:previous:

I'll let you do the real digging on the Zwebells, e_r--looks to me like they are widely considered to be architects, and that Charlie is somehow getting all the credit (better marquee recognition, of course)...maybe it'll turn out that he had nothing to do with "Chaplin Court" at all!

Drew Barrymore was actually born here?

update: I don't mean to beat a dead horse...but


__________________________________________________________________________________________________________
http://a.imageshack.us/img651/4420/aachaplinatfault.jpg
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________


I just noticed a big discrepancy in the above statement. United Artists Studios and Chaplin Studios are two separate entities
(see the 1947 map below). Chaplin Studios on La Brea is the one that became Jim Henson Studios....not United Artists.

http://a.imageshack.us/img707/8976/a...poinsettia.jpg
1947 Los Angeles street map



below: Some history...which I admit can be quite confusing.

http://a.imageshack.us/img684/3153/a...asneveruni.jpg
http://www.cobbles.com/simpp_archive/ua-studio-lot.htm


Long story short: Even though Charlie Chaplin was one of the founding members of United Artists, he still had his own studio on La Brea Avenue.

Dragnet
 

Speaking of Dragnet, the old radio series episodes, which are widely available online, are often set in and around Downtown and offer fascinating glimpses of life there just before the ravages of postwar redevelopment and freeway construction. To quote my own Wikipedia edit--

I came across this intriguing photograph in 'The Black Dahlia Files' by Donald H. Wolfe.

http://a.imageshack.us/img11/2580/ballen2.jpg



below: This infamous bungalow court has survived after all these years (although it's somewhat difficult to see).

http://a.imageshack.us/img823/488/ba...kscatalina.jpg
google street view




below: In this aerial you can see that the bungalows in front are one story while the bungalows behind are two stories.
You can clearly see the rear bungalow along the alley that is mentioned in 'The Black Dahlia Files'.

http://a.imageshack.us/img404/488/ba...kscatalina.jpg
google street view

Especially if you drive a black, four-door sedan. Your best bet is to memorize your license plate, or else you may find yourself attempting to use your key to open cars belonging to other people...

Mount Lowe Beacon/Searchlight
 

https://i.imgur.com/AA5cn5x.jpg

A great picture of the powerhouse with rotating beacon/searchlight at Mount Lowe is available at the Shorpy.Com website at:http://www.shorpy.com/node/12578?size=_original

Above is a 512x512 pixel preview. On the Shorpy site is a 3,000px × 2,382px HD version.

I had never seen that photo before, fantastic! On the large format photo one can clearly see an electric car parked behind the building, and that famous circular section of track, about halfway to Mt. Lowe. Great find.

:previous: That HD photo on shorpy is amazing. Did you notice the man in the window beneath the spotlight?



This quaint cottage at 1133 South Western Avenue reminds me of something you might see New Orleans. I especially like the 4 pillars on the porch and the dormer (I'm ignoring the fact that the roof is sagging).


http://a.imageshack.us/img824/9416/1...westernave.jpg
google street view

At first I didn't notice that odd looking thing on the pole in the front yard....but now it's all I can see. What the heck is it??

____

It looks like a bracket for an old sign. A mortuary perhaps?

David/3940dxer, when you were on your Lookout Mtn. Inn quest I didn't realize it's noted by a square on my 1947 map.
This is many years after the inn burnt so why the square at Lookout Mountain? Was there anything there in the late 1940s?


http://a.imageshack.us/img19/3300/aalookoutmtn1947.jpg
1947 street map

Another interesting thing I noticed was the large area to the west of Lookout Mtn. labeled Los Angeles County (not city).
This area today is Trousdale Estates ( a ritzy enclave not unlike Bel Air Estate).



below: A current map for comparison.

http://a.imageshack.us/img35/8506/aamap2.jpg
Los Angeles Street map

I recently came across this 1912 photograph. I don't believe that it's been posted before (I could wrong).
I would love to know what's written on that little chalkboard-like sign.

http://a.imageshack.us/img714/5651/aalook1912.jpg
http://forum.ebaumsworld.com/showthr...ice-Pics/page3

Someone should hire Wolfgang Puck to take that space over and put it to use as a restaurant again. Renovate the interior, don't change it.

