occidental College and for a counterculture element among its 34,000+ people. Eagle Rock maintains a number of historically significant buildings and has a connection with the motion picture industry.There are nine public schools—including two high schools—and six private schools, as well as a branch public library.NomenclatureA massive boulder at the district's northern edge contains an indentation which casts a bird-shaped shadow on the rock at certain times of day, giving the neighborhood its name.HistoryBefore the arrival of European settlers, the secluded valley below the San Rafael Hills that is roughly congruent to Eagle Rock's present boundaries was inhabited by the Tongva people, whose staple food was the acorns from the valley's many oak trees. These aboriginal inhabitants were displaced by Spanish settlers in the late 18th century, with the area incorporated into the Rancho San Rafael. Following court battles, the area known as Rancho San Rafael was divided into 31 parcels in 1870. Benjamin Dreyfus was awarded what is now called Eagle Rock. In the 1880s Eagle Rock existed as a farming community.