Los Angeles's 4th City Council district

The district was preceded by the Fourth Ward, which was established in 1878 and added three seats to the Los Angeles Common Council, alongside the fifth ward. It included parts of Los Angeles to the west of the Los Angeles River, including the new neighborhood of Boyle Heights.[2][3] The district was obsolete when the at-large district was first established in 1889.

In 1889, the ward was re-established as a single-member ward, as part of the passing of the 1888 charter. It elected one member through a plurality vote before the ward became obsolete when the at-large district was re-established again in 1909.[4]

In 1925, the district was created and was originally bounded on the north by Santa Monica Boulevard, east by Vermont or Hoover Avenue, south by Washington Boulevard and west by Western Avenue.[5][6] It was described later the same year as simply "Wilshire and Pico Heights."[7] In 1928, with "the exception that seven precincts are added to it in the territory bounded by Vermont Avenue and Hoover Street and Sunset Boulevard and Melrose Avenue," the boundaries remained at "Hoover street on the east, Western avenue on the west, Melrose avenue on the north and Washington street on the south."[8]

In 1933, "due to the exceptional growth of the western part of the city, a general movement toward the ocean was necessary."[9][10] In 1937, it was bounded on the west by Crenshaw Boulevard, on the north by the 5th district and Exposition Boulevard, on the east by the city boundary and on the south by Vernon Avenue.[11] By 1940, the "general trend is westward and northeastward, due to heavy construction in the San Fernando Valley and the beach areas."[12] In 1955, it encompassed "much of the Wilshire district and in general [was] bounded by Fountain Avenue, Wilshire Boulevard, Fairfax Avenue and Catalina Street."[13]

By 1975, it was moved to Central Los Angeles, with the boundaries at Fairfax and Highland Avenues on the west, to Santa Monica Boulevard on the north, the Pasadena Freeway on the east and Olympic Boulevard on the south.[14] In 1986, it was described as "a contorted district that included the old areas as well as Atwater, Griffith Park, Forest Lawn Drive and parts of the central San Fernando Valley to Colfax Avenue and Victory Boulevard."[15] In 1989, the district stretched from Hancock Park to Studio City.[16]