Cahuenga Pass, 1911-1941
What a difference a hundred years makes...
Cahuenga Pass, 1905. https://otters.net/img/lanoir/CHS-10514.jpg USC Digital Archive It only took 30 years to go from this: https://otters.net/img/lanoir/cahuengapass1911.jpg LAPL To this: https://otters.net/img/lanoir/cahuengapass1941.jpg LAPL The layout of the roads looks much the same today! -Scott Post on my blog here. |
Wow sopas_ej....that was a great post with all the old and contemporary photographs. I thoroughly enjoyed them all.
The Garnier Building history and photos were especially interesting. Also cool pics of Cahuenga Pass Scott. I briefly lived in North Hollywood when I first moved to L.A., so I used the pass hundreds of times. For a more exciting drive I took Laurel Canyon with all its twists and turns. Here's a map. The details are hard to read though. http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7...lcanyonmap.jpg unknown Driving through Laurel Canyon I remember passing the ruins of Houdini's estate (see below). I always thought this was rather cool. The ruins of the estate remain today, undisturbed for over 50 years. http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5...08houdini1.jpg davesweb.cnchost.com I just noticed the guy watering the plants. Kind of SPOOKY. At first I thought he was tied up with a mask on. |
Below: The Plaza in 1873...showing the reservoir.
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9...servoirfro.jpgusc digital archive Below: A close up of the reservoir. http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1...servoir188.jpg usc digital archive |
Below: I just realized the church facing away from the camera is....
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9...servoirfro.jpg usc digital archive ...the Church of the Mission Los Angeles 1870. http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2...rchofmissl.jpg usc digital archive |
The Plaza some twenty years later in 1890.
http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/4...lesplazain.jpg usc digital archive |
Below: Looking southeast, this is a view of 6th Street Park in 1883.
The park will later be known as Pershing Square. http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4...stparklate.jpg usc digital archive |
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Below: The Sackett Hotel at Cahuenga Drive and Hollywood Blvd. ca.1890
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3...hotelcahue.jpg usc digital archive |
Below: Downtown Los Angeles looking southeast from Olive and 5th. 1890
Does anyone know what the large building in the lower right corner is? It looks like it could be an auditorium. http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9...nlalooking.jpgusc digital archive Below: Main Street from 3rd 1890. http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6...eetfrom3rd.jpg usc digital archive Below: Looking north on Spring Street from 3rd. 1891 At the corner of the next block is the ornate Bryson-Bonebrake Block. http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6...ookingnort.jpg usc digital archive Below: The Westminster Hotel Main Street at 4th 1893. http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3...sterhotelm.jpg usc digital archive |
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-Scott |
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I took some pictures: http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/1856/p1060925s.jpg http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/9388/p1060919.jpg http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/1856/p1060925s.jpg http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/7858/p1060921.jpg |
Here's the Brusnswig Building in an old undated photo:
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/171/chs41321.jpg USC Archive Here it is in another old undated photo, but look at the other buildings that used to be adjacent to it. You even see business signs in Spanish. http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/791/dw86768isla.jpg USC Archive |
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Now, when they get done with this restoration, they should rebuild the old Court House! It was a sin to tear down that grand edifice in the first place... |
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https://otters.net/img/lanoir/98535035_o_mod.jpg Found on eBay. :cheers: |
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One thing I’d like to point out, going waaay back to the beginning of this thread, post #9, ethereal_reality asks what is that solitary building off to the left? (Which is seen again in post #383, for example.) That was the Law Building, by Taylor and Taylor, a twelve-story height-limit built in ‘24-25. Brothers Edward Cray Taylor and Ellis Wing Taylor are best known for their Masonic Temple in Yuma (National Register) and the Wolfer Printing bldg on LA’s Wall St – Historic Cultural Monument #161. Anyway, the Law Building had a 45’ frontage at 139 N Broadway and a depth of 100’. It was just a stone’s throw down from Court Flight. It was occupied mostly by attorneys but also housed a collection of County governmental departments. In 1953 it was remodeled by the famous coffee shop architects Armet & Davis, lots of Colorosa travertine and horizontal aluminum, very cool. The Law Building and its neighbor, Lawyers Title Guarantee (the little building with the columns, best seen in post #11) were the last privately owned structures in the Civic Center mall area before being forced to sell out in ’64…though the owners and the City battled it out in Superior Court for two years over the price! After the City finally got a legal judgment on a price in ’66, they knocked the Law Building down but quick. |
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Beaudry....welcome to the thread!
