noirish Los Angeles

[oldstuff]

Here is probably way more than anyone cares to know about Alice B. Sturdy:

Alice B. Sturdy was born Alice Gould Bragg in Vermont in November of 1861. In 1888, she married Robert Albert Sturdy in Los Angeles. She appears in an 1897 directory as Mrs Robert A. Sturdy. At that time, she was living at the address where he apparently had his blacksmith shop at 333. North Chicago, Los Angeles. The 1900 Census shows her as being divorced. That census shows her as having three children and also notes that her mother, Ruby Bragg, resided with her.

There is a 1907 marriage license filed for a marriage between her and and a Robert A. Sturdy. There are, however, directories, in 1902, 1905 and 1907, which list her as being the widow of Robert Albert Sturdy. This may have been to save face since divorce was frowned upon at that time. He appears in the 1910 census as divorced.

He appears as being a horseshoer and blacksmith in an 1893 directory, with a shop located at 1854 E. First Street, Los Angeles. He still had his own shop when he appears in the 1910 Census.

The 1910 census again lists her as a widow. All three of her children are listed with her in 1910 but her mother is not. Cemetery records show that she died in November of 1910 and she is buried in the Evergreen Cemetery, which was just around the corner from her house at 3416 E. 1st St. Google shows a house at that address, now behind a party store, which could be the same house she lived in. The assessor's office indicates that the house there was first built in 1907.

A 1915 Directory shows him living in the house on 1st Street. He is noted to be a blacksmith. Living with him at that time is Lena Sturdy, his youngest daughter and also a teacher. He is working for a dairy at that time.

He appears in the 1930 census, still living in Los Angeles, but as a lodger. The census page show him in the listings for "LA Creamery". That is the last listing for him and he does not appear in the death index.

There is an undated photo on page 992 which shows a group of employees from the LA Creamery. Maybe he is one of them.


Her story is convoluted if not actually noirish. I can't find any pictures of her or him. Her youngest daughter went on to become a teacher. I can't help but wonder if the "accepting the resignation" of Mrs Sturdy as a teacher was because she was divorced? It is also interesting to note that one of the board members listed in the article was a Mr. Bragg. Bragg was her maiden name. I can't connect him to her or find him in a census. Her mother was the widow of an H. E. Bragg.

Update: from the Los Angeles Herald, March 6, 1896 we find this in the California Digital Newspaper Collection:

"THREATS TO KILL Rouert A. Sturdy Jailed for Abusing His Wife Deputy Constable Quinn yesterday placed Robert A. Sturdy behind the bars of the county jail on a warrant sworn to by his wife Alice, charging him with threatening to kill her. Sturdy is a man who is ■turdy by nature as well as by name. Physically ho is a giant, weighing over 200 pounds, and all muscle. He is a blacksmith and runs a shop at 1854 East First

street, Boyle Heights. At No. 333 Chicago street he owns a cozy little cottage, and ail would be well with him but for his besetting sin, drink. It is alleged that he goes on periodical sprees and while intoxicated brutally heats and abuses his wife. .Some four years ago Sturdy became so bad that bo was committed to the insane asylum at Napa, where ho remained over eight mouths. He was discharged as cured, but resumed his drinking again. Night before last he got arunk and. coming borne, commenced abusing his wife. She stood it as long as possible, but he finally he* CAme so violent that she escaped from tho house, afraid she would be killed should she remain. This was tho last straw and yesterday an action for divorce was instituted. Habitual intemperance is the cause given and there seems little doubt but what Mrs. Sturdy will get her decree. On the advice of her lawyers the warrant of arrest was sworn out and Sturdy will be prosecuted on a charge of threats to kill. Constable Quinu has good cause to remember his man, as some years ago, while in jail, Sturdy broke three ribs and a finger for him while lie was endeavoring to subdue him in a drunken frenzy. When he went after the blacksmith yesterday he took along another man for good luck. Sturdy, however, was sober and made no trouble."

and then...

