noirish Los Angeles

[Blaster]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I just notice there's a sign with writing over the front porch.


Okay, lets try looking at it extra-LARGE



Can anyone decipher it?

_

I can't make out the sign. I'm busy being disturbed by that over-sized spectral face looking out from the lower left window.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by oldstuff

re: the picture of the steam shovel on Temple Street. I think it is more likely that the picture was taken at Temple and Edgeware, rather than at Boylston. This is because there are streetcar tracks curving around on the side street and there were tracks on Edgeware that went up the hill to the Angelino Heights community, but no tracks on Boylston.

The existence of the streetcar tracks made me question my identification of the location, but the street layout doesn't match Temple and Edgeware. Even before the freeway, there was a sharp bend in Temple just after Edgeware. There's a 1940 picture showing some of the intersection in Tourmaline's post #28694. I'm open to further suggestions for where the Miller Plumbing Co was located.


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Originally Posted by HossC

I've labeled some of the buildings from the panorama. The Martz Flats have already been mentioned by e_r (see here for color pictures). Some of the information below is from the 1909 and 1911 CDs, and some is from the 1910 Baist map.


Library of Congress

The picture above is one of only a couple of references to the Wilhelm Apartments that I found on NLA. As the label says, it once stood at 639 S Grand Avenue. The carving at the top reads O G Wilhelm, surrounded by the date 1905.


USC Digital Library

The sign by the incomplete entrance says "Keep Out", so I'd guess this photo was taken just before the apartments were finished. I'll give a penny for the thoughts of the man on the right.


Detail of picture above.

The apartments appear to have changed their name to the Woman's Hotel around 1921. I can't find a new construction permit for the Wilhelm Apartments, but there's a demo permit for a 5-story hotel at 639 S Grand Avenue dated as early as 1936. Today, if you type the address into Google Maps, you'll find yourself looking up the eastern end of Wilshire Boulevard. I seem to remember that Wilshire was extended to Grand Avenue around 1931, so I wonder why they waited five years before they knocked the hotel down.

[HossC]

I didn't realize that the house I posted yesterday was home to Richard Simmons. Thanks for the extra information, CityBoyDoug.


----------------


We're off shopping for today's Julius Shulman post. This is "Job 4550: Huntington Center, 1969". There's a third image in this set that I've omitted - it's a color version of this first photo, but I preferred the contrast in the black & white one.



Here's an interior shot.



Both from Getty Research Institute

There's an article on the history of the mall at mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com. I've picked out some details from that article:

"Orange County, California's first fully-enclosed shopping hub was constructed on 58 acres, 33 miles southeast of center city Los Angeles. Originally known as HUNTINGTON CENTER, the complex was adjacent to a newly-opened stretch of the San Diego Freeway / Interstate 405.

The first operational store, a 2-level (156,000 square foot) Los Angeles-based The Broadway, was dedicated November 15, 1965. A 2-level (169,000 square foot) Montgomery Ward held its grand opening October 26, 1966.

Unfortunately, by the mid-1990s, the shopping hub was going under. J.C. Penney moved out in November 1993, with Burlington Coat Factory assuming its store space in 1995. The Broadway folded in August 1996. The mall was left virtually vacant...

Montgomery Ward, vacant since early 2001, was finally demolished in December 2010. THE VILLAGE AT BELLA TERRA, a residential and retail complex, was built on the old Ward's store's 15 acres. Eventually encompassing four hundred and sixty-eight apartments, 30,000 square feet of retail and a 5-level parking structure, its first residential units were completed in April 2013."

The original Montgomery Ward store from the Shulman picture (right) and a smaller one (center) are still visible in the old GSV images.


GSV

The current view looks like this.


GSV

This is how the whole site looks in a recent Google aerial view.


Google Maps

Just for fun, I thought I'd go back in time with the views at Historic Aerials. Some of the original buildings are still standing in this 2010 image.


Historic Aerials

I'm assuming that this 1972 view shows the mall pretty much as it is in the Shulman images.


Historic Aerials

Two years before the first stores opened, the area was just fields. Very early work in the San Diego Freeway interchange can just be seen in the top-right corner.


Historic Aerials

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by HossC

I didn't realize that the house I posted yesterday was home to Richard Simmons. Thanks for the extra information, CityBoyDoug.


----------------

The only reason I know that's his home is because of recent reports about the L.A. police visiting Mr. Simmons to check on his general health. Since he's in seclusion for the past almost three years there were reports of his housekeeper abusing him, black-magic, white-magic, voodoo, séances, witchcraft, love potions and bogus reports of her telling people they were married. There have also been reports that he had a ''sex change'' operation and that there are rumors that Teresa ''will get everything if he dies". He denies all of these reports.

According to Richard himself, he has not had a sex change, is not married and is feeling just fine. He recently had a knee replacement operation and that evidently threw him into a funky mood.
I suspect that when he realized he is not 20 years of age it had a profound effect on his state of mind....as happens with most people.

Teresa Reveles, pictured below, originally from Mexico, is Richard Simmons' friend, housekeeper, chef, maid, chauffeur, social secretary, laundress and butleress, for the past 30 some years.

[Flyingwedge]

UCLA identifies this photo as looking south on New High Street at the back of the (1850s) city jail, with the team of oxen
at right heading up (west) Franklin toward Fort Street. But I compared the UCLA pic to the c. 1869 Rendall panorama at
USC, and I eventually figured out that this undated UCLA photo looks south on New High toward Temple, not Franklin,
which was one block south.

