See LAPL... L.A. Residences-Bunker Hill item A-004-109.18 for a crumbly rooftop view which I i.d.ed for the sadly departed Carol Kozo Cole about 10 years ago-- Must've been taken from the Briggs not long before it's razing. The old Daily News (c. 1952 ?) image also over at UCLA Young Library.

Cohen House
 

I was once again browsing through Calisphere pictures and fell into another rabbit hole.

Here are two photographs, part of the architect S. Charles Lee papers in the Special Collections department at UCLA. They are labelled "Cohen House, Los Angeles, street view" and "Cohen House, Los Angeles, entry view...Hancock Park." So we can assume Mr. Lee was the architect for Mr. Cohen's house, and the house was in Hancock Park.
https://i.imgur.com/FIRS3C0.jpg
calisphere.org

https://i.imgur.com/73OqAAQ.jpg
calisphere.org

Could it be found, did it survive?

The architect's name is familiar to the regulars here. tovangar2 made a excellent post about him two years ago here.

Per Wikipedia's article on Lee:

"Simeon Charles Levi was born in Chicago in 1899 to American-born parents of German-Jewish ancestry, Julius and Hattie (Stiller) Levi. He grew up going to vaudeville theatres, nickelodeons,and early movie houses...In 1922, Lee moved to Los Angeles. His first major movie palace was the Tower Theatre, a Spanish-Romanesque-Moorish design that launched a career that would make Lee the principal designer of motion picture theaters in Los Angeles during the 1930s and 1940s. He is credited with designing over 400 theaters throughout California and Mexico. His palatial and Baroque Los Angeles Theatre (1931) is regarded by many architectural historians as the finest theater building in Los Angeles.

Lee was an early proponent of Art Deco and Moderne style theaters, including Fresno's Tower Theatre. The Bruin Theater (1937) and Academy Theatre (1939) are among his most characteristic. The latter, located in Inglewood, California, is a prime example of Lee's successful response to the automobile. After World War II, Lee recognized that the grand theater building had become a thing of the past, and began to focus on new technologies in industrial architecture."

OK so back to the task of locating the Cohen house. Google was spectacularly unhelpful, even including "-Mickey" in the search field. (Mickey never lived in Hancock Park.) The only hit I found was in a book called "The Show Starts on the Sidewalk: An Architectural History of the Movie Theater" by Maggie Valentine. She is speaking of Lee's work:

https://i.imgur.com/pEQo08n.jpg
google books

But, no address is given.

So I decided to look through the (many) Cohens in the 1929 LA city directory and use the Googlemobile to examine addresses which might be suspicious for Hancock Park locations. About halfway through, I found the following:
https://i.imgur.com/EuMBU3I.jpg
ancestry.com

And here is what's at 619 S June in 2011:

https://i.imgur.com/Im8at8F.jpg
GSV

and here it's under construction last September (they added a wine cellar and elevator):
https://i.imgur.com/uO8O3ju.jpg
GSV

I hate that they got rid of the asymmetrical flagging on the driveway, the theme had been carried all the way up to the entrance.

That this is the right building is seen on the 1927 building permit,
blurrily showing M. M. Cohen as the owner and S. Charles Lee as the architect.
https://i.imgur.com/cY9WQXc.jpg
LADBS

So who was M. M. Cohen? There is a Wikipedia entry for "Maury Cohen" which, in the way of Wikipedia, conflates the stories of two different people. Our Cohen, the June street resident, was Maurice Mair Cohen (1889-1949). Born in Moscow, he moved to Chicago before his first birthday. He started out in clothing and furniture businesses both in Chicago and here. He became a producer at Poverty Row in the 1930s, moved to Beverly Hills, and co-founded the Palladium in 1940 with Norman Chandler's money, it was said. He died of a heart ailment at Cedars of Lebanon in September, 1949. Lee and Cohen may have known each other in Chicago before each made it big. In any case I am happy the house is still there, even if it needed a wine cellar and elevator to survive.

I have a request....as many pics of the grand old Richfield Oil Co. tower (built in the 1920s) in DTLA as can be posted. Loved that old building from my youth. Torn down in 1968/69 to make way for the construction of ARCO twin towers. I still remember the grand spire shaped like an oil derrick lit up at night. Something to behold. Would love to see some nightime pics with the spire lit up. The only building almost as grand is the blue Eastern Columbia, which fortunately is still there.