In a story appearing in the Los Angeles Herald, March 22, 1896:
"Alice G. Sturdy was given a divorce from Robert A. Sturdy by Judge York. The charge was cruelty, and the wife made out a strong case. Sturdy is a blacksmith, living on Boyle Heights, and it was shown that it was a common practice to beat his wife, besides being guilty of other acta of cruelty too numerous to mention."

From the California digital newspaper collection

She was an alumni of Lindenwood College, Class of 1879. Lindenwood was a college for young ladies located in St. Charles, MO

[MichaelRyerson]

The Edison Electric Company General Office Building, 120 E. 4th Street, 1904

The Edison Electric Company General Office Building at 120 E. 4th Street. "Sammy" Darnell, foreman, is standing by the entrance to Werdin Alley. Clate Bigg's wagon is down the street." (Sam Darnell was Westside Lighting Company's first lineman, in the mid-'90's, before it evolved into the Southern California Edison Company) This dark building on the right edge predates the San Fernando Building by about four years but the San Fernando Building will go in here and be addressed on the corner of Main and 4th Streets. The alleyway (shown on some maps as Werdin Place) runs between the Edison Building and what will be the San Fernando Building. Down the street, the first building beyond the Edison, with the light colored facing, is the Venice Hotel (soon to become the Hotel Granam) and the slightly shorter, darker Hotel Newport, on the corner of Los Angeles Street. The cameraman has his back to the southeast corner of the Hotel Westminster.

Southern California Edison Photographs and Negatives, Huntington Digital Library



Looking north up Werdin Place, ca.1904

"Three operators standing outside the Los Angeles #2 Substation." Well this is an interesting shot. It is unidentified in the archive but we can do better than that. We are looking north up the alleyway which, in a few years, is going to begin to appear on maps labeled Werdin Place. It runs from about a half a block south (behind the camera) of 5th Street (behind the Burbank Theater) to about a half a block north of 4th Street (up ahead of the camera) dead-ending into the Hippodrome (the building at the end of the alley with the curved roof line). The key is that white building on the left hand side of the alley, that's the Hotel Westminster which in turn makes that 4th Street. Little dark building sticking out on the right side across the alley from the Westminster is the Hotel Wayne (I know, I know, this part of town was carpeted with these little hotels). The San Fernando Building will go over here on the left on this side of 4th, but it won't go in until 1908. And these three operators standing over here work for Edison who owns everything on that side of the alley up to 4th Street. Interestingly, the guy on the roof is standing where the new Edison Electric Company General Office Building is going to go, and while this building he's standing on has about the right massing, size and shape, the finish brick and window placements are all wrong. So I think they're going to tear this building down and put up a brand, spanking new one.

Doubly interesting the photo is credited to B.F. Pearson, himself.

Southern California Edison Photographs and Negatives, Huntington Digital Library


Looking west on E. 4th Street from the 200 block, 1921

Wonderful image. Looking west down East 4th Street toward the Hotel Newport, dark, three-story building on the corner with the round, turreted second and third floors, at 401 S. Los Angeles Street. Next door to the Newport, to the right, is the narrow, lighter colored Graham Hotel (originally the Hotel Venice) at 130 E. 4th and then the long, low three story building with the row of uniform upper windows is the General Offices of the Southern California Edison Company at 120 E. 4th (corner of Werdin Place). Of course, we can see the San Fernando Building at E. 4th and Main Street and the New Million Dollar Hotel Rosslyn at Main and 5th Street. Over the top of the Bolton Printing Company we can see the Jeffries Building at Winston (runs east and west between 4th and 5th) Werdin Place (which had been an unnamed alleyway until recently). Just out of frame on the extreme left is the Otis Elevator Company. Love this pic.

Southern California Edison Photographs and Negatives

[HossC]

Great, detailed information on Robert and Alice Sturdy, oldstuff.


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To add to MichaelRyerson's interesting post, here's the whole length of Werdin Alley and Werdin Place on the 1921 Baist map.


www.historicmapworks.com

The southern end of the alleyway (Werdin Place) remains virtually intact, although it's gated at the end of each block.


