In my moving day photos, i posted an image of the Rochester house being relocated. I did a little bit of checking on it's ultimate fate, as i couldn't remember if it was saved after it was relocated..........................
Exterior view of the Rochester Apartments at 1012 West Temple Street 1890
LAPL
Rochester House 1956
UCLA Library Digital Collections
The Rochester Apartments at 1012 West Temple Street 1960's
LAPL
Rochester house from the Harbor Freeway 1967
LAPL
The drive is on to move and save the Rochester House, currently 86 years old, and threatened with demolition in the Temple Urban Renewal Project. Photo date: October 17, 1967
LAPL
Rochester House being moved 1970
LAPL
A "Save Me" sign is still mounted on the Rochester House as it is being moved due to the Temple Urban Renewal Project. Photo date: October 1, 1970.
LAPL
The large, historically important Rochester House as it sits at its temporary location in the 1100 block of North Alameda Street on October 1, 1970, after being moved from its former location on Temple Street.
LAPL
Rochester House, stands in Alameda St. railroad yard awaiting restoration and relocation at Old Plaza historical site, as ordered by appeals court 1971
UCLA Library Digital Collections
And the fate of this supposedly saved declared historic landmark.............(the text below is from Big Orange Landmarks....Exploring the Landmarks of Los Angeles, One Monument at a Time....... the web site is hosted by Floyd B. Bariscale
http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.com/ )
In August 1967, the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historical Monument Commission voted to move the Rochester from its West Temple home to Main and Republic Streets as part of the park being developed around the city’s Old Plaza (this Board – different than the Cultural Heritage Commission – had been overseeing the park project since 1965). The Commission also set up a solicitation fund for its relocation and restoration. Over the next few years, money was raised and a HUD grant of up to $100,000 was applied for and contracted. Then, in August of 1969, the Commission decided the Rochester wasn’t allowed in the park after all. Why? Well, the idea was always a matter of disagreement within the Board. Some of the Commission maintained the non-Spanish architecture of the Rochester would look out of place in Old Plaza. Also, they felt other things – like parking space – were more necessary.
In protest, a group made up of private contributors as well as three Board members (John Anson Ford, Dorothy A. Burnaby, and David A. Workman) sued the Commission, claiming the board had voted to move the Apartments, had raised public and private money, and had no right to renege. The plaintiffs won, and the Commission appealed the ruling. Jump to early fall, 1970, when, with verdict pending, the Rochester was moved temporarily to “railroad property just north of Union Station” (i.e. Alameda and Bruno Streets). In early 1971, California’s Court of Appeals upheld the original decision. Later that spring, following the State Supreme Court’s refusal to hear another appeal, the Commission unanimously consented to relocate and restore the Rochester.
After all this, however, that temporary move turned out to be permanent. For whatever reason, the Rochester was allowed to languish further at the Alameda/Bruno site until it was ultimately demolished in 1979.
now that's a noir tale of the darkest kind.............................................