Carlson Park is a suburban neighborhood in central Culver City, California. It is named for Dr. Paul Carlson Park, a city park in the center of the neighborhood, which is named for Culver City native Dr. Paul Carlson, a medical missionary martyred in the former Belgian Congo. Students residing in the neighborhood are zoned either to Linwood E. Howe Elementary or Farragut Elementary, and to Culver City Middle School and Culver City High School. Its ZIP code is 90232.HistoryThe current location of the Carlson Park neighborhood was formerly occupied by two racetracks: the first, a horse track, opened in 1923 and closed the following year. On the same land in 1924 a motor raceway, the "Los Angeles Speedway," was opened. This venture was more successful but lasted no later than 1927, when the city council approved the founding of the first park in Culver City. This park, originally named Victory Park by the mayor's wife because "it was a victory to get a park", was later renamed Carlson Park.Within just a few years, local residents began calling the surrounding neighborhood Carlson Park. Carlson Park's location in Culver City on Los Angeles' fashionable Westside is near the I-10 and I-405 freeways.GeographyThe neighborhood is bounded on the northwest by Culver Boulevard, on the northeast by Jasmine Avenue, on the southeast by Ballona Creek, and on the southwest by Keystone Avenue. It is located to the southwest of both City Hall and Downtown Culver City. Directly across Culver Boulevard sits Sony Pictures Studios.