[QUOTE=ethereal_reality;8052481]We have visited the Laguna Beach Victor Hugo several times in the past; here's a slide to add to the collection.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/LCybsB.jpg
ebay

"Laguna Beach California Rare 1950s Victor Hugo Inn Los Angeles - original slide"

When I was a kid in the 1950s and early 1960s my family used to vacation in Laguna Beach every summer. There used to be a long haired older man they called "the greeter" who would stand on the sidewalk and wave to the tourists. Today he would look like just another homeless person, but back then he was a tourist attraction. Any pictures of "the greeter"? Up in L.A. around the same years, there was a similar eccentric long haired man named "Gypsy Boots", who I believe roamed around Venice Beach and was known as a health food advocate.

[QUOTE=CaliNative;8054034]1975....there were several greeters, he was not the only one.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...697ea91970c-pi
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/.a/6...697ea91970c-pi

I agree, that's dreadful. I require my fainting couch.

I almost didn't recognize the back of the old Huntington residence(European Art) with all the foliage on it. Other than that, looks pretty much the same now. Why yes, I've got lots of current pictures.

BillinGlendaleCA I almost didn't recognize the back of the old Huntington residence(European Art) with all the foliage on it. Other than that, looks pretty much the same now.

.Same view circa 2017.... greenery stripped from the facade of the grandiose 1919 Georgian mansion....once the home of Henry and Arabella Huntington in San Marino... it now masquerades as an art museum.
The various former domestic rooms are now ''art galleries''. When I first visited the place I opened a few closed-off doors to see where the old bathrooms, closets and kitchens were located. Alas, they had all been transformed into storerooms and repositories for cleaning supplies. The vast complex has 475 employees, is spotless and well provided for with a billion dollar endowment.

The divorced Henry acquired a colossal fortune when he married [ in 1913] his second wife Arabella Huntington, his patrimonial uncle's widow and they set about to furnish their palatial new home with far and away the greatest collection of 18th-century British portraits ever assembled by any one man on earth. Of course money was no object. For the record, one might say wife number two, Arabella, could be called Mrs. Huntington-Huntington. :rolleyes:

In 2018, Mr. Huntington might not recognize San Marino the little town [13K people] that he helped found in 1913. There is not a single home in the city under one million dollars [median price is $3 million ] and the population is 46% Chinese...multimillionaire refugees from Hong Kong and other Asian countries.

You might ask, how do these Chinese immigrants pay for their San Marino homes? They usually pay in gold bars....I know this from my experience with them.

https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b3/16/f9/b...san-marino.jpghttps://img1.exportersindia.com/prod...3-3426212.jpeg
https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b3/16/f9/b...san-marino.jpg

I first posted about Simons Brick Co back in 2015 - you can see that post here. It contains links to a couple of previous mentions, and tovangar2 also posted a follow-up here. The last line of my posts says "By 1932, the Simons Brick Co had moved their main office to 1195 S Boyle Avenue." That gave me a rough location for the building below. These three pictures are a selection from a set of interior and exterior shots taken in 1931.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...1.jpg~original

A closer look at the entrance.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...2.jpg~original

And one of the images of the interior.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...3.jpg~original

All from USC Digital Library

Here's the office building on the northwest corner of the central intersection (E 8th Street and Boyle Avenue). The brick factory is in the top left. It's a detail from Flight ID: C-1930, Frame: 76, Date: December 17, 1931.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...4.jpg~original
mil.library.ucsb.edu

Although the site of the office building was just south of the freeway, it looks like it was probably lost when the freeway was built. Today, it's just a small parking lot.

A couple of blocks south, I spotted the 1927 Sears, Roebuck & Co building on E 9th Street (now E Olympic Boulevard). They had the foresight to put a sign on the roof (although not the type favored by e_r!).

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...5.jpg~original
mil.library.ucsb.edu

Looks like Gazanias are the flower of choice in the foreground bed.

Thank you Lorendoc for the history of 619 S June. I know that house by sight, but did not know it was by S Charles Lee. It's down and across from the British Consul General's residence (Wallace Neff, 1928) at № 450, where I've spent many a golden hour.