I checked out your essay on the Hotel Elmar. I guess I hit the nail on the head when I mentioned 'sordid' going ons. I had no idea one place could be so crime ridden and stay in business. So is 'On Bunker Hill' your site? I've enjoyed it numerous times. You have a great writing style and a flare for details. Needless to say...I hope you continue to post on this thread. :) |
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Hey Beaudry! I was thinking just today that this thread needs more Bunker Hill, and you're definitely the man for that. Thanks for joining in! -Scott |
Thanks for the welcome! Onbunkerhill.org wasn't my site as much as 1947project.com was the brainchild of my college buddy Kim, we blogged about LA in 47, then 1907, then 1927...then Bunker Hill. The new incarnation is InSROLand, which I'm not posting to because I'm too busy with other more annoying and stupid things, unfortunately.
(I'm only going by "Beaudry," by the way, because "Nathan" is already taken by some other guy named Nathan on skyscraperpage. I don't begrudge him that of course, it's a great name. But call me Beaudry, it's more noir to have a moniker.) Anyway, I just came back from the post office, the magical wonderful post office, bestower of glorious eBay treats...lemmee make a pork chop and fire up the scannertron... |
...and speaking of Bunker Hill. :)
Below: Clay Street. http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2...illclaystr.jpg Cal State Archive Below: The Vendome Hotel. I'm not sure of the street address for this one. Notice the archaic telephone booth. Also why are there windows in what looks like a retaining wall? They're to the right of The Vendome in the photo. http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2...illvendome.jpg Cal State Archive Below: The EMS. -no address- Hmmm...intriguing...why The EMS and not.....say.... The ELMS? Anyone know what EMS stand for? http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/9...illtheemsi.jpg Cal State Archive |
Below: The corner of Grand Ave. and 3rd Street.
To the right of the corner building is the Alto Hotel. Perhaps the corner building is the Alto as well? The information was vague. http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/4...illgrandan.jpg Cal State Archive Below: Here you see the same buildings from a different angle (Grand Ave.) looking towards 3rd Street. Note the Alto Hotel sign. http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/8...llgrandand.jpg Cal State Archive Below: Here is a close up of the house that appears in the above photo to the right of the Alto hotel. It looks like the housekeeper is out on the front porch. http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7...illgrandav.jpg Cal State Archive |
Below: Looking west along 1st Street from Grand. 1926.
http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/9...westalong1.jpg Cal State Archive |
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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2733/...aa11e4c4_o.jpg (Walker Evans, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 61-62) |
While we're Bunker Hill-izing, there was some talk about the location of Clay St a while back, sooo...1957 Thomas Guide, meet Google Maps:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2721/...8e3fabbc_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2664/...6e51bd3f_o.jpg As you can see, Clay St. has been wiped out, as has Bunker Hill Ave, which was where all the "premier" Victorians stood. Sack Alley, Cinnabar, heck, the whole of Court St., memories... |
Just picked up some amateur snaps from a guy who liked to go up City Hall, bless him.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2574/...36995ffc_b.jpg The first is from 6/63, the next from 2/75; most striking of course is the '72 Pereira to the Times. What really gets me is what got done to the Seymour Building (the tall skinny one, 1926) and California Building (1911) on Second btw Broadway and Hill, and facing Broadway is the California Water Bldg (1905), they've all been refaçaded with unrelenting modernity! |
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2701/...df87990a_b.jpg
1962 & 1975. Looking east down Commercial/Ducommun. The 1964 Welton Becket Federal Building (left) has gone up, as has the '73 Stanton & Stockwell City Hall East. But most of all we've lost the gas tanks. |
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More then & now! Another lost gas tank, this one at Sunset (i.e., Cesar Chavez) and Lyon, now the site of a great collections of buses, and the Twin Towers Correctional Facility.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/...38063c0b_o.jpg http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2522/...45c13cb7_o.jpg By the way, in case you don't have it, go on bookfinder.com or wherever you hunt out your old books and pick up "Views of Los Angeles" by Gernot Kuehn. It's the gold standard of Then & Now books, and especially because his "now" pictures are from 1978, they alone are awesome. |
