Sanchez gets his street back
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In April, I wrote about the long-frustrated effort of one Los Angeles resident, 90-year-old Jack Sanchez, to have a street sign reinstalled downtown. Jack Sanchez is the great-great-nephew of the man Sanchez Street was named for: Vicente Sanchez, who was a mayor of Los Angeles when it was still a frontier outpost of the Republic of Mexico. Sanchez Street is a one-block alley that runs south from the old Plaza downtown, opposite the small square from Olvera Street. It’s still listed as Sanchez Street on official city maps, but the street sign was taken down decades ago.
On Thursday, the street sign went back up, thanks to Los Angeles City Council members Jose Huizar and Tom LaBonge. It’s a small recognition of the city’s Mexican past, and of the American family that’s kept alive the memory of ‘Don Vicente’ for 150 years. Sanchez, his son Greg Sanchez, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren were there for the ceremony.
-- Hector Tobar in Los Angeles
Photo Credit: City of Los Angeles
