Beautiful fragments of the past in downtown L.A.


http://img852.imageshack.us/img852/6...wjericlcat.jpg
Jericl Cat


http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/4...loristlaje.jpg
Jericl Cat


http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/5...ferjaimesf.jpg
Jennifer Jaimes


http://img815.imageshack.us/img815/3...cliftonsc2.jpg
Jericl Cat


http://img64.imageshack.us/img64/479...1jericlcat.jpg
Jericl Cat


http://img153.imageshack.us/img153/9...brackshops.jpg
Robby Cress



http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/134...afeteriaje.jpg
Jericl Cat


Here is a link to Jericl Cat.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/79761301@N00/2092406462/

:previous:
Great DTLA sidewalk shots, ethereal! I used to not be a fan of terrazzo until some years ago, when it seemed to have made a comeback. Now I look at terrazzo floors in old buildings and some of them look pretty cool.



Some then and nows:

Wilshire Professional Building, 1929
http://img695.imageshack.us/img695/8...ssionalbui.jpg
USC Archive

Another view from 1929
http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/8...ssionalbui.jpg
USC Archive

Same building, from Google Street View
http://img135.imageshack.us/img135/412/picture1gq.png

http://img849.imageshack.us/img849/4681/picture2yn.png
Google Street View

I would like this building if the ground floor weren't so horribly destroyed. Screw Mr. Pizza!

Oh my....that is tragic what has happened to the ground floor.
Just look at photograph #2....it shows a sophisticated retail area with elaborate art deco lattice-work.

I'm hoping the original facade is somehow/somewhat still intact under all that awfullness.

Another cabinet card on eBay.

https://otters.net/img/lanoir/hollenbeckhotel1888.jpg
photoantique on eBay


Shows the Hollenbeck Hotel with Coulter's occupying the retail space on the ground floor. Can be dated pretty precisely as 1888, because the Bryson-Bonebrake block at right is in the earliest stages of its construction.

-Scott

it was a warm june day 1938. with no scratch in my pockets, i decided to knock off the easy pickings arrow drug at 4th and hill. made my get-a-way up 4th. my plan was to high-tail it like quick up olive and duck into my rear flat in the ems...............

i turned the corner onto olive,

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2485/...98dd4bf9_b.jpg
Source: LAPL

this was not my day.......................................

a beautiful tile mosaic mural in the lobby of the Parker Center Police Headquarters building 1955

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics04/00011813.jpg
Source: LAPL

and what was on the back side of the mural?

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics04/00011798.jpg
Source: LAPL

very cool.................................

I saw this amazing photograph on ebay as well. Thanks for the description Scott.....I wasn't entirely sure what I was looking at.

:previous:
:yes: We're standing on Spring here looking up Second Street. Farther up, there's the First Presbyterian Church at the SE corner with Broadway. And I just noticed - the trolleys appear to be cable cars...

http://i699.photobucket.com/albums/v...crop_sky-1.jpg



Just curious...

Which of these structures was/were replaced by the Law Building?

:previous:

in this 1953 photograph looking west from city hall, the building, directly to the south of the law building exists in both photographs.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3655/...68019c8a_o.jpg
Source: LAPL

without seeing sanborn maps, i don't know for sure if the law building took one or two lots.

in 1959, the law building and it's short neighbor to the north hang on, (can't say as much for the hill)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3376/...060dcd15_o.jpg
Source: LAPL

1963? still hanging on..........................................

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3385/...00c30137_o.jpg
Source: LAPL

1974?.....................(not so much)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3546/...878d7a8f_o.jpg
Source: LAPL

Perfect view! Looks like the Law Building occupied the site of the house with the eucalyptus over the front stairway, and maybe the site of the Franklin Apartments, too. Thanks!

-Scott

here is a photograph looking north across 2nd street on hope street. it shows the buildings on the west side of hope street between 1st and 2nd

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...-EN-28-50?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive

View of the aftermath from a major automobile accident on Fifth Street, outside of Central Library. Photograph caption dated July 21, 1983 reads, "An LAPD, pipe in hand, ponders the mess on Fifth Street near Hope after a truck loaded with Scientology books by L. Ron Hubbard failed to make a turn and crashed through a wall before overturning yesterday. The driver of the truck managed to jump from the vehicle and escaped injury. No other vehicles were involved."

