The tragic history of Dodger Stadium’s Chavez Ravine

The displacement of residents from Chavez Ravine in the 1950s to make way for Dodger Stadium remains a dark chapter in history, according to Angelus News. The process began around 1951 when residents were told they must move to make room for planned low-income housing. This led the majority of the 1,800 families in the largely Mexican-American community to vacate the area.

Between 1957 and 1958, the city negotiated a deal with Brooklyn Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley. The city traded more than 300 acres of land to O’Malley for the private construction of the stadium and used eminent domain to secure the property.

The removal of the remaining residents involved sheriff's deputies forcibly removing people and their belongings. On May 8, 1959, a day known as Black Friday, 66-year-old family matriarch Avrana Arechiga reportedly threw stones at deputies while resisting eviction. Angelus News reports that city planners had previously labeled the community a slum, driven by politics, racism, and a housing crisis.