619 S June has frontages on both June and 6th Street and backs onto John Burroughs Middle School:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Tu...=w1155-h638-no
google maps

Along with all the other work, the pool appears to have been moved:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gm...t=w711-h530-no
zillow



Permits list the owners as Shaul and Danielle Dina. Shaul Dina may be the Hollywood producer (since 2016) of such films as the nouveau grindhouse effort "Carnage Park" (2016), "frequently repellent" said LAT, as quoted by Rotten Tomatoes (critics 60% - audience 30%), which would go a long way towards explaining the choices in facade detailing and hardscape at № 619.



.

Yup, that's one of the reasons the newest addition to the Huntington is the Chinese Garden.

https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5671/...738a8530_b.jpg_9190128-1_001 by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

Look, e_r--a free church! ;)

https://s26.postimg.org/ywl7jc0mx/Free_Church.jpg
LA Times via ProQuest via CSULB Library, reconfigured for space

https://s26.postimg.org/cxesw5u3d/Free_Ch2.jpg
gsv

I ran across, and am reviewing as I have a chance, a very large cache of photos I took in the early 1980s, most of which have no prayer of being of interest to NLA. This one perhaps comes close, if anyone wants a detail of (I think) the Pasadena City Hall...

https://s26.postimg.org/fg0hwr82x/Pa_Ci_Ha_L.jpg
odinthor collection, photo by odinthor

I run a Facebook group called Richfield Beacons, about the beacon towers they put up along the west coast in 1928-29-30. Since the Richfield Building was one of the beacons, I have numerous photos.

If any of you have interest in the Richfield beacons, I am still looking for any information or photos I can find of the LA-area beacons:
Castaic Junction - I have aerials of the site and of the Beacon Coffee Shop across the street, but none of the service station and tower from ground level. The tower was purchased by LA County and moved to what is now LA County Fire Station 82 in La Cañada Flintridge, for use as a transmission tower until the 1960s. It's disposition after that is unknown.
Alhambra: supposedly located at what became the site of the Alhambra airport, I have no photos - aerial or otherwise. It was listed as new in the federal government's Air Commerce Bulletin in October 1929, and again as discontinued in the July 1930 issue.

You can go here for the Historic American Building Survey photos in the Library of Congress:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/ca0250/

Here are some photos of the Richfield Building I've collected - some were posted here, others on Facebook, still others found online in various places.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RK...v=w643-h889-no
circa 1931

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0A...a=w936-h709-no
1930s? judging by the cars

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Jb...4=w677-h889-no
Herman Schultheis, ca. 1937, from LAPL

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1W...m=w722-h889-no
Penthouse, 1950, from the Julius Shulman archive

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3c...O=w708-h889-no
1950s

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wu...=w1181-h889-no
From Life archives

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/29...d=w496-h577-no
A fire at the Richfield Building, 3/1/54. From martinturnbull.com

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ku...B=w660-h508-no
Atomic dawn over Los Angeles, 3/7/55

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yW...3=w529-h683-no
1955, a slide from eBay

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ix...2=w609-h889-no
South Flower Street, August 1955, from a set on the wrecking of old buildings for the Superior Oil Building

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/wV...k=w610-h889-no
A slide from I don't know where

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Zc...g=w522-h877-no
Crop from Julius Shulman photo 7K of Job #4161, Los Angeles Twilight, 1967, from Getty Research Institute

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/bN...u=w709-h889-no
Another mystery source

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/rh...F=w607-h889-no
April 1968

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/VZ...=w1287-h889-no
Last day open, 11/15/1968

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_4...T=w608-h889-no
Last day open, 11/15/1968

T2....most interesting back stories. Something is amiss with this family. At one time they were willing to sell the house in a state of being half remodeled...''as is''. What?!

Now the roof is leaking? Let's pass on this one.....its a can of worms.:shrug:

So you were doing the shim-sham at the British Consulate?

