Costa Rican immigrant Francisco Solano (c. 1825-1871) sailed to Los Angeles between 1848 and 1850 with the Casanova family, then married their teenage daughter Rosa in 1854. With the money he earned from his meatpacking business, he purchased half of this ravine in 1866. (It was indeed labeled “Solano Ravine” on an 1884 map.) But he died before his time and it would be up to his son Alfredo a.k.a. Alfred Solano (1857-1943) to buy the other half of the ravine and develop it all. Alfred, who christened Solano Avenue in 1888, was far more accomplished than his father. As a boy, he was “adopted” by powerful L.A. city surveyor (and Anaheim cofounder) George C. Hansen (1824-1897), who took him in and educated him in the civil engineering trade. They eventually became business partners and excavated the future Echo Park Lake together, among other achievements. Upon his death, lifelong bachelor Hansen left his protégé his entire estate. Alfred Solano went on to own Hollywood’s Runyon Canyon – then called Solano Canyon – for many years, using it as a rustic retreat. He also designed the Playa del Rey neighborhood in 1902 although it looks a bit different now. He and his wife Ella (née Brooks) lived in a fine home on Figueroa.
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