Quote:
Originally Posted by HossC
I found David H. Geedy listed at 1670 W 23rd Street in the City Directories between 1909 and 1921 (LAPL doesn't have any directories for that area between 1901 and 1909). Someone called Claude H McFadden was living there by 1923. The 1921 CD's 'Street and Avenue Guide' says that the 1600 block started at Raymond Avenue, which is the same as today, but like you, I couldn't find #1670 either. The houses either side of that number today are 1666 (built in 1914) and 1676 (built in 1904). The last mention I found for 1670 W 23rd Street in the City Directories is in the 1973 edition. The 1987 edition seems to have mainly different house numbers, so was the street renumbered between 1973 and 1987?
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I think comparing the 1907 and 1921 Sanborn maps helps understand what happened to this address. It is the fourth lot east of S. Normandie on the south side of W. 23rd.
1907:
lapl
1921:
lapl
As you can see, the footprints of the two structures just to the west (1676 and 1682 W. 23rd) are identical in both 1907 and 1921 maps; the vacant lot at the SE corner of W. 23rd and S. Normandie got a 4-plex (in 1918 according to the Assessor).
And the building housing
rcarlton's relative seems to have been either severely expanded or demolished-and-replaced: the 1907 map has a single unit house, and the 1921 map has a much bigger 4-plex dating from 1914 (as
HossC found from the Assessor).
This building in 1921 had 4 house numbers: 1666, 1668, 1670, and 1672 for the four units. Currently, the building has kept the 1666 number, which makes sense.
This location, just a short walk from Normandie/Washington/Adams and their transportation opportunities, was probably pretty choice when built just after the turn of the century. But after WWI, the trend seems to have been to divide the old houses into apartments. This was often a sign of a neighborhood in decline, as happened with Bunker Hill.
Here is
rcarlton's relative's house today:
GSV