[QUOTE=Flyingwedge;6485908]In 1905 it was home to the Los Angeles School of Art and Design:
USC Digital Library --
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si.../id/4793/rec/1
The letters over the door seem to indicate the building was originally a hotel or apartment building. Is that a fire or police call box at the curb?
Flyingwedge, a friend of mine brought to my attention your query regarding the pole in front of the LA School of Art and Design with what looks to be a call box. If you look at the top of the pole you will see a semaphore blade and mechanism.
My friend suggested that this was most likely a signal governing Los Angeles Railway streetcars running northbound on Alvarado, whose vision at the intersection, which was also a junction with LARY tracks on West 6Th Street, was limited by the trees in the park and slope of the hill meeting the curve onto West 6Th at that point.
Cheers,
Jack