Boyle Heights is a neighborhood of 100,000 residents east of Downtown Los Angeles in the city of Los Angeles, California. The area was named after Andrew A. Boyle, an Irishman who purchased 22 acres on the bluffs overlooking the Los Angeles River after fighting in the Mexican-American War. By the 1950s, Boyle Heights was racially and ethnically diverse, with Jews, Mexicans, Russians, Yugoslavs, Portuguese, and Japanese living in the neighborhood. Jewish families left Boyle Heights because of redlining by banks and the construction of several freeways through the community, which led to the loss of many homes. By 2011, 95% of the 92,785 people living in Boyle Heights were Hispanic, with the majority of them being Mexican or Central American immigrants.
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