Thanks oldstuff. -Segno's timeline sure is difficult to follow.

per the article below:

After marrying wife #2 (Annie Dell) Victor Segno ran away to Europe with a married assistant, Irene Weitzel.

posted LARGE (for some reason the next size was too small)
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/qnrmHb.jpg
[May 31, 1911?] ehbritten

After his flight to Europe, Victor Segno's birthname is discovered to be William Albert Hall
and his legal wife's name is Dell Dinsmore. (not Annie Dell?)
_____________________

Once in Europe, Segno's new paramour, Irene Weitzel, adopts the name Carolyn Segno. (huh? :shrug:)

'Carolyn' & Victor Segno.
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...922/fK6zPs.png
1915 passport ehbritten

"And from that point forward, A. Victor Segno and 'Carolyn Segno' disappear from the public record, entirely".ehbritten



__

I thought this was interesting.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/8apshQ.jpg
Nautilus 1906

We discussed the Worlds Fair searchlight in the early days of the thread, but I don't remember discussing how it was powered. (maybe I just forgot)


below / from GIZMODO

"When running at 200 amperes—a current generated by a Pelton water wheel in a nearby canyon—the carbon arc lamp burned with the intensity
of 90,000 to 100,000 candles. A massive reflecting lens mirror magnified that blaze to 375 million candlepower."


Does anyone know in which canyon this Pelton water wheel was located?
___



#2: location of searchlight in relation to the observatory:

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/FP6FdD.jpg
ebay find [dated: 1908]

Is this view about 1,500 ft from the observatory?

-was the searchlight in this area in the foreground / where the photographer was standing?









Oh, and one more thing

https://imageshack.com/a/img923/2517/yGE1aW.gif

Am I the only one who didn't know the observatory dome was initially covered in canvas? :shrug:

__

[QUOTE=ProphetM;8054561]I run a Facebook group called Richfield Beacons, about the beacon towers they put up along the west coast in 1928-29-30. Since the Richfield Building was one of the beacons, I have numerous photos.

If any of you have interest in the Richfield beacons, I am still looking for any information or photos I can find of the LA-area beacons:
Castaic Junction - I have aerials of the site and of the Beacon Coffee Shop across the street, but none of the service station and tower from ground level. The tower was purchased by LA County and moved to what is now LA County Fire Station 82 in La Cañada Flintridge, for use as a transmission tower until the 1960s. It's disposition after that is unknown.
Alhambra: supposedly located at what became the site of the Alhambra airport, I have no photos - aerial or otherwise. It was listed as new in the federal government's Air Commerce Bulletin in October 1929, and again as discontinued in the July 1930 issue.

You can go here for the Historic American Building Survey photos in the Library of Congress:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/collection/hh/item/ca0250/

Here are some photos of the Richfield Building I've collected - some were posted here, others on Facebook, still others found online in various places.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/RK...v=w643-h889-no
circa 1931

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0A...a=w936-h709-no
1930s? judging by the cars

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Jb...4=w677-h889-no
Herman Schultheis, ca. 1937, from LAPL

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1W...m=w722-h889-no
Penthouse, 1950, from the Julius Shulman archive



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yW...3=w529-h683-no
1955, a slide from eBay


Wonderful pics. Thanks! At least the old Eastern Columbia building still remains. The "oil derrick" spire/beacon of the Richfield might have inspired the design of the Empire State Building's dirigible port spire. Some similarity. Richfield was built a couple of years before. Would be great if some developer could put up a neo-Art Deco tower with a spire/beacon like the Richfield, maybe on the Angel's Landing site on Hill. A 1000'+ homage to Richfield tower. The past and future merge. We can dream. Of all the buildings in L.A. from my youth that are no longer there, the Richfield is the one I miss the most. So beautiful at night, as the lower photo shows.

Yup, that's a detail of the dome on Pasadena City Hall. I was there last Sunday on a photoshoot.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4660/...33ac1374_b.jpg_1141058_PTGui Panorama.jpg by BillinGlendaleCA, on Flickr

Ran across this house while in search of something miles to the south.... The Herald indicates 420 Mt. Washington Drive, though Samuel O. McMichael (no 's')--
an engineer with the water department--actually lived at 410. He died in 1943, but, per building permits, the family was still in possession as late as 1987.



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/3p...=w1010-h673-no
LAH October 3, 1909



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/1p...J=w901-h647-no


https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/a6...I=w821-h583-no

It's always a treat to revisit the Richfield Tower, ProphetM, thanks!


Ah, but you got to see it!