Palm out, e_r:
http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...33swestern.jpg


http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...15bonsallo.jpghttp://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...2342scarff.jpg

Having been born and raised in New Orleans, I can see what you mean about 1133 S. Western--it could be in a SoCal-influenced '20s suburb of New Orleans called Gentilly--full of cottages of just this sort and style, often on 2-3-foot berms. (At least the neighborhood was full of such cottages; Gentilly was pretty much devasted by Katrina--not sure of its state 7 years later.) But there are other parts of L.A. that could easily double for older neighborhoods of N.O., such as the Garden District and other Uptown sections. A friend of mine used to live at 2115 Bonsallo in L.A., top above, and on visits that cottage and its vegetation were almost eerie in giving me a sense of deja vu. Same for another house in the St. James Park vicinity: 2342 Scarff Street (bottom above). That streetscape would do well as a stand-in for the Garden District.

My friends moved away from Bonsallo Street a while ago, tired of the crime...another way old West Adams can resemble Uptown New Orleans. But then, like N.O., it doesn't seem to keep Mercedeses off the street--they're parked in front of both of these houses, just as they might be in the Garden District.

Curiosity got the best of me so I revisited that little bungalow on western.

http://a.imageshack.us/img811/1025/aabsign.jpg
google street view

Yep...a sign just like you said KevinW.

___

OOPS! Gaylord Wilshire beat me to it.

e_r, the cartographer put that square in the wrong place. Do you see the label that says "McLeod Dr."? The summit of Lookout Mountain (and the marker in the photo I posted weeks ago) is about where the period is, in "Dr.". The Inn was located about where the little arrow is, beneath the "Cole Crest Dr." label.

However, I'm glad you posted this map, because I noticed an interesting detail on it. McLeod Drive is shown as a through street that connects with Appian way at its north end. Today, McLeod just goes about half that distance and then dead ends. When I was exploring that area I found what looked like the remains of an old road beneath Appian Way, and wondered if it might have been some kind of shortcut between Cole Crest and Appian Way. In fact, it's probably what's left of that short section of McLeod.

Here are a couple of photos that I took that day. The first one shows what is basically the end of McLeod, near the last home on that street. The second one shows a graded area further up, now overgrown, with Appian way in the background. In between those two sections, there was a short stretch with scraps of old white wooden fence; the type seen in the old roads around there. Maybe the connection to Appian was destroyed by flood or fire.

http://dkse.net/david/Lookout/100_6317.JPG

http://dkse.net/david/Lookout/100_6320.JPG

I still want to learn more about the roads in in that area and am still trying to set up an appointment with the curator of AAA's map archive, at their (beautiful old) building on Figueroa near West Adams.

:previous: Very interesting David. It's quite fortuitous that you previously stumbled across that long lost section of McLeod Drive.

That said, the first photo you posted shows a rather 'sketchy' area. Has it ever crossed your mind that you might find
human bones some day....or a revolver or two?


.....just a 'noirish' thought. I can't help it. ;)
____

I just found another photograph of Dillon's Copper Skillet (Sunset & Gower).

http://a.imageshack.us/img718/4707/s...r1976wmark.jpg
http://hollywoodphotographs.com/

When I first bought the 1943 Renie Atlas I have from ebay, I was very surprised to learn while looking through it, that Trousdale Estates was once unincorporated LA County territory. In the Renie Atlas, it's also denoted as being the Doheny Estate. I hadn't known that it was once the lands that comprised the Doheny Ranch, and Greystone Mansion was the manor house. It wasn't until the 1950s that the area was annexed by the City of Beverly Hills, and a guy named Paul Trousdale bought up the land and developed it into the neighborhood that it is now.

I always assumed that Beverly Hills has more or less had the same area since its incorporation as a city. Apparently not. Other LA suburbs have also grown in area by annexing territory over time, which I've learned from the Renie Atlas. A note about my town, though; from what I've read, South Pasadena has had the same city limits since its incorporation in 1888; looking at my Renie Atlas and my Thomas Guide, I can see that South Pasadena has exactly the same city limits on both maps.