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The reason the building next to it looks like a retaining wall is I think because it looks totally out of place next to the Victorian Vendome. That was a Late Moderne 1949 fire department garage and office building. In this earlier photo (1939, USC Digital Archives) you can see the 1924 fire dept HQ for Engine no. 3, Truck no. 2 and Rescue no. 3. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/...5d699218_o.jpg The 1949 building was built in that parking lot between them. As far as the Ems goes, if you look at the Baist's Real Estate Atlases, they list it as the Elms...even they thought "Ems" was too weird to deal with. I never did figure out where they got that name from. Much less why they plastered back only 1/3 of the building and then left all that naked shiplap. |
Hi Nathan
Excellent information and photographs. They made my afternoon. It's always amazing to compare before and after photos (especially when the after pics are from 1973). I found the 1957 Thomas Guide map of Bunker Hill to be very helpful. Below: I found a photo of the building we were discussing on the previous page. The one at 3rd Street and Grand Ave. You were absolutely correct.....there is a sign for the New Grand Hotel (as well as the deli). http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/9...donlylarge.gif I don't have any info, but I'm guessing this is Walker Evans. |
Below: Hotel St. Angelo at the corner of Grand Ave. & Temple Street. 1887
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3...angelocorn.jpg usc digital archive |
The Bradbury Mansion at the corner of Hill Street & Court Street 1890.
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3...bradburysr.jpg usc digital archive Below: The same mansion, different angle. http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3...ymansionco.jpg usc digital archive |
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It's odd which buildings survived and which didn't. The ones that did... well, I would have picked other more architecturally-worthy structures, but I suppose we should be grateful that anything within 3-4 blocks of the Civic Center survived at all... |
Below: Looking northeast from Hill & 4th Street 1903.
http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/6...stfromhill.jpg usc digital archive |
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Below: Looking east from the Crocker Mansion 1898. I think this photograph is exceptional.
What is the huge building on the distant horizon? http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/2...eastfromcr.jpg usc ditial archive I just noticed what might be a cyclorama on the right hand side. I recognize City Hall, but a couple of the other prominent buildings are a mystery to me. |
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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...California.jpg Photo by Cory Maylett, Wikimedia Commons |
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Angels Flight Pharmacy 1960.
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2...illangelsf.jpg unknown http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6...llangelsfq.jpg unknown |
So THAT'S the Los Angeles Orphans Asylum.
My god, it's a behemoth. I had no idea it was so visible from downtown L.A. Thanks for the info Scott.....much appreciated. |
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OMG these are all such great pics!
And Beaudry, great name! VERY old LA, I like it. Makes me think of Beaudry Avenue in downtown LA; I assume that street is named for Prudent Beaudry, an early Los Angeles mayor who was originally from Quebec, I believe. :) |
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^^^Here is a photograph showing the Brew 102 Building Sopas_ej. It was taken from the top of City Hall in 1952.
http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3...c1vbrewery.jpg usc digital archive I just noticed the Friedman Bag Company is there as well. Are those the ventilation fans you were talking about Scott? |
Move along, move along. ^^
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https://otters.net/img/lanoir/00009385.jpg lapl Back when I was a kid, each of those ventilator fan things were painted a variety of bright pastel colors. They really stood out against the drab background of the gas storage tanks. Anyway, your picture above is really fantastic. I guess that wasn't really freeway through there yet, though I'd think it would have been by 1952. There's evidently a traffic signal or stop sign there just beyond the Brew 102 building where cars are all stopped. And I love how Commercial Street is 6 lanes of one-way traffic in the foreground! Then 3 lanes veer sharply to the left and turn into Aliso/101. Great highway engineering there! -Scott |
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and the 200 block of South Main, http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2711/...1ac2894c_o.jpg ...believe it or not, both of the vintage light poles in each picture remain. All of the buildings have been leveled, save for the tall building on the far right of the South Main image. |
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http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/...0a9934fe_o.jpg I've always loved the dome atop the Brighton Hotel at Fourth and Hill. http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2776/...84a02dd5_o.jpg Which of course like other structures that've been talked about here lost its top to parapet ordinances... http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2762/...dbf5bc2e_o.jpg (top, cal state library, bottom two, USC digital archive) |
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