Grand pageantry marks each September 4 in Los Angeles, the traditional (if not actual) anniversary of its 1781 founding as a Spanish colonial pueblo. Fewer remember April 4, the date in 1850 when Los Angeles incorporated as an American municipality - several months before California achieved statehood.
But the city seems to have completely forgotten another weighty legal anniversary: May 23. On that date in 1835, the Mexican Congress promoted Los Angeles from the rank of pueblo to ciudad and made it the territorial capital of Alta California.
A copy of the official decree - issued by a high-level functionary, Jos Mar a Guti rrez de Estrada, on behalf of Mexico's president, Miguel Barrag n - is preserved at the USC Libraries' Boeckmann Center for Iberian and Latin American Studies.
The simplicity of the proclamation disguises the complexity of the political conflict that inspired it: between the centralist and federalist factions who vied for control of the Mexican government; and also between conservatives who aligned with the military and Catholic church and liberals who supported constitutional government, free trade, and other economic reforms.
But none mattered as much as the warming sectional rivalry between Alta California's arribe os (northerners) and abaje os (southerners). Monterey, a settlement on the northern coast of Alta California, had been capital since Spain first colonized the province. But as the pueblo of Los Angeles grew in population and economic clout, its residents began to resent the continued primacy of the Montere os. And so when in 1835 Jose Carrillo, a native of Los Angeles, took his seat in the Mexican Congress as Alta California's sole delegate, he pleased his fellow Angele os by orchestrating the southern migration of the territorial capital.
--
--
Outraged Montere os warned that a move would engender serious rivalries and noted that their town's population, larger in size, was also moral and cultured, implying that Los Angeles' wasn't.
What Carrillo's coup accomplished in law, however, changed nothing in fact. Outraged Montere os warned that a move would engender serious rivalries and noted that their town's population, larger in size, was also moral and cultured, implying that Los Angeles' wasn't. And indeed Los Angeles - then a tiny village of less than 1,000 people, despite its newfound official status as a ciudad (city) - lacked adequate facilities to house the territorial diputaci n (legislature) and archives. The seat of government, then, remained in Monterey, regardless of Mexico City's dictates.
Tensions simmered. They nearly boiled over the following when arribe os opposed to Mexico's centralist government declared Alta California a free and sovereign state, legally restored Monterey as capital, and marched south to confront the abaje os who, bitter over the capital controversy, refused to join the rebellion. The northerners' leader, Juan Bautista Alvarado, only narrowly avoided civil war by negotiating a settlement with Los Angeles in early 1837.
A decade later, the ciudad of Los Angeles did briefly function as California's capital when Angele o P o Pico became governor and rented offices in what would become the Bella Union hotel on Main Street. An invasion by U.S. forces the following year, though, made Alta California an occupied territory and returned the capital to northern California, where it remains to this day - despite the proclamation of May 23.
Further Reading Garr, Daniel J. Los Angeles and the Challenge of Growth, 1835-1849. Southern California Quarterly 61, no 2 (summer 1979): 147-15.
Pubols, Louise. Born Global: From Pueblo to Statehood. In A Companion to Los Angeles, eds. William Deverell and Greg Hise. Los Angeles: Wiley Blackwell, 2014.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/04/2026
Designed for synchronized multi-stream playback, low-latency delivery, and real-time analytics, MATCH introduces a unified viewing experience for sports broadca...
07/04/2026
Berklee Students to Honor George Martin with Performance of Original Scores The orchestra, led by associate professor Xander Rovang, will perform several work...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
Grand pageantry marks each September 4 in Los Angeles, the traditional (if not actual) anniversary of its 1781 founding as a Spanish colonial pueblo. Fewer remember April 4, the date in 1850 when Los Angeles incorporated as an American municipality - several months before California achieved statehood.