Google Earth

This is the view looking south from 4th Street. The Edison building is on the left.


GSV

And from Winston Street.


GSV

And from 5th Street. That's the shell of the Charnock Block on the right.


GSV

Previous mentions of the Edison building on 4th can found in post #22883 and post #22884.

[ethereal_reality]

Excellent posts on Werdin Alley and Werdin Place MichaelRyerson and HossC. -so very interesting.
I've never seen 'gated' alleys before...not even in Chicago.



An especially noirish photograph, circa 1978. (showing San Julian St. dead-ending at E. 5th Street*)


tumblr/memoriastoica

GSV

*per Google maps...this is pretty much the 'epicenter' of Skid Row. (how do they figure that out?)



below: Here's an earlier post from November 2012 that includes a photograph of the Panama in 1918. (1918!)

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

The Panama Hotel, 403 East 5th St., ca. 1918 and 2011.

[mdiederi]

Apablasa Street looking east from Juan Street, 1933.

http://www.lacityhistory.org/

Looking north toward First Street viaduct from roof of Fourth and Mateo Streets, 1929.

http://www.lacityhistory.org/

Looking north from Fourth Street and Lorena Street Viaduct, 1928.

http://www.lacityhistory.org/

San Pedro, 1928

http://www.lacityhistory.org/

Houses destroyed in landslide at Landa Drive, 1938.

http://www.lacityhistory.org/

[ethereal_reality]

Excellent photographs mdiederi. I've never heard of Landa Drive...I'll have to check it out.
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We recently had a very thorough and intense discussion (almost a dissection) of the circular Crandall Aylsworth sign.
But the other day, completely by accident, I came across this photograph that appears to show only half-a-circular sign.


tumblr/memoriastoica

Do my eyes deceive me?...is this truly half-a-sign?
If so, why aren't there any parts waiting to be assembled on the roof?
...is horizontal rod with the tarp hidden in some closet on the top floor?

To see the complete sign (and the beginning of the discussion) go here. JScott via HossC via Beaudry-
http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=23361
by Tourmaline
http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=23367
and by Loyalton
http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=23372
and again by Tourmaline
http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=23380

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[HossC]

That's the LAPL version of the image that I mentioned previously. It's the same as the USC image (note the placement of streetcars, Union Ice Co wagon etc.), but has had the sky painted to "neaten" the picture. Unfortunately this has removed half the circular sign as well as all cables across S Spring. Compare it to the USC image below.

Originally Posted by HossC

NB. USC date this picture as 1900-1904, but LAPL have a darker version of the same picture with the top half of the circular sign painted out which they date at 1880. This date is too early given the information below about the Los Angeles National Bank Building. Under the word "Clothiers" in the center of the picture there's an advert for Luckenbach & Co, Jewelers at 141 S Spring. I can only find them in the CDs from 1900 to 1911, so the USC date looks more accurate.


USC Digital Library

Last week, while looking for something else, I realized that Los Angeles Past had originally posted the USC pictures of the circular sign way back in post #442.

[ethereal_reality]

-thanks HossC. I overlooked your previous mention of the LAPL photo. -my bad.
This is why historical photographs should never be manipulated.

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[ethereal_reality]

1921
ebay

I'm confused by the large building in the background. What part of the Ambassador Hotel is this?

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[jbange]

Originally Posted by HossC

I don't know when the school closed, but there are no listings after 1942. The site is now occupied by a couple of nondescript buildings with blank walls. A sign on the gate (inset) says that it still belongs to the Los Angeles Unified School District and is now used for their Beyond the Bell after-school program.


Google Earth

The latest mention I can find of Amelia Street Elementary is in the 1938 CTA Journal. The site is currently occupied by LAUSD Projects Unit Central, a sort of management office for small construction projects in the district (http://www.laschools.org/new-site/ma.../projects-unit). Back when I worked for the school district I did some repair work there, and I'd estimate that the current buildings were built in the 40's. I imagine the old school was torn down some time in the 30's after the area lost its residential inhabitants.