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00082/00082141.jpg
Source: LAPL

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics14/00026778.jpg
Source: LAPL

"it is indeed a great wall".....................richard m. nixon, (nixon in china)

I envy the USA. It's such a large place and your archives are brimming with amazing images. Those images defiantly have a nior feel to them. Maybe it's because their black and white, but they have character.

here's a building that i have to say that i am not familiar with. it's the metropolitan building which was at 5th and hill

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044405.jpg
Source: LAPL

apparently the central public library was housed in the building for 12 years between 1914 and 1926 when it then permanently moved into it's new and current building at hope and 5th.

What got me really intrigued about the building, are some of the interior images on the LAPL site of when the library was located here. that means that the images are prior to 1926

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics24/00031866.jpg
Source: LAPL

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078956.jpg
Source: LAPL

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078951.jpg
Source: LAPL

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078959.jpg
Source: LAPL

could this possibly be the space 18 years later that served as the filming location of walter neff's pacific all risk insurance company in double indemnity?

for some reason, i can't seem to find suitable images from the film right now to do some comparisons...................

Thanks for the photo...any idea what the sign on the top of building says...behind the Holsum Bread sign and trees? "furnished apartments" and....

I'm pretty sure the library was in the Metropolitan Bldg at Fifth and B'way:

http://www.you-are-here.com/broadway/metropolitan.jpghttp://www.you-are-here.com/broadway/metropolitan.html

The Metropolitan Theater was at Sixth and Hill -- it's more commonly known as the Paramount, for that's how it spent its days after remodeling --


http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015540.jpglapl

It went from this
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...84-4-ISLA?v=hr usc
to
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015542.jpglapl

in 1961...and was a parking lot for twenty years...

http://www.you-are-here.com/los_ange...lry_center.jpgyouarehere

below: A view from the opposite direction in 1967. The Law Building is still standing (along with it's tiny neighbor to the north).

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/5...center1967.jpg
uscdl

The only information I have on this photograph is "A view from the top of the Foy Residence, 1903."


http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/316...ofthefoyre.jpg
possibly ebay...I'm not exactly sure.

I vaguely remember a gasometer visible in photos of the 'Black Dahlia' murder scene.
A few days ago I came across this cropped photo from a website.

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/255...meterdeath.jpg

This book is very interesting....especially for anyone interested in art and Surrealism.

annex
 

now i read somewhere that there is an annex building that was the back entrance or something to the paramount that is still standing on broadway?,ill dig up my files and see what i can find,im sure it was on cinenatreasures.org a while back.

i don't know why i typed 5th and hill, when obviously the photo of the metropolitan/paramount theater building i posted shows the south side (6th street), of pershing square......sheeesh

the lapl site seems to think that the metropolitan/paramount theater building was the location of the library

The Metropolitan Building, located on 6th and Hill streets, was built in 1913 by architects John Parkinson and G. Edwin Bergstrom, and was demolished in the late 1960s. Other locations where the Los Angeles Public Library has been housed: 17 years in the Downey Block Building (1872-1889); 17 years in City Hall (1889-1906); 2 years in the Homer Laughlin Building (1906-1908); 6 years in the Hamburger Building (1908-1914); 12 years in the Metropolitan Building (1914-1926); 60 years in the Central Library Building* (1926-1986); *Closed to the public due to devastating fire (1986-1987); 6 years in the Los Angeles Design Center/Title Insurance + Trust Company (1987-1993); Central Library Building (1993-Present).

funny, the architect that the lapl site lists, doesn't match the architect listed on the cinema treasures page, hmmmmmmmmmmmm...........(time to do some sluethin')

anyway, (regardless for the moment of which building it was located in), does anyone think that the former library space was the setting of the insurance office in double indemnity?

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078959.jpg
Source: LAPL

okey dokey! mystery on the location of the library for the years 1914-1926 resolved!

definitely as you said Mr. B! 5th and Broadway

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3191/...453a608f_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3647/...754e980f_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5301/...0904aec9_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2172/...6abe994c_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3427/...0623235f_b.jpg
Source: LAPL California Index

Panoramic view of the former Samuel Calvert Foy property, looking northeast from 7th Street on December 20, 1919. Samuel Foy was the father of the first female City Librarian, Mary Foy. As of this photo date, the property was being used by the Golden State Transfer Co. In 1921 the house was moved to Witmer Street just north of Wilshire Blvd. In late 1992 it was again moved to the Angeleno Heights district of Los Angeles.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061646.jpg
Source: LAPL


Exterior corner front view of the Samuel Calvert Foy property on December 20, 1919. 7th Street is on the left, and Figureoa on the right, the property being on the northwest corner.

