He planted grapes on an area span of 104 acres (42 ha) where Cabernet and Sauvignon Blanc vines imported from the southern France thrived.

By 1849, El Aliso, Vignes' vineyard named for the sacred local sycamore tree,[5] was the largest producer of wine in California.

By the late 19th century, oranges and grapefruits had replaced grapes as the principal agricultural products of the area; as such, the property west of the riverbank was thick with citrus groves.

A print shop became the area's first commercial arts enterprise, employing artists from around the region designing labels for the boxes of citrus fruits shipped across the country.

The single-room hotels for rail workers to the northwest, and the growth of Little Tokyo to the west and Chinatown to the north, created a mix of working-class and cosmopolitan.

[citation needed] By World War II, the citrus groves had been replaced by factories and the rail freight business was giving way to the trucking industry.

[8] In the mid-'70s, a handful of artists, including Joel Bass, Dan Citron, Woods Davy, Marc Kreisel, Jon Peterson, Stephen Seemayer, Maura Sheehan, Coleen Sterritt, Sydney Littenberg, Peter Zecher, and others saw opportunity in the empty buildings and began colonizing the area, converting former industrial and commercial spaces into working studios and living quarters, sometimes renting space for as little as a three cents a square foot.

By the mid-1980s, the following artists were also living downtown: Linda Frye Burman, James Croak, Merion Estes, Joe Fay, George Herms, Mary Jones, Constance Mallinson, Paul McCarthy, Margaret Nielson, Richard Newton, Margit Omar, Lari Pittman, John Schroeder, Judith Simonian, Andy Wilf, and Takako Yamaguchi.

[citation needed] LA Artcore, founded in 1976 by Lydia Takeshita with the purpose of exhibiting local artists, exists today in locations at the Brewery Art Colony and in Little Tokyo.

This legendary punk rock venue was the training ground for Sonic Youth, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beck, the Fall, the Residents, introducing generations of Angelenos to dozens of emerging groups.

"[18] During the '80s, Bedlam, created by artist Jim Fittipaldi, on 6th Street (and later, briefly, in the former premises of Al's bar) was a salon with drawing workshops, art installations, theater, live music, and a speakeasy.

The Spanish Kitchen, a warehouse space on Third near Traction, was home to series of happenings, events, raves, installations, and blowout parties.

In 1985, Fritz Frauchiger curated "Off the Street," a "one-time art exhibition" sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Department in the Old City Print Shop, which featured paintings, sculptures, photographs, and installations by 48 Los Angeles artists, most of whom lived downtown.

It includes a current map of the Arts District and professional photos of the mural artwork found here and in the surrounding downtown LA neighborhoods.

[25] Challenges facing the district today include the loss of affordable live/work lofts, artists, and historically significant buildings.

[29][30] The century-old Coca-Cola manufacturing plant at 4th and Merrick Streets, around the corner from the oversize Santa Fe railroad dock that houses SCI-Arc, is the latest in adaptive reuse into creative spaces.

The three-story brick-clad building was described as the "headquarters for the company's Pacific Coast business and for its export trade in the Hawaiian Islands and Old Mexico" when it was built in 1915.

[28] The Hauser Wirth & Schimmel complex opened in 2016 in buildings that date from the 1890s to the 1940s that occupy an entire city block on East 3rd Street.

The popular TV sitcom New Girl takes place largely in an apartment loft located in the Arts District.

Little Tokyo and Arts District Regional Connector Station have pedestrian and bicycle access with the Sixth Street Viaduct.

[38] The Arts District is located near the center of Downtown Los Angeles making it more accessible to alternate forms of transportation.

The small neighborhood is also serviced by the Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT) DASH bus making several stops on Hewitt Street.

The Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) relocated to the Santa Fe Freight Depot, a building originally constructed in 1907.

[43] Otis College of Art and Design was originally in the downtown Los Angeles area in Westlake, across the street from MacArthur Park.