Miracle Mile is an area in the Mid-Wilshire region of Los Angeles, California, consisting of a roughly one-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and La Brea Avenues, and the surrounding neighborhoods (including Park La Brea).
The Miracle Mile District is bordered by the Fairfax District on the north, Hancock Park on the northeast, Mid-City on the southeast, West Pico on the south, and Carthay on the southwest. The district's boundaries are roughly 3rd Street on the north, Highland Avenue on the east, San Vicente Boulevard on the south, and Fairfax Avenue on the west. Major thoroughfares include Wilshire and Olympic Boulevards, La Brea and Fairfax Avenues, and 6th Street. The district's ZIP codes are 90036 and parts of 90019.
La Brea Tar Pits (or Rancho La Brea Tar Pits) are a famous cluster of tar pits located in Hancock Park in the urban heart of Los Angeles, California, United States. Asphalt (colloquially termed tar, which in Spanish is termed brea, see below) has seeped up from the ground in this area for tens of thousands of years, forming hundreds of sticky pools that trapped animals and plants which happened to enter. Over time, the asphalt fossilized the remains. The result is an incredibly rich collection of fossils dating from the last ice age.
Work started in the early 20th century. In the 1940s and 1950s there was great public excitement over the dramatic mammal fossils recovered. By the 2000s, attention had shifted to microfossils, to fossilized insects and plants, and even to pollen grains. These fossils help define a picture of what is thought to be a cooler, moister climate present in the Los Angeles basin during the glacial age.
The George C. Page Museum in Hancock Park, part of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, presents these discoveries. Of more than a hundred pits, one (Pit 91) continues to be regularly excavated for two months each summer, under the watchful eyes of tourists.[1] The park's location in a major urban center, the history of dramatic discoveries, and excellent presentation in the Page Museum combine to make the La Brea Tar Pits a famous and accessible paleontological site.
