The following may contain photos/info previously posted, the search terms for oil wells, La Cienega, middle of the road, aren't exactly fruitful, so...
Some things of interest about the oil well that were put online the last 1-3 years:
The L.A. Times did a "from the archives" story on it:
From 1927 through 1945, La Cienega Boulevard had an oil well in its center divider. The slight detour became a Los Angeles icon — drawn above in a 1938 illustration by Los Angeles Times staff artist Charles H. Owens.
In the 1930s, Owens and columnist Joe Seewerker produced the Nuestro Pueblo column for The Times. For their Sep. 21, 1938, Nuestro Pueblo column, Seewerker wrote:
Drilled in 1906, the well has been pumping steadily and faithfully ever since. The owners donated the land for La Cienega Boulevard to the city in 1927 with the provision that the well remain and the street be built around it. This was done and ever since autos have whizzed by it on either side. It is said to be the only oil well in the middle of a major boulevard in the world.
Two whisky signs, one on the north and the other on the south, add to the revenue of Old Faithful. Incidentally, the well has settled down to a steady gait of eighty barrels a day. With crude oil bringing around 80 cents a barrel, that makes an income of $64 day, which is enough to keep a cafe full of monkeys in peanuts for many a moon.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BillinGlendaleCA
ETA: Looking at the 1947 aerial, it looks like it was newly removed.
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March 8, 1946, Los Angeles Times:
They sawed a landmark through the middle and pulled it down into kindling wood yesterday in the center of La Cienega Blvd.
A world-famous oil well, it had been chugging away since 1907 – in later years with autos whizzing about it on both sides – until a zoning variance and advance of building [the new Rexall Drug Stores headquarters]
finally stopped the 10-foot hand wheel that revolved more than 204,000,000 times.
This circa 1931 photo shows another well nearby:
In the following photo, notice a round sign near the bottom of the well to the right...
...this is the Tail o’ the Cock restaurant, seen here in this 1945 postcard view:
In the color view it looks like that Tail o' the Cock sign is seen above the "SLOW" traffic sign on the oil well island:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality
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This original slide from the 1940s was recently listed on eBay
eBay
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This is Ansel Adams' similar 1939 view...
Information and photos were taken from the following links/sites:
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Magazine
Martin Turnbull/Garden of Allah
Los Angeles is My Beat
J.H. Graham