Los Angeles was originally settled by Spanish explorers in the 16th century and officially founded in 1781 as El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles. The name was given due to its proximity to the river of the same name and in honor of the shrine to the Virgin Mary, Santa Maria degli Angeli. The city became the City of Angels in 1850 and has been known by that name ever since.
As with much of the American Southwest, the area surrounding what is now Los Angeles once belonged to Spain. Officially founded in 1781, the original name of what is now Los Angeles was El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles, or “The City of the Queen of Angels” in Spanish. The pueblo eventually became a ciudad, or city, which made Los Angeles the City of Angels. The name has been with it ever since.
Originally home to Native American tribes, the first Europeans passed through Los Angeles during the 16th century when an expedition sent by the Viceroy of New Spain originally claimed the area in what is now Southern California for the Spanish Empire. However, it wasn’t until 16 years later that the city was actually settled, when the new governor of California, Felipe de Neve, sent a group known as Los Pobladores, the settlers, to search for areas that might be suitable for settlement. Los Pobladores were a group of 200 families from the Mexican states of Sonora and Sinoloa. On their recommendation, the governor ordered that the area now known as Los Angeles be made into a pueblo, or city.
The pueblo was named El Pueblo de la Reina de Los Angeles due to its proximity to the river of the same name – El Rio de Nuestro Senora La Reina de Los Angeles, or The River of Our Lady the Queen of Angels. There is some dispute as to whether the original name of both the river and the town also included de Porciuncula, after a small Italian church. The common belief seems to be that the words were originally part of the name; however, scholars seem to disagree.
Whether or not the name originally includes this element, both the city and the river of angels appear to have been named in honor of the shrine, found on the plain below Assisi in Italy, to the Virgin Mary, Santa Maria degli Angeli – otherwise known as “Our Lady of the Angels”. It was not uncommon at the time to name new settlements, or conquests, after important religious or political figures. Eventually, the area grew to become the City of Los Angeles in 1850. Since then, the city has often been referred to as the “City of Angels.”
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