Los Angeles, a city known for its car culture, boasts a collection of legendary roadways, from the winding curves of Mulholland Drive to the iconic Sunset Strip. Yet, for a truly white-knuckle driving experience, none compare to the infamous Baxter Street.
Cutting a starkly straight path through the hilly neighborhoods of Echo Park and Silver Lake, Baxter Street seems to defy the very topography it traverses. It climbs relentlessly over hills and plunges sharply into ravines, presenting a driving challenge unlike any other. The stretch between Allessandro Street and Alvarado Street is particularly notorious, boasting a staggering 32 percent grade, making it one of the steepest public streets in Los Angeles. To aid traction on this extreme incline, a grid pattern is embedded in the concrete just beyond Lemoyne Street, a testament to the street’s formidable slope.
In an era where modern city planning limits street grades to a maximum of 15 percent and prioritizes roads that follow the natural landscape, the existence of Baxter Street begs the question: how did such a formidable street come to be?
The answer lies in the city’s early development. Baxter Street originated as a narrow strip of land identified in an 1853 survey, demarcating undeveloped real estate in what was then the northwestern edge of Los Angeles. Officially designated Baxter Street in 1872, this seemingly arbitrary line gained significance when developers began subdividing the surrounding land in the late 1890s. Honoring the original surveyor’s lines, they imposed a grid street pattern, regardless of the area’s steep hills. In this context, the arrow-straight trajectory of Baxter Street served a practical purpose. As Matthew Roth from the Auto Club Archives explained, Baxter Street, much like Los Angeles’s hidden stairways, was initially intended as pedestrian access to a streetcar line that ran along what is now Echo Park Avenue.
Beyond its functional origins, Baxter Street gained another layer of notoriety as a favored proving ground for early automobile manufacturers. Seeking dramatic ways to showcase their vehicles’ power and durability, they staged elaborate demonstrations on its daunting slopes. A notable event in 1916 saw a four-wheel-drive truck, laden with over two tons of hay, arduously climb Baxter Street, pausing strategically for press photographers to capture the spectacle.
Today, nearly a century later, Baxter Street continues to challenge drivers. Its extreme grade still unnerves those unfamiliar with its slopes and presents significant obstacles for larger, elongated vehicles navigating its tight turns and dramatic inclines. Baxter Street remains a thrilling, if somewhat terrifying, testament to a bygone era of Los Angeles urban planning and a unique landmark in the city’s automotive history.