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061645.jpg
Source: LAPL

omg! i just realized what site the house sat on!!!!!!! there's the Rex Arms on the right! this is the site of the Statler Hotel!!!!!

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061630.jpg
Source: LAPL

here's a view looking down at the foy residence from the rex arms

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061631.jpg
Source: LAPL

The photo you posted E_R is looking north east across figueroa, that's the State Normal School on the left

Floyd B. Bariscale has a very nice entry about the Foy House on his Big Orange Landmarks Blog

well, i'm happily amazed for the moment

1947 herald examiner article on Mary Foy (1862-1962)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3244/...3fd47efb_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2478/...7517525c_b.jpg
Source: LAPL California Index

E_R,

here's an 1886 photograph taken from the exact vantage point of the 1903 photograph from the Foy house that you had posted. It's amazing to see the changes that occurred in the pueblo of los angeles during the 17 years between each of the photographs

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-7043?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/316...ofthefoyre.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/...b8123fa7_z.jpghttp://farm3.static.flickr.com/2439/...b8123fa7_z.jpg

Uncle Bert Rovere at City Hall, late 40's

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/...b78accbd_z.jpghttp://farm4.static.flickr.com/3570/...b78accbd_z.jpg

I know this isn't anything to do with LA noir architecture, But damn, Uncle Bert looked good! And I think it has a touch of "noir" to it anyway!!

My God gsjansen...you are a marvel!!
You turned a simple photo I posted into an exceptional experience.
Thank you so much. :) _ethereal

originally posted by gsjansen.

http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/1...sjansenlap.jpg
LAPL

The building at the far right caught my eye right away.
At first I thought it might be a LAFD station.....but it seems a bit too large.


_____________________






A walk through Pershing Square July 10, 1966.

http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4...rshing1966.jpg
unkown/possibly ebay


below: Notice the 'MODern' lighting scheme. It couldn't be any more inapproprite for this site.

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/6...ly101966uc.jpg
ditto

:previous:

Los Angeles Fire Department's Engine Company No. 28 fire station, located at 644 South Figueroa Street. This Mission/Spanish Revival style building, which cost approximately $60,000 to build in 1912, was designed by architect John Parkinson. In 1989 it became the popular Engine Co. 28 restaurant, whose menu is inspired by traditional firehouse cooking.

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics37/00038314.jpg
Source: LAPL

sigh.....poor central park

1926

ahhh a restful tree shaded oasis in the center city to escape from the rat race of daily life, (note the lamp posts)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics50/00059979.jpg
Source: LAPL

1949

civic planning at it's weirdest

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics30/00034799.jpg
Source: LAPL

1949 1/2

hope ya gotta permit to remove that tree!...............(i forgot, this is los angeles, we don' need no stinkin' permits)

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028079.jpg
Source: LAPL

1950

that is indeed a fine hole!

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics03/00011006.jpg
Source: LAPL

1954

ahhhh a restful sun filled oasis in the city center to...............(who am i kidding, this is a wasteland)

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics17/00028078.jpg
Source: LAPL

1967

nothing says city park like a potted plant (note the lamp posts)

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics03/00011080.jpg
Source: LAPL

1988

someone should weed and feed that lawn

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00084/00084279.jpg
Source: LAPL

1993

why use roundup and scotts turf builder when apparently a bulldozer does the job soooo much better?
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics03/00011082.jpg
Source: LAPL

2010

nothing says city park like concrete pavers, a purple wall and five story structure

http://images.townnews.com/ladowntow...0253366065.jpg
Source: LA Downtown News


sigh.....................poor central park

I can totally see these four people walking around in 1930s Los Angeles.

http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/4843/0frame.jpg
ebay

http://img842.imageshack.us/img842/4379/0frame1.jpg
ebay

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/6500/0frame2.jpg
ebay



http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7703/0frame3.jpg
ebay

The only information I have for this photograph is 'smog 1948'.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3676/0lasmog19481.jpg
uscdl


If you look closely you can make out the 'It's in the Examiner' sign.
So is this the same sign we've seen numerous times on this thread or is it an entirely different sign?

I just read on the Los Angeles Downtown News website that the Statler-- er-- Wilshire Grand--will be closing on December 31st, with demolition to follow early next year.

