Griffith Park is named for a guy who shot his wife — and other true stories of L.A. parks

Griffith Observatory — named after Griffith J. Griffith, who donated the money to have it built — is seen on a vintage postcard from Patt Morrison’s collection. So at Christmas 1896 he presented the city with thousands of acres, along with the pious sentiment that would wind up on his statue in Griffith Park: “Public parks are a safety valve of great cities... and should be accessible and attractive, where neither race, creed nor color should be excluded.” The pioneer and publisher Horace Bell, who loved to deflate Griffith’s pomposity in print, made it clear he thought the gift was merely a tax dodge. And it was at Greek George’s house that Vasquez was captured, in 1874, and sent to San Jose, where he was convicted and hanged, behaving, the papers marveled, “more like a gentleman than a knave.” Vasquez Rocks, formed by seismic activity, was a popular filming location for “Star Trek.” Vasquez has his own namesake park, the spectacular Vasquez Rocks, his onetime hideout — hundreds of acres with fabled, other-worldly sandstone formations in Agua Dulce. The most popular topics — sociology, economics, and religion — may have been research material for the haranguers and bloviators who took to the park’s “speakers’ corner” to spiel at the passing audiences. The website Curbed Los Angeles once asked, “Do we dislike Pershing Square because it’s ugly, or is Pershing Square ugly because we dislike it?” I don’t know, but maybe we can give it another new name, one that at least includes the word “park.” Amelia Mayberry Park A little nosing around turns up a great number of parks named for politicians and developers, but once in a while, civic sentiment prevails.