By the way, this thread is still going strong, I love it. So many great posts in the last several days! :)

sopas_ej, would you post the page of your 1943 Atlas that shows this same area of Laurel Canyon? I have found very few old maps of that area, and wonder if it would reveal anything about the old roads that I'm still trying to identify. Plus I am just plain curious to see it. Thanks.

Department of Details
 

Somewhere between (judging by the cars) 1964 or so (left) and 1971, a helpful sign was added over the door:

http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...letdetail2.jpghttp://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...letdetail1.jpg
ebay/http://hollywoodphotographs.com


Another oddment about the Copper Skillet--it is nowhere to be found in any '60s L.A. city directory.

Sure, I'll see what I can do. My scanner at home is broken and I haven't replaced it, so I'll have to take photos with my camera and see if they come out clearly, then I will post it. I'm currently at work (on my lunch break, actually) but when I get home, I'll work on posting it. :)

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-y...lingtonbig.jpgLAPL

An off-ramp of the 10 has replaced this interesting house once at the northwest the corner of 23rd and Arlington. (The freeway plows between the back of this house and the one you see in the background, also gone.)

Cahuenga Pass Then And Now
 

We've seen this great old Cahuenga Pass shot a few times on this thread. I love it and always think of it when I drive the 101 between Hollywood and the Valley. It's dated 1905, but just where was it taken?

http://dkse.net/david/Cahuenga/Cahuenga.pass.1905.jpg
http://www.lapl.org/


I had to know, so I started with Google Satellite. Hmm, it sure seems to resemble that section near the parking lot, across the 101 from the Hollywood Bowl:

http://dkse.net/david/Cahuenga/Cahuenga.sat.958.jpg
http://google.com


So this afternoon, on an errand to Hollywood I pulled over near Hillpark Drive and walked around a bit. Bingo! I took this photo from the 101 overpass near the Ford Theater:

http://dkse.net/david/Cahuenga/100_6498.958b.jpg

The Highland Ave exit ramp is off frame to the right; the Ford Theater is to my left. The hilly area ahead on the right is of course Whitley Heights, bisected when the 101 was cut through the area. The 101 here is elevated by columns and grading so we can't see the original canyon floor or the the lower part of Whitley Heights, making the hills there look less high than in the early photo. The two groups and their horse drawn wagons are heading towards the San Fernando Valley, and probably passed through Hollywood (then called Nopalera I think) an hour or so before being immortalized in the photo.

Ah...closure. ;)

:previous: Nice post David.




The Clifford Street School fire in 1915.

http://a.imageshack.us/img828/44/cli...tschoolfir.jpg
http://socal-yearbooks.com/socalother/aselem.html




below: The Clifford Street School in 1950.

http://a.imageshack.us/img809/3282/c...school1954.jpg
http://socal-yearbooks.com/socalother/aselem.html

Yes that is correct, the west side of the sign simply said "CBS", in large neon. The east side always said "CBS Station KNX" in smaller neon. In the 1950s or 60s, the neon signs was replaced by large non-illuminated letters that just said "CBS".

nice design

http://a.imageshack.us/img338/3188/c...klette1928.jpg
ebay

Murrietta building- Pearl Morton's establishment
 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7085/6...c1848f8a_b.jpg

From Rick M, taken from a Gentlemen's Sporting Guide of the 1890's 327 New High street...where Pearl Morton ran her house...moral turpitude in Los Angeles

Obscure Paul Revere Williams Architecture, part 1
 

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p...2520PM.bmp.jpg The Crisis November 1923

I came across this jewel-box of a Los Angeles funeral parlor online, which turns out to have been an early work by
Paul Williams--note the classical details that would become one of his hallmarks. It was the Conner-Johnson
Mortuary at 1400 East 17th Street, at Naomi...sadly, now a parking lot.


