The word freight comes into English in the middle ages, in the sense of renting a ship for the transport of goods. The Dutch, like the Venetians, were shipbuilders because their lot of land was low to sea level and conducive to shipbuilding and trade. In fact, Nederlands (the Dutch name of the country) literally means low lands, as opposed to the German highlands. It's from middle Dutch/Low German yrecht a variation of vrecht which meant ships cargo that we get the word freight.
Interestingly, the word freight is related to the word fraught. Fraught means filled with, laden, and comes from the middle Dutch for load with cargo. It's likely the English bought Dutch ships for use in trade, and from there this words crept into the language. The word cargo is a Spanish loanword coming into the language in the mid 17th century. So you can see as the English started to become players in world trade with their territory claims in the New World, they borrowed words from the Dutch and Spanish who had been doing it for a good while longer.
A few centuries later, the English speakers who settled in San Pedro loaded the crates of oranges they received via freight train onto cargo freighters that took those oranges around the world. It's all kind of neat to think about.
But enough of this big picture stuff. I've prattled on for long enough about shipping and trade and commerce. I just wanted to wrap and reintroduce some themes before I talk about the other big motivator for human interaction, religion.
You can see why I was stalling.
I brought up SimCity 4 because last time I mentioned how Seaports and Airports were cap busters for Industrial and Commercial areas, respectively. Airports also helped relieved the freight burden, whatever was the fastest way to get your goods moving.
In residential areas, the cap busters were usually things that raise property values; parks mostly. When your population reached certain levels you were alternatively offered a House of Worship or a Cemetery. At 1,000 you were offered a House of Worship at 2,000 a cemetery. A city would have three cemeteries and four houses of worship when all the caps were met.
Because Los Angeles was founded as a Spanish city, the oldest church built was Catholic. In 1784, Nuestra Señora Reigna de los Angeles Asistencia was founded as a sub mission (asistencia) to the Mission San Gabriel. It's mission was twofold, both to convert the natives in the area so as to fold them into the flock (and use them for labor) and to provide a place of worship to those growing crops to feed the population of Mission San Gabriel.
As the pueblo grew, there became less need for a sub-mission, and more need for a church to serve the inhabitants. In 1814, Franciscan Fray Luis Gil y Taboada placed the cornerstone for a new church on the ruins of the old adobe church, and by 1822 the church was completed.
La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles. Photo credit LAPL
In 1822, those living in Los Angles were no longer Spanish but Mexican. The Treaty of Cordoba had been signed granting them independence from Spain in 1821. So when the church was completed in 1822, La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles served a liberated Mexican community.
You can tell the photo is from the 1920s, with the trolley and all the automobiles. So try and imagine this an unpaved plaza, and that church the tallest thing around. The oldest church in Los Angeles was dedicated December 8th, 1822 and still is used today.
La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de Los Angeles. Photo LAPL.
The church and plaza was the city center through Spanish, Mexican, and ultimately American rule in 1847. In 1861 the little chapel had to be rebuilt from materials from the old church. The 1861 version is the one that has been declared a California landmark and still stands today. In 1871 Los Angeles became a catholic dioceses with the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana.
Cathedral of Saint Vibiana. Photo LAPL
Up until now, we've stayed with the angel theme started by naming the mission after St. Gabriel the Archangel. Our Lady Queen of the Angels refers to Mary, Mother of Jesus. But a cathedral houses a bishop, which means the pope has to get involved. Pope Pius XI chose the cathedral's name, after third century Roman martyr St. Vibiana. Her remains were removed from the catacombs of rome and reentered inside the cathedral where they remain today.
So the pope in Vatican City has now recognized this catholic community in Los Angeles, and installed one of his officers. I bring this up because remember, in SimCity they were called Houses of Worship. America is a country of religious freedom. So this little Catholic community was about to get crowded with the statehood of California in 1849. The first Protestant church service on record was in 1850 (didn't take long) when Rev. J. W. Brier held a Methodist service. Luckily the Protestants were a bit blunter in their house of worship naming.
Los Angeles churchscape, photo LAPL
Before Los Angeles had a skyline, it had a church line. The church in the center is First Presbyterian Church at Fort and 2nd. To the right is Congregation B'nai B'rith, a Jewish temple. Built in 1872 it was the first Synagogue in Los Angeles, though Jewish services had been held in the city since 1854. St. Vibiana's Cathedral is in the background, and Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church South is at the far left at First and Spring. The photo is dated 1890.
So you can see the immediate impact California statehood had on Los Angeles. Suddenly LA went from a small Mexican Catholic community to an inclusive space where Jewish and European-American Protestants could all worship together. The old plaza chapel by the 1920s would also serve an Italian community, which practiced the Catholic faith and made and sold wine.
If SimCity taught me anything it's that residents of a city, when they're not growing and packing and shipping, need a place to reflect on their lives. I love the photo with all the churches within walking distance cause it shows the ideal of the new city. Much like America was originally pitched to Europeans, Los Angeles was pitched as a refuge for all.
Of course, it was pitched that way so real estate men could make fast cash on all the developable land, but that's the cynical way of looking at it; and I am no cynic.
~
I mentioned at the beginning of the post that word history can help an understanding of world history. I want to go back again, since this is a post dominated by Roman Catholicism, and talk a bit about how the Romans used words in spreading the Christian religion (once Constantine declare all the Romans to be Christian).
In 597, Pope Gregory I dispatched a band of missionaries to the Angles (Angle-Land = England). St. Augustine was leader of this band and in 601 he was named Archbishop of Canterbury. This brought the Roman alphabet and a whole slew of loan words to the Angles; abbot and alter and nun and purple as examples.
In other cases, words were repurposed. Heaven and sky were both words used at the time to refer to the atmosphere above us, but the Romans used the OE word heofon to get across where god was (Latin deus), and the place they wanted to avoid - hell. Sky and good still have common use, but the words the Romans gave religious significance have kept it.
I also wanted to bring up my own family history. My great-great grandparents (a Garbarino and a LaCaze) were married in Lousiana, and then my great-grandparents (a LaCaze and a Campbell) were married somewhere in Los Angeles. My Protestant great grandmother converted to Catholicism, and they were married in a Catholic church somewhere in Los Angeles.
For me, studying the history of Los Angeles is deeply personal. It's an attempt to see what this city was like for my great grandparents, for my grandparents, and for my parents. It's an attempt to understand why a family in Louisiana sold their home and moved to LA, and what kind of city was awaiting them when they got there.
Thanks for following along on my journey.
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