Mayfair Park is Lakewood’s oldest park and once its only park.
Mayfair Pool, the John S. Todd Community Center, Lisa Fernandez Field and the Howard L. Chambers Municipal Tennis Courts are located there. The John S. Todd Community Center honors the “father of the Lakewood Plan,” which the city adopted in 1954 to contract with Los Angeles County, other public agencies and private businesses. Todd was Lakewood’s city attorney for 50 years. Lisa Fernandez Field is named for champion softball pitcher Lisa Fernandez, winner of three Olympic gold medals. The Howard L. Chambers Municipal Tennis Courts are named for former City Manager Howard L. Chambers who served the Lakewood community as its chief executive for 41 years. He was an avid tennis player.
The photo-mural on this utility box shows past and present-day scenes from the Pan American fiesta held at Mayfair Park each year in May. The fiesta is the nation’s only community-based celebration of the people and cultures of Latin America.
The Mayfair neighborhood is located north of the park. The neighborhood was named Mayfair in 1939 by developer Charles Hopper. (Mayfair is a district of London noted for its stately homes.) Mayfair was informally called Radio Park in the early 1950s because many of its streets were named after early broadcast stars. On the opening day of the Mayfair development, Hopper gathered several radio performers for a ribbon cutting, including Gene Autry, Hedda Hopper and Jimmie Fidler.
Mayfair Park is home to the annual Pan American Fiesta. Early photos from the Pan American Fiesta show the May Celebration and the Pan American Fiesta sign.
Lakewood's Pan American Festival (logo below) is the nation's only community-based celebration of the people and cultures of Latin America. It began in 1948 when two neighbors shook hands over their back fence and pledged that pan-American friendship, begun during World War II, should not be forgotten.
May celebration at Mayfair Park in the early 1950s.
Pan American Festival logo
Early Pan Am Fiesta sign at Mayfair Park
A flag presentation was the highlight of the first Pan American Fiesta in 1948. The tradition continues today.
Girl Scouts holding flags for the presentation
Cub Scouts stand at attention with flags.
Carnival rides are one of the many family attractions at the annual Pan American Fiesta. Colorful folklórico and other cultural activities fill the fiesta weekend with music and dance.
Laughing child on carnival swing
The iconic Ferris Wheel at the Pan Am Fiesta
Folklorico and hula dancers at the Fiesta.