It's not by Paul Williams, but nearby at the the corner of 18th and Naomi is the Hamilton Methodist Church, now,
sans the church's best windows, the Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-q...2520PM.bmp.jpghttps://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...2520PM.bmp.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-u...2520PM.bmp.jpg
An eclectic roofline, including a witch's hat and a bit of the Alamo. The finial on the main tower is (mostly) still there....


Three pics just above: Google SV

Obscure Paul Revere Williams Architecture, part 2
 

http://www.davesweb.cnchost.com/RusticCanyon4.JPGDave's Web

These gates have been attributed to Paul Williams by one historian; whether or not Williams designed anything that
was actually built at the end of the driveway is unclear. But at least one historian claims that he designed Murphy
Ranch in Rustic Canyon, supposedly a bunker for Nazi sympathizers and intended to be the headquarters for Hitler's
eventual takeover of the U.S.: See Huffington Post and LACurbed.


I know it was touched on a year or so ago:
(LAboomer52's full post here.)


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-a...2520PM.bmp.jpgNoise Collusion
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-q...2520PM.bmp.jpghikespeak.com
The exterior and interior of the powerhouse. Did Williams design this? Was the 22-bedroom
main house he drew up ever built?


And more here:
hikespeak.com

I can find no reference in an admittedly cursory check of any reference to Paul Williams having
designed this on any sites devoted to his work.

Here you go, David. Forgive the quality of the images. I hope I got the area you wanted. Great Cahuenga Pass photos you posted!

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5253/renie3.jpg
Renie Atlas 1943

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/7581/renie2.jpg
Renie Atlas 1943

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/1281/renie1.jpg
Renie Atlas 1943

http://img194.imageshack.us/img194/1231/renie4.jpg
Renie Atlas 1943

I'm wondering if "NAPPY LN." is a misspelling. On my Thomas Guide, it's "HAPPY LN." I like that you can see the PE car route through the Cahuenga Pass, and then it goes north on Vineland.

Oh, and here's the Doheny Estate, now Trousdale Estates:
http://img440.imageshack.us/img440/2341/renie5.jpg
Renie Atlas 1943

sopas_ej, thanks a lot for posting the maps. I will study them and see if I can pick out any new details.

G_W, I have visited Murphy Ranch (the Nazi compound) twice, have done a fair amount of research on it, and have been planning to do a long post here with pictures...when I have time. :)

BTW, my personal site is off line at the moment and all my photos here seem to be MIA. I freaked out when I first saw this but all will be restored before long, I promise!

below: A somewhat obscure film noir from 1954 starring Fred MacMurray and Kim Novak.

http://a.imageshack.us/img41/9260/magnoliath1g.jpg
http://annyas.com/screenshots/update...orothy-malone/

above: Columbia Pictures....just across the street from Dillon's Copper Skillet.



below: In this scene you get a glimpse of a theater at far right.

http://a.imageshack.us/img824/841/ma...erpushover.jpg
http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com...1_archive.html (thank you Robby Cress)




below: It turns out this is the Magnolia Theater located at 4403 W. Magnolia Avenue in Burbank.

http://a.imageshack.us/img845/5170/m...ersnapctre.jpg
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/1649/photos/28939





below: The theater stills stands on Magnolia Avenue......but it looks like it's been covered in marzipan. :(

http://a.imageshack.us/img268/7699/m...eatertoday.jpg
google street view

____

:previous: We think alike G_W...I was going to post that same photo last night.

Here are a few others. :)




http://a.imageshack.us/img32/8454/nbcaerialwmark.jpg
http://hollywoodhistoricphotos.ipowe...oducts_id/2816






http://a.imageshack.us/img705/9414/n...ypostcard4.jpg
postcard view






http://a.imageshack.us/img860/1466/n...1960flickr.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/funimages/2712342804/



below: pre-peacock logo 1954.

http://a.imageshack.us/img841/5435/nbcchimelogo1954.jpg

oops....forgot this one from 1952.


http://a.imageshack.us/img545/7017/a...nk1952lapl.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...M-N-9706-002~3

Great shots, e_r--and I'd forgotten about the chime logo.

