Chavez Ravine, Canyon in Elysian Park area, Los Angeles, US

Chavez Ravine is a shallow canyon in the hills north of downtown Los Angeles, beside Dodger Stadium. The ravine was named for Julian Chavez, who bought 83 acres of the narrow valley in 1844. Two brick manufacturers moved in in 1886 and blasted the hillsides; the city banned blasting and zoned the area residential in 1926.

Julian Chavez, born in New Mexico, bought 83 acres of the ravine in 1844. In 1855 the Hebrew Benevolent Society opened Los Angeles's first Jewish cemetery here on a 3-acre plot bought from the city for $1. By the early 1900s the Mexican-American neighborhoods of Palo Verde, La Loma and Bishop stood on the ridges; residents were cleared in the 1950s for Dodger Stadium.

The site bears the name of a councilman from Mexican California, showing how early Hispanic settlers shaped the land. Some areas still hint at the way of life of communities who grew vegetable gardens and fruit trees here.

The arboretum from 1893 preserves some of California's oldest trees and offers shade along walking paths. Access is through Elysian Park, and signage helps with orientation in the natural areas.

The Hebrew Benevolent Society, Los Angeles's first charity, bought a 3-acre plot here for $1 from the city and received the deed on April 9, 1855, establishing the city's first Jewish cemetery at Lilac Terrace and Lookout Drive. The site now lies under Dodger Stadium and the Frank Hotchkin Memorialized Training Center.