Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC
A little more on Fry Roofing and Tom Mix in Compton. I found the following hidden away in the comments section of Cinema Treasure's page on the Fox Compton Theatre (text copied verbatim):
I’m reading Film Daily 1937. It says Compton 618 , Tower 1000, Symphony I have 832 can’t remember where I found it, Big Top 0. When thy had the Earthquake they move all the stores. They had all of the stores in a Big Tent That where the Big Top was at where Fry Roofing was also Tom Mix Wild West Show was there. Although it doesn't mention Tom Mix, I did find this piece about Fry Roofing's building being used to house businesses damaged in the Long Beach earthquake. It's from The California Division of Mines and Geology, 1948-74 (PDF file):
Downtown Compton was demolished. One thing that was done very wisely by the local city authorities was to move all businesses into a huge open building of the Fry Roofing Company, a great big open building that wasn't damaged by the earthquake, because it was like a cardboard carton. You couldn't break it up; there was nothing to break up. They set up the businesses in stalls analagous to the position they had in downtown Compton, so you could do all your shopping and marketing in a kind of free market area in the Fry Roofing Building, You could go to the drug store, or the doctor, or the grocery store, right there. |
Here's the 1938 Sanborn from that area:
via LAPL
Here, the northern spur of Wilmington has been renamed Mona, I'm sure the southern portion has been renamed Willowbrook with the PE right of way running down Willowbrook. Just west of the Fry property we see Boland Ave.(hence the name for the tracts) which no longer exists and the pre-fire configuration of the Fry building. It's almost has the same footprint as a portion of the current building.