*SIGH*

I know it doesn't look like these images anymore, and these might be repeats, but I feel like posting them anyway.

http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/4556/dwt614isla.jpg
USC Archive

http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/6...sangsta013.jpg
USC Archive

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/1...sangsta020.jpg
USC Archive

http://www.cardcow.com/images/set360/card00074_fr.jpg
cardcow.com

http://www.cardcow.com/images/set221/card00331_fr.jpg
cardcow.com

I can recognize Cahuenga Pass any time!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2140/...5968dcf793.jpg

mary foy at the staler groundbreaking ceremonies 1950, (she was 88 at the time)

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics44/00071900.jpg
Source: LAPL

foy house on the site of the statler in 1919

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics24/00061630.jpg
Source: LAPL

the rex arms is just left of center above the statler facing the harbor freeway

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00089/00089085.jpg
Source: LAPL

it is simply astonishing that those two images are only 45 years apart

city hall gets a new roof 1950


yikes!

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...593-023~4?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...593-023~3?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive

coincidentally, it was at this time that the Lindbergh Beacon went missing..................(you think the two incidents might have anything to do with each other...................... ya think!)

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/...2f94dbcb_o.jpg
Source: USC Digital Archive

Hello...and thanks!
 

I stumbled across this forum more than a month ago...can't remember what I was searching for at the time...and I have slowly been working my way through it all from page one. Today I've finally caught up. What an absolutely amazing set of photos and discussions! Reading a few pages at a time has been the highlight of my day over the past month, and I'm actually a little sad that I've reached the end. I think I'll go back and read it all again. In fact, there are a couple of vintage photos I want to respond to later with updated photos, assuming I can find time to go out and take some photos.

I'm attaching some frame grabs from the decidedly un-noirish 1932 Paramount film "If I Had a Million." Nearly all of the W.C. Fields/Alison Skipworth section was filmed on the streets of Los Angeles. (Fields is seeking vengeance on "road hogs" with a fleet of used cars he's just purchased.) I know this is a long shot, but can anyone identify any of the streets or neighborhoods shown?

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...Million-02.jpg

The next two photos are from the same shot as the camera pans from left to right. I can't quite make out the street name.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j...Million-10.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1...Million-11.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-b...Million-12.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-E...Million-13.jpg

If I recall correctly, Jack Frost Ford was located on Colorado blvd at Hill Street, in Pasadena. Their Service Dept was a bit West on Holliston Ave, I think.

Welcome to the thread Handsome_Stranger!

The screen grabs from "If I Had a Million" are really great.
Photo #3 is especially intriguing. At first I thought that was Angels Flight in the background...then I thought it might be Court Flight.
The mystery to me is the foreground. It seems much more suburban than anything close to downtown.
Perhaps the background is showing the funicular on Mt. Washington??

Anyway, I am sure you'll get your answer as soon as gsjansen, GayLord_Wilshire or Los Angeles Past (among others) visit the thread.
They're the best!

Handsome Stranger,

I do not know where those streets are and am looking forward to someone else in the thread hopefully clearing that up. Thank you for posting that though, I really enjoyed googling it and watching the youtube clips of that scene. I am going to rent that movie tonight.

djlx2

Welcome, Handsome Stranger! :)

That's North Vendome and Marathon in Silverlake. I knew these had to be in Silverlake. Vendome, incidentally, is where the Laurel and Hardy steps from "The Music Box" are located.

In the first screen grab, the cars are headed north on Vendome and have just crossed Marathon, where the street splits into two roadways. Today that landscaped strip is a center median, but in those screen grabs, it looks like traffic might've gone two-ways on either side of that median, unless, for some reason, the director had the cars drive on the wrong side of the road.

Using Google Street View, here are approximately the modern-day views of that 2nd screen grab, one from behind the median, and one from ahead of the median:

http://img851.imageshack.us/img851/1581/picture1rx.png
Google Street View

http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/5272/picture3wv.png
Google Street View

The duplexes next to that 2-story apartment building still exist, but the middle one has lost its porches. At least they have in this Google Street View. I haven't driven on this street in a while, maybe that duplex looks different now? Hmm...

I couldn't get the right angle from Google Street View, but here's the intersection of N. Vendome and Marathon St.:
http://img845.imageshack.us/img845/7644/picture4ax.png

I think it's interesting that the block numbers are stenciled on the street signposts. I don't think I've seen that before in other older photos of LA.

Welcome, Stranger!

According to the book 'Famous Hollywood Locations', Jack Frost Ford was at 750 S LaBrea Avenue. The building was demolished but the buildings across the street remain the same (the book was published in 1993). The location of the car crash was on 8th Street, south of the building. The location is south of Wilshire Blvd, north of Fwy 10, in the Park LaBrea section of LA.