(Did you ever see the NBC Building at Hollywood & Vine?)

originally posted by odinthor
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/6...924/k1RrJe.jpg

look, e_r--a free church!
___________________________________________________________

lol. you sound just like my friend odinthor. :)



speaking of....

"Class photo taken on the front steps of the Los Angeles Free Methodist Seminary in Highland Park, in an area originally known as Hermon."

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/4O20gD.png
LAPL






We briefly discussed this place back in 2014.


The class photo gives us the first close look at what is written above the door.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...923/tr2QSS.jpg
detail

L.A.F.M. SEMINARY 1903







GW added this baist map to the conversation in 2014.
__

Too much
 

I felt the same discomfort looking at this.

:previous: I wouldn't go quite that far.
What bothers me most is the overkill with the outdoor lighting/lamps*
I count 10 lamps on the house when the two by the door would have suffixe. (and they could be smaller)
The way it is now, the lamps compete head-to-head with the architectural medallions and catouche(s)
__
d
*there are 8 more lamps along the porch balustrade. (they're in pairs).....and 6 on the stairs in addition to step lighting.

...and those clunky stairs themselves. They make the place look like a school or post office or something...

628 and 636 S. Serrano Avenue
 

I posted a small photo of these two "mystery" houses previously, but I've just figured out where they were,
plus now the photo is zoomable so we can see them a little better.

February 27, 1916, Los Angeles Times:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psy4i7nkjy.jpg

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9gougf2w.jpg

ProQuest via LAPL


That's 628 on the left and 636 on the right, with a bit of 640 behind the palm. I'd guess this photo is c. 1918.
As far as I could tell, Hobart, Serrano and Oxford between 5th and Wilshire are the only north-south residential
streets in that part of town where the sidewalk is next to the curb, without a strip of grass between the two:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psjqmqirak.jpg

UCLA/Islandora


August 25, 1916, BP for 628-630 S. Serrano. There is a BP with the same date for 636-638 S. Serrano. The
Certificates of Occupancy for the two buildings are dated April 23, 1917:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psubeauuez.jpg

LADBS


1921 Sanborn with north at right and 628 and 636 S. Serrano just left of center. I believe 610 and 616 (now 618)
are still standing:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psqhn3rvyg.jpg

ProQuest via LAPL


September 30, 1971, demo permit for 636 S. Serrano. There is a demo permit with the same date for 628:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psnxcpsev9.jpg

LADBS


Here's a closer look at 636 and 640 S. Serrano from the photo above:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...pssnyeiv0z.jpg


This is 628 S. Serrano:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psmq1abrue.jpg


This is 1125 (formerly 1121-23) 3rd Avenue, which I believe is the structure mentioned in the article at the top of this
post ("identical in plan with a flat being constructed by the same builder on Third Avenue, near Eleventh Street"):

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psqa39x02n.jpg

June 2017 GSV


The BP for 1121-23 3rd Avenue has the same owner's last name, architect, and building dimensions, confirming what
was written in the article at the top of this post:

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...pss1xlkx91.jpg

LADBS


The Beidlers' old home at 1133 3rd Avenue is still standing.

1906 - Annheuser Busch residence, Pasadena
http://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/files/ori...ed47f81659.jpghttp://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/files/ori...ed47f81659.jpg

1915 - Venice Miniature RR traversing canal bridge
http://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/files/ori...9f2eb84186.jpghttp://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/files/ori...9f2eb84186.jpg



1915 - Gondolas and Motor boat rides (Wonder about the dependability of the later in 1915? Is the artillery for show or was it defending against encroaching motor boat businesses? :shrug:)
http://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/files/ori...6789dc9e0a.jpghttp://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/files/ori...6789dc9e0a.jpg




1911 - Foot traffic over Lion Canal Bridge
http://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/files/ori...8940890df5.jpghttp://exhibits.sos.ca.gov/files/ori...8940890df5.jpg

You're right t2, they're completely oversized. (I hadn't noticed.....I was too busy counting the lamps. ;))

Speaking of lamps and their placement.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/2P6uZI.jpgposted by Tourmaline

tsk...tsk :duh

i may be the only one, but shouldn't the lamps be at either end of the bridge.
that spot is where people should be able to stand and gaze down the length of the canal.

Excellent discovery Flyingwedge.