[MartinTurnbull]

Originally Posted by Martin Pal

Thanks for the photo and link. I'd never heard of a Breakfast Matinee, much less at the Chinese. This is an interesting site with all kinds of fascinating stuff, although I wish some of the photos were linked to larger sizes!

The site brings to mind--as readers may know, the theatre is now known as the TCL Chinese Theatre, which I cannot bear to say...it'll always be Grauman's to most Hollywood history fans or just the Chinese Theatre at the very least, but I've noticed whenever it's referenced on news programs they always say TCL Chinese Theatre as though it's a requirement they have to say that. I wonder why? If I were a reporter I'd just say the Chinese Theatre.

I'm with you on that score, Martin. I couldn't even get used to calling it Mann's Chinese Theater so I'm certainly not going to even bother trying to say "TCL Chinese Theater." It is - and always will be Grauman's!

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

1921
ebay

I'm confused by the large building in the background. What part of the Ambassador Hotel is this?
(it looks more like the rear section of the Shrine Auditorium...or the boxing arena, Olympic Auditorium)

It's an unusual view of the Ambassador Hotel, but it shows some of the covered walkway with the front of the Cocoanut Grove (Wilshire side) at the right. The 1921 date places it in the year the Hotel opened, so it was taken long before the 1950s alterations. The picture below is from 1936. A very small section of the covered walkway is visible near the left side.


USC Digital Library

Here's a closer view showing more of the details which can be seen in e_r's sepia image.


Detail of picture above.

USC date this picture of the covered walkways at sometime in the 1920s. This is part of the eastern side looking roughly south.


USC Digital Library

I'm not sure how long the covered walkway lasted. It definitely went long before the hotel. I've marked the walkway on the 1940 aerial view below.


Detail of picture in USC Digital Library

[3940dxer]

Part 1 of 2.

I've been doing a lot of night time bikes around L.A. and have become interested in the odd little motels that I see scattered across town. Most of these are older properties that feature the "motor court" U-shaped layout, with individual cottages or sections perpendicular to the road, semi-circular driveways, and a central common area. Others have a Tiki or what you might call a "poor man's streamline moderne" design. Many have neon signs and in some cases, they actually work. Some motels are barely noticeable in the daytime, but really stand out at night.

These old places have been slowly vanishing for a long time, so I thought I'd photograph a few favorites while they are still standing. Though the look isn't always "Noirish", most of them do have a certain throwback appeal. Motels with worst reviews are often the best photo subjects.

I started photographing these motels about two months ago, around the time I began thinking about a new version of e_r's inaugural NLA photo. Both of these pursuits involved low light and night time photography, and for a low level hobbyist like me, were fairly challenging. Dusk and dawn are the best times to capture the signs and lights, with some ambient light on the buildings. If the building is on the eastern side of a street or intersection sundown is usually fine. But if it's on the west side then the camera needs to face west, and backlight tends to spoil the shot. In those cases the only answer was to wake at 0500 and be on site before sunup.

Sometimes everything is just right, but the neon sign is switched off. (Sometimes a manager would take pity on me, and switch it on.)


Islander Motel, 1460 Colorado Blvd. (near Hartwick), Eagle Rock




Rose Bowl Motel, 1533 Colorado Blvd. (near Dahlia Dr.), Eagle Rock




Providencia Motel, 108 E Providencia Ave. (near San Fernando Rd.), Burbank




Pink Motel, 9457 San Fernando Road (near Truesdale St.), Sun Valley



When Joseph Thomulka moved his family from Pennsylvania to California, he decided to build a pink motel, and in 1947, he did. In 1949, he added the Pink Café, now known as Cadillac Jack's Café, and in 1959 he added a fish-shaped swimming pool. Thomulka's pink paradise had an auspicious location on San Fernando Road, which was an early connector between Los Angeles and points north that showed all signs of becoming a major thoroughfare. Many motels and restaurants sprang up along its length during the postwar boom, but the Pink Motel is one of very few to have survived; the route faded in importance when I-5 went in, and the area is now largely industrial. The single-level motel is a classic postwar type, while the tall Moderne tower of the café still beckons the curious to come take a look. This place is a pink survivor, and a wonderful example of the mid-century roadside commercial resources that are so swiftly disappearing from the landscape.
https://www.laconservancy.org/locati...and-pink-motel


Pink Cloud Motel, 9355 Sepulveda Blvd, (near Plummer St.) North Hills

When I ventured inside the courtyard for a photo the manager chased me away with extreme prejudice. So while this place says little architecturally, it does hold special memories for me.