Hey, just down the street from the Daily Planet!

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...750slabrea.jpg

A little update
 

My thanks to sopas ej and MikeD for helping identify locations! Late this morning I drove over to Silverlake to investigate the intersection of Vendome and Marathon. Here are some 1932 and 2011 comparisons. (Unfortunately I couldn't stand in the same spot the camera occupied in 1932 because it's now blocked by a wall.) One of the original houses still stands and is partly visible.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F...illion-06a.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-p...illion-10a.jpg

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...illion-11a.jpg

According to the book 'Famous Hollywood Locations', Jack Frost Ford was at 750 S LaBrea Avenue. The building was demolished but the buildings across the street remain the same.

Actually the buildings across the street are gone now too. I drive by that location on my way to and from work. The entire block between Wilshire and 8th Street (just south of the Daily Planet building) has been vacant for about a year I think, maybe longer. There are plans for a new massive apartment complex to be built there. The upside is that the hideous Brutalist tower that was on the southeast corner of Wilshire and La Brea is gone. And I'm thankful that the art deco Firestone store just south on La Brea remains.

Re: 1911 Hollywood hotel brochure
 

Page 193 post by Bsjansen of Hollywood hotel is great. Wondering what was the exact address? Also Cahuenga Tavern is intriguing. I read it was the oldest building in the cahuenga pass, known as "8 mile pass" I believe. Does anyone know what stands there now? According to brochure, it was a 10-15 minute walk from Hollywood hotel. Must not have been too far up the pass.

WOW I made it! All 198 pages--done! And it only took about a month to do.

Well this has been a pleasure, and this may be the single finest thread I've ever read. It was fun seeing the focus of the thread naturally evolve over time: first the dogged recreation of Bunker Hill, then it was about LA as seen through movies and publicity stunts, the occasional car wrecks, matchbook ephemera (probably my favorite mini-theme) and most recently focusing on a one Bert Rovere, restaurant menus and newspaper clippings..... for someone who has spent all of about 40 hours in Los Angeles, I feel like I know her like an old friend.

Now although I've only been in town for two days, my work is my band (see my signature), my band is taking off in a major way (if you happened to see the Billboard Music Awards last weekend, then you saw my band playing on it), and when a band is taking off almost all roads lead to LA; I imagine (hope!) that we make the move in September. So this to me was a form of homework, something I must read if I'm ever to consider myself a true Angeleno, just like I must read Banham (done) or Inventing Autopia (not yet). And now that I have all this knowledge, I can rest assured that I'll hit the ground running once my band does the inevitable, and it can't come soon enough! (so long Boston!)

--

Finally, I picked up a copy of LA Noire a few days ago and I say to everyone here regardless of age, race, gender, wealth or gaming habits: LA Noire is a must have for anyone who loves this thread.

This is not your typical video game; rather, it's something new and different from what we've come to expect, and I'd say it's more like an interactive movie that also happens to have some traditional video game elements than it is yet another shoot-the-baddies braindrain. Let me also add that I am NOT a gamer, and in fact the last video game I bought was Sim City 4 over six years ago. So I do not make this reccomendation lightly.

I am completely blown away by the story, the acting, the environment, etc. but most of all I'm left feeling like I'm playing something that has the potential (like Wii Sports five years ago) to reel a whole new demographic into gaming. It is a watershed for video games; it is next-generational; it's the future; and it's so much fun, especially for those of us who geek out over Noirish Los Angeles.

So for your sake, GET IT!

LA Noire
 

I totally agree, LA Noire is a fantastic game. I'm 30 (almost 31) and I play video games sometimes, but this is a game that I actually bought on opening day and am very impressed with. It didn't take me quite a month to go through (at the time) 150ish pages, but it took a week or two. This is my first post on this board, but i've been a avid lurker for a few months now. Btw, the modeling on LA Noire is amazing, I'll be driving along and i'll see bunker hill and it's like "there it is, it looks JUST like it does in the old photos" or i'll see the Angel Flight and it's modeled perfectly as well. Do yourself a favor and buy it.

you moved the cemetery, but you left the bodies!!!!!!!! - craig t. nelson in poltergeist

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics43/00041069.jpg
Source: LAPL

Arrow points to bones of pioneer California soldier unearthed as Hollywood Freeway excavation cuts into the old Fort Moore Hill Cemetery. Soldier had been buried in full uniform, including silver spurs. Several caskets have been exposed. Photo dated: April 2, 1951.

creepy.....................................