So the surviving flat on Serrano no doubt had that same elaborate freize. (now missing)

crumbling infrastructure
 

Children playing in a canal, Venice California 1950s

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...923/HYGXE4.jpg
EBAY

I didn't realize the canals were in that bad of shape in the 1950s.

it's possible the seller misdated the slide... does that look like a 1950s bicycle?



Here's a second slide.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/2XAiqh.jpg
EBAY

It was really dark so I tweaked it quite a bit-

Just a thought on the stairs and all those those lights (18 total if there are three step lights per section plus the six lanterns). What's the point of the imposing (pretentious?) stairs? I'm assuming there's a quite a bit of parking space for guests on the other side of the porte cochere, so who'd be walking up those well-lit stairs?

403 and 411 Carroll Canal
 

Those are nice photos; at first I thought a 1950s date was reasonable, but I think you're right about the bike.

The second and fourth houses from the left are the ones in your two photos, e_r. We're looking north from the
Dell Avenue bridge over Carroll Canal. The home with the arch over the entrance is 411 Carroll Canal, and second
from left is little 403. Google needs a gondola to get better views of those canal homes!

http://i1165.photobucket.com/albums/...psnj2lrz3w.jpg

Jan 2016 GSV

My first post here!
 

HOLY COW, some of you here are just AMAZING experts on the history of Los Angeles architecture. I thought that *I* knew this stuff, but so many of you here have simply blown me away with your expertise. I have learned so much in this thread, and I thank you all for it! Let me just say, this is the most amazing internet thread EVER.

Hello, this is my first post on the forum. I have lived my entire life in Los Angeles, and I absolutely love the beautiful old buildings, so many of which (see my avatar) we have lost in the name of “progress”.

I’ve been reading this thread for probably a year now. I had originally intended to not make any comments until I had caught up, but this thread is now over 2,000 pages long! I just passed page number 1007, and at the rate I’m going, I’m never gonna catch up! :(

With the help of you fine people, I now believe that I could easily navigate old LA if I were thrown into a time machine. I could explore the beautiful, long-gone tunnels on Hill and on Broadway. I could make my way around the much-missed Bunker Hill, visit the Bradbury Mansion, and ride down Court Flight. And I could find myself a good lunch in the original Chinatown. And boy, would it be a pleasure to do it!

Anyways, here’s my thanks to all of you people who have made this such an amazing thread‼

:cheers:

PS: If any of you would like to tell us how you became such experts on the history of Los Angeles architecture, I’d love to hear your stories!

Well, that’s one way to learn a lot about a place, Doug… by actually living there! Thank-you for the welcome! I guess you just missed out on coming into La Grande Station, one of my favorite structures of early LA, seeing as how it closed in 1939. Or perhaps you actually saw it, as it wasn’t demolished until 1946?

I was only born in 1966, so most of the beautiful buildings in this thread were long-gone by the time I was old enough to visit them. If I were you, I don’t think I would have been able to take it… watching all these beautiful buildings (let alone, actual HILLS like Bunker Hill itself!) simply vanish, one by one! But at the same time, I envy you for being able to have experienced so much of what remained of early-era Los Angeles in person! I’d kill to see what you have seen!

My mother took me for a ride on Angels Flight during its final days in 1969. I like to believe that I remember this happening, and though I have no memories of the top or the bottom of the flight, I feel certain that I can remember looking down the tracks as we rode towards the bottom, from the viewpoint of my mother’s lap. Then again, I was only three at the time, and you know what they say about false memories!

I’ve certainly noticed many of ER’s posts in this thread, and they are among the best and most informative posts here! I had no idea that he started this great forum, however - thanks, ER, this is the best place ever!

:worship:

Re 628 & 636 S Serrano...




https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/0Z...K=w821-h422-no
LAT Feb 23, 1919


These buildings reminded me of Charles H. Thompson, a Chicago-area real estate developer who built 100 Fremont Place (see its story HERE).

Charles H. Thompson built at least one project in Los Angeles--I dug through some of my old notes, from 2012 about 100 FP--in them I wrote down that there was, circa 1919, another Charles H. Thompson operating in LA, this one a manager for the Frank Meline Company in charge of numerous projects for that concern--as well as, to add to the confusion, an automobile dealer by the same name much mentioned in newspaper reports.