Click here to hear the chimes.

I have a question: I recently moved to Westlake (on Union Drive above 6th Street) and I was wondering if anyone has any pics of the area from way back when?

Anyway, AWESOME AWESOME thread. Thanks to you all.

:tup:

:previous:

300: Just search "Westlake" on these two websites--there are hundreds of pics on these two sites alone.

http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/photosearchADV.jsp?

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...mplesearch.htm

Check them out and post some here for us.

FULL UPDATED STORY HERE: http://losangeleshistory.blogspot.co...tories_12.html


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-B...2520PM.bmp.jpghttps://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-y...2520PM.bmp.jpgUSCDL/USCDL

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-N...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogleSV


John Parkinson, as we've seen, built alot of iconic and still-extant Los Angeles buildings. He designed the Homer Laughlin Building on Broadway (a.k.a. the Grand Central Market) and the Braly Block (a.k.a. Continental Building) on Spring; with his early partner Edwin Bergstrom he designed the A. G. Bartlett building (a.k.a. Union Oil) on 7th; with his son Donald at the firm from 1920, he designed City Hall with Albert Martin; later works of the Parkinson firm include Bullocks-Wilshire as well as Union Station and many other downtown buildings.

Above is the architect's own house at the southeast corner of 6th and St. Paul (top left, brand new, ca. 1909). If it lasted until after WWII, it looks like alot of earth must have been removed with it to make way for the building on the corner now, built in 1948 for Westinghouse's Engineering and Sales Staff... even if it's not the home of a famous L.A. architect, its late-Streamline details make for a pretty interesting architectural relic of noir-era L.A. (Apparently it's now the home of L.A. Wilshire Orthopaedic and Medical Associates.)

great post G_W...very intesting. Mr. Parkinson was a busy man.

_____

This mysterious 'storybook' apt. complex might need some feet on the ground detective work.

I've tried and tried to find more information on this place and have come up with zilch.
This quest started with this short question I found on http://la.curbed.com/

http://a.imageshack.us/img837/6233/c...commentall.jpg



below: The place is located exactly midway between Chaplin Studios and United Artists.
It is located to the right of the N in Hampton and above L in PL.

http://a.imageshack.us/img707/8976/a...poinsettia.jpg
1947 map




It is virtually impossible to get a good view via the computer.

http://a.imageshack.us/img35/2347/ch...c1onpoinse.jpg
google street view

I can not find any information about this place and yet there is a Historic Building sign.



below: Is anyone familiar with this type of sign?

http://a.imageshack.us/img62/2347/ch...c1onpoinse.jpg
google street view




This aerial shows a pretty large complex completely surrounded by other buildings.
The site is on the corner directly about the red A-teardrop.

http://a.imageshack.us/img689/6807/c...complex123.jpg
google street view

Hampton Avenue turns into Pionsettia Place at the curve.



below: detail

http://a.imageshack.us/img534/1939/c...complexat1.jpg



Interested in taking a field trip David/3940dxer or sopas_ej? ;)

____

LOL, I knew that request was coming! Will stop by and have a look next time I'm in Hollywood.

BTW, happy to report that my photos here now work again. (Whew! Got a scare when I first noticed they were missing.)

Book review
 

http://img2.imagesbn.com/images/157080000/157086487.JPGBarnes & Noble


Imagine how flattered I felt when I discovered a new biography of myself...and then I read it. Well, all the material appears to have been dutifully gathered; it's the execution that is such a letdown. It's no secret that all book editors seem to have been taken out back and shot--it seems that no matter the author or publisher these days, typos, repetition, and often worse, are a given. In the case of Henry Gaylord Wilshire: The Millionaire Socialist, however, perhaps I should be fair--an editor is cited, so perhaps the manuscript was in fact even more unpolished than the published work, which is not to say that it's readable. There are long stretches of utterly improbable dialogue; confusing and poorly labeled illustrations; references to London's "Piccadilly Square"; several references to automobiles in Los Angeles...in the 1880s. A review longer than this would only be unkind.

