Zanja Madre

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Zanja Madre Map
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Zanja Madre

The Mother Ditch

Olvera St
(southwest of East Macy St)
Los Angeles, CA 90012

The Zanja Madre or "Mother Ditch" is a fragment of the city's original irrigation ditch. It was built in 1781 and its purpose was to carry water from the Los Angeles River up near Elysian Park into the city. In 1929, to show where the Zanja Madre brought the water to the pueblo of Los Angeles, its path was marked with diagonal brickwork which you can still see today as you walk down Olvera Street.

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