A 8 square mile city located in the Southern San Gabriel Valley, 7 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. It contains land of 3 previous ranchos (San Antonio, La Merced and Paso de Bartolo). The original city name was Newmark and for a short time it was part of Monterey Park before reincorporating in 1920. The city also was the site of the Battle of the San Gabriel River, the last significant Mexican defense of the American invasion in the Mexican-American War (Plaque located on the corner of Bluff Rd. and Washington Blvd.)