Olive Motel, 2751 Sunset Blvd. (near Silver Lake Blvd.), L.A.




Paradise Motel, 1116 Sunset Blvd. (near Beaudry), L.A.




Royal Viking Motel, 2025 3rd St. (near Alvarado), L.A.




All photos mine. To be continued...

[Hollywood Graham]

I grew up near the Olive Motel in the Silverlake and Sunset area. What is very interesting to note about the Olive is that it was owned by a Vice Sgt. with the LAPD in the early days.....

[Retired_in_Texas]

Originally Posted by Hollywood Graham

I grew up near the Olive Motel in the Silverlake and Sunset area. What is very interesting to note about the Olive is that it was owned by a Vice Sgt. with the LAPD in the early days.....

Are you implying that activities at the Olive would have rivaled the reputation of the now gone Coral Courts Motel on Route 66 in St. Louis?


http://www.siue.edu/ANTHROPOLOGY/Stu...oralcourt.html

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by Retired_in_Texas

Are you implying that activities at the Olive would have rivaled the reputation of the now gone Coral Courts Motel on Route 66 in St. Louis?


http://www.siue.edu/ANTHROPOLOGY/Stu...oralcourt.html

I recently stayed at a motel located in a beach city just south of downtown Los Angeles. I was on assignment for my business and had some errands to make in that area. Later that day I noticed a man and woman check into a room below mine. They had no luggage. An hour later their car was gone and they had checked out. Something fishy goin on....

[Retired_in_Texas]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

I recently stayed at a motel located in a beach city just south of downtown Los Angeles. I was on assignment for my business and had some errands to make in that area. Later that day I noticed a man and woman check into a room below mine. They had no luggage. An hour later their car was gone and they had checked out. Something fishy goin on....

And Norish L.A. continues on, and on, and on...................

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks for figuring out the view in my 1921 postcard of the Ambassador Hotel HossC. I really appreciate it.

USC


Here's a few photographs showing the western entrance (I've marked it in the above aerial).


flickr/sunset-sunshine




flickr/sunset_sunshine







http://www.paulrwilliamsproject.org/...assador-hotel/

I love the clock. I wonder if anyone saved it?




www.findadeath.com
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I found the following two photographs in an old file of mine.

Ambassador Hotel 1956

oldfile/m

above: I find this room pretty ugly.




Ambassador Hotel 1956

old/m

I believe this is the Venetian Room as well. The "mural" has gondolas and masked exotic figures


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[ethereal_reality]

I really enjoyed your photographs of the motels (with their neon signs lit) 3940dxer. For those of us who explore Los Angeles using the google-mobile
it's a special treat-

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Here's a motel that has a rather nice looking vintage sign.



ebay

[ethereal_reality]

While driving around in the google-mobile, I happened across this building that looks like one of those grand ballrooms from the 1920s!
It's located on the southwest corner of S. Vermont and Cordova Street.


GSV




GSV


It had attractive arched windows (before they were sealed up) and decorative metal brackets beneath the eaves.

GSV



a slightly more expansive view

GSV

Is anyone aware of a ballroom at this location back in the glory days of ballroom dancing?


In this aerial, it appears to have been designed as a dance hall. (hmmm...or a large market)

google-earth
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Attached to the 'ballroom' building is this exquisite little building (you can see it in the aerial above) that is now covered in green and blue paint.


GSV


richly detailed filigree that arched over the windows. -small crests beneath the eaves.

GSV


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