Anyway, the projects I noted of the C H Thompson of 100 Fremont Place are the twin apartment buildings still at 700 and 708 South New Hampshire Avenue at the southeast corner of West 7th Street (across from 701, where Mary Miles Minter once lived--I thought we'd looked into that house, but I couldn't find a post). The building permits for 700 and 708 were issued on September 6, 1918, and list C H Thompson, address 100 Fremont Place, as the owner as well as the architect and contractor-- after I saw your images, FW, I was almost certain that I'd find H. J. Knauer's name on the permits as architect. Thompson is named on the documents as owner and builder of his house at 100 FP, though not specifically as architect...I can't help but wonder if Knauer was somehow involved....

In the season 6 (1982/3) episode of "CHiPs" called "Foxtrap", the female band ("The Cadillac Foxes", fronted by Laura Branigan) stays at 403 Carroll Canal. It doesn't get much screentime, but I'd say that the area was already far tidier than in e_r's pictures.

http://i809.photobucket.com/albums/z...rollCanal1.jpg
MGM TV/Rosner TV

The property websites list 403 Carroll Canal as "1 bed 1 bath 640 sqft", and built in 1923. It last sold in December 1997 for $357,272. 411 Carroll Canal is "2 beds 2 baths 1,530 sqft", and built in 1919. It was last sold in July 2002 for $1,600,000. Current estimates are over $2 million each. Who'd have thought it looking at the vintage photos?

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Welcome to the thread, Scott Charles. This post actually ties in nicely with your question. I first found NLA when I was looking for "CHiPs" filming locations. Every time I tried to find the location of building which had since been demolished, I ended up here. As soon as I started reading from page 1, I was hooked!

The Pelton Water Wheel was located in Rubio Canyon.
http://www.mountlowe.org/wp-content/...-Pavillion.jpg
Mount Lowe Preservation Society


"At the Rubio division terminus was built a broad platform to span the Canyon which included the Rubio Pavilion, a 12-room hotel, with dining facilities and other amenities. The pavilion also consisted of power generating facilities with the use of gas engines and Pelton waterwheels. Water was made available from reservoirs built in the canyon’s streams, though water was not always plentiful year round. As part of the entertainment experience, Lowe had a series of stairways and bridges built over the streams and waterfalls that emanated from the canyon. The eleven waterfalls were individually named and today exist as local historical landmarks.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Lowe_Railway

The searchlight was atop the (White City) powerhouse just behind of where the photographer is standing in your photo.
https://i1.wp.com/www.funimag.com/wo...nt-Lowe-07.jpg


Andys

Maybe they have a brother-in-law in the wholesale light fixture business......

I didn't know it was named 'White City' Andys; although it makes sense. The World Columbian Exposition, where the searchlight came from, was known
in the press as the 'White City'. (the majoritiy of the buildings at the fair were painted white) -esp the largest buildings facing the Grand Basin


"just behind of where the photographer is standing in your photograph" - ANDYS

my pic again with a comparison photo
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/FP6FdD.jpg
https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/8...924/miVcXh.jpg


So I take it- the searchlight pavillion replaced the smallish building with the sign on the roof. (shown above :previous:)


Here's a better look at the building.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...924/fpNTpW.jpg
flickr



In this photograph, the building with the sign is mostly hidden behind the people on the Rubio incline car.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/xq90/924/L6Svsb.jpg



Here is the same view after the 'White City' pavillion and searchlight are in place.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/UcZRSj.jpg


Most of you probably knew all this already, but I decided to go ahead and post it.

Go HERE to see the searchlight at World Columbian Exposition in Chicago. [1893]
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I hate going on these steep rides. I know its probably safe but please...no thanks. :previous:

Most likely to make the polls so near a road more visible at night considering automobile headlights were not much in those times.

Here's one more photograph:

A small portion of the 'White City' pavillion can be seen on the left edge of the photo.

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/KrY3nU.jpg
Huntington Archive

I'm done.
https://imageshack.com/a/img923/6220/aroYNt.gif

now for something a little more recent...

Children in Chinatown - Los Angeles CA, 1950s Original Slide "

https://imagizer.imageshack.com/v2/1...922/2ycPIU.jpg
EBAY

the hats aren't exactly pc....but I would have wanted one back when I was a kid.

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