I am torn between wanting to support the efforts of the author, but I cannot in good conscious recommend the purchase of this book...not that I think there was going to be a run on it at Book Soup. Perhaps someday the very interesting Wilshire--which is definitely not to say me--will have a worthwhile biography.

Atta' boy David!

Some good news today regarding the 1914 Hotel Clark.....view the article here:
http://www.ladowntownnews.com/news/a...9bb2963f4.html
____

http://a.imageshack.us/img600/2029/aahotelclarklapl.jpg
http://www.lapl.org/

The hotel will provide 347 rooms (down from 555 rooms) and two restaurant spaces.

____

A view of the Hotel Clark and it's impressive sign (still intact).

http://a.imageshack.us/img84/5625/aaclarkflickr1.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/david_a...8410/lightbox/

____

.....just found this really cool photo


http://a.imageshack.us/img828/8325/aaclarkhugesign.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tombarn...4377/lightbox/

El Mirador
 

Well, finally back home in San Diego after our road trip to Los Angeles and points north. Would have been much better in L.A. if the weather had not been so rainy/windy!

So now, about the El Mirador. Our firend was able to make me feel better about the future of the building even though many things are still up in the air.

The first positive is that there is now a fairly open line of communication between the property owner, Jerome Nash, and the City of West Hollywood. A style of replacement wimdows has been agreed upon and they are on order.

The city and Nash have made a pact to work in cooperation with each other to ensure that the building does not continue to deteriorate while it remains empty. And now to that point.

Mr. Nash is working with the state to try to vacate the Ellis Act. There is a clause in the act that does allow for applying to vacate it, but, there are a whole lot of hoops to jump through. The biggest is a minimum fine of 12.5% of the buidling's current assessed value (if the building is 50 mil, that would make the minimum fine 6.25 mil, or so). The second is that he would have to offer rent controlled apartments back to the 23 tenants he evicted under Ellis. Their rent would be calculated from the baseline of what they were paying prior to the Ellis declaration.

For their part, the city is working with the county trying to find tax breaks that may help Nash defray some of the intial costs for both the fines and the needed renovations.

Of course, their is a possibility that the request to vacate could be denied. If so, the building will sit empty for 8.5 more years. Let's hope it doesn't come to that!

That is the Readers Digest condensed version on what is happening. There is "dirt" of course, but I'll save that for later;)

~Jon Paul

More info and leads about Rustic Canyon
 

Thanks GaylordWilshire for the recent pictures of the powerhouse. Me and some friends threw a great midnight halloween party in there back in the early 90's. It was creepy!

http://articles.latimes.com/2005/sep/04/local/me-then4
This LA Times article gives a lot of information about rustic canyon history and states Welton Becket (capital records building) designed some buildings for the Murphy Ranch in 1938,and states that Paul Williams was contacted to design a 22 room mansion in 1941. After Pearl Harbor was attacked the compound was stormed so Williams plans never even made it to blueprint.

Further up this remote canyon is "Camp Josepho", given to the Boy Scouts in 1941 by a Siberian immigrant named Anatol Josepho (1894-1980) who invented the photobooth machine and built his dreamhouse near his friend Will Rogers Estate. Josepho’s is the classic immigration success story: he moved to The United States, struggled, found financial backing, sold the rights to his invention in 1927 for one million dollars (the equivalent of over $12.5 million today) and donated half the money to charity.
http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk...aitsDudkin.htm
http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk...nnaJosepho.jpg
http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk...aitsDudkin.htm
Anatol Josepho, pictured with his wife Ganna, examining a strip of photographic portraits produced by the Photomaton, the automatic photo booth in which the couple sit. (28th March 1927). Ganna, a silent film actress, reportedly pawned her jewelery to help finance the development of her husband's invention.
http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk...phostrip03.jpg
http://www.photohistory-sussex.co.uk...aitsDudkin.htm
Wonder if the producers of "The Artist" saw these pictures of Anatol and his pooch? What about Andy Warhol?;)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...2520AM.bmp.jpgreddit.com


Not sure if this was some sort of Paramount promo, but it does indicate how California became the world in movies.