The Temple Clocktower Courthouse is at the top center. Just to the left of the oxen -- which are on Temple, not Franklin --
there is a two-story building with what appears to be an angled drainpipe on its west wall, just below the roof:


UCLA


In the east-facing section of the Rendall photo below, 18 is New High Street, 8 is St. Athanasius Church on the SW corner
of New High and Temple Streets, 16 is the southern part of the Temple Block, and 20 is the Temple Clocktower Courthouse.
Number 12 is the Allen Block, on the SW corner of Spring and Temple, with that same angled drainpipe on its west wall:


CHS-7179 @ USCDL

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I found this intriguing 'mystery' photograph the other night on eBay.


"Los Angeles Non-Denominational First Radio Church Historic Press Photo"


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LA6-1920s-Lo...oAAOSwqBJXVKQk


The writing on the back lists..."L.A., Historcial, Churches, Misc., First Radio Church" (in that order),

and written on a post-it attached to the back...."KHJ = 1922, Sister Aimee 1924"
________________________

Do any of you noirishers recognize this building, or the location of the photograph?

I'm a bit stumped.

_

I couldn't make out the writing on the sign, e_r. However, I found this site that says KHJ was started in 1922
by C. R. Kierulff & Co., which I found in city directories but without a connection to KHJ or an address that
matched your photo.

Blaster, I think the face in the lower left window looks like a large dog.

[HossC]

I like the little building in today's Julius Shulman post. It's "Job 1418: Harrison Finance Company Building, 1952".



Lots of light inside from all the glass bricks.



Both from Getty Research Institute

The 2720 over the door in the image above is 2720 S Figueroa Street. Here's the 1952 building permit.


Online Building Records

I also found the permit for the signage.


Online Building Records

I couldn't find a demo permit, but there's a new building permit for address on the corner (525 W 28th Street) dated 1971. The deed was still in the name of Harrison Finance in 1971. Here's the corner today.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Blaster

I can't make out the sign. I'm busy being disturbed by that over-sized spectral face looking out from the lower left window.

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Blaster, I think the face in the lower left window looks like a large dog.

Try as I might guys, I don't see a spectral face or a large dog.

So where are you seeing this image...in the top half of the window, or bottom half?


detail

after seeing this super-enlargement, I think the first letters on the porch sign are in fact, KHJ. (although the H looks more like a M)

remember, this 'clue' was on the back.




__

[Blaster]

The face I see is too large to be a real person.

Nonetheless, I (vaguely) see a face in the upper right third section of the window -- starting from the top down... dark hair, below it dark eyebrows and eyes, something of a nose and a gash mouth, then jutting jaw and longish neck. Sort of like Karloff's Frankenstein monster of like Conrad Veidt's Cesare the Somnabulist in CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI.

And now for another vodka martini...

[Slauson Slim]

Sister Aimee does not clue you folks to someone?

I used to go to the YMCA at 7th and Hope from about the age of 8 to 14.

[Slauson Slim]

double post.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Slauson Slim

Sister Aimee does not clue you folks to someone?

Yes, Aimee Semple McPherson.

Her radio station, KFSG, began broadcasting in 1924. (but the 'mystery' photo is dated 1922 -and supposedly shows the first non-denominational radio station in Los Angeles.
(I believe the seller jotted down 'Sister Aimee 1924' on the Post-It as a reference point)



Here's a bit more information about 'Sister Aimee' for newbies:

"KFSG was founded by the dynamic, and at times, controversial female evangelist, Aimee Semple McPherson (1890-1944). She founded the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel, a Pentecostal mission, and settled in Los Angeles in 1918. (The church was officially incorporated as a Protestant denomination in 1928). Between, 1920 and 1922, Aimee traveled with her mother on a non-stop series of evangelistic services. The purpose of those trips was to preach the word of God and raise money to build her home church in the Echo Park area of L.A., at 1100 Glendale Boulevard. With the cash donations, her 5300-seat church, Angelus Temple, opened on January 1, 1923 for $1.2 million dollars. It was dedicated to service and was debt-free. One year later, the church would boast its own radio station."

http://jeff560.tripod.com/kfsg.html

[ethereal_reality]

This is a great little building Hoss.



"Job 1418: Harrison Finance Company Building, 1952".



I see they're not using the drive-up window any longer.


detail

It also looks like there's some serious water damage along that right wall. I wonder if it's seepage from the use of glass blocks/bricks



Here's the drive-up window from the outside.


detail

__

[ethereal_reality]

I found this color slide in an old file of mine and I believe it might be new to NLA.


eBay / 2008

You can see a rather pronounced hill in the distance. (so what is the big white building on top of the hill?)




While double checking to see if the above image was posted before, I happened upon these rather surreal screen-grabs
from the movie 'Zabriskie Point' [1970]. They show the Richfield Building outside Rod Taylor's downtown office window.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/vokoba...n/photostream/



https://www.flickr.com/photos/vokoba...n/photostream/




And here's a wider angle that shows the ultra-modern office.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/vokoba...n/photostream/

I'm not sure what is built into-the-wall over there on the right----->....a computer?......wall safe?.....television?......Radar-Range?



"Holy cow! That's incredible and impossible too. The studio may have constructed an angled set atop the Mobil Oil building,
since it doesn't sit at that dramatic angle. It's a stunning view though." -jericl cat


Hmmmm....well I'm thinking it's a studio set, with a rear projection of the Richfield Bldg.
second guess.......a matte job.

_

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I found this color slide in an old file of mine and I believe it might be new to NLA.




And here's a wider angle that shows the ultra-modern office.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/vokoba...n/photostream/

I'm not sure what is built into-the-wall over there on the right----->....a computer?......wall safe?.....television?......Radar-Range?


_

ER, I believe that thing on the right wall is a TV.

[sopas ej]

Pardon me if this was already mentioned or posted, but, a then and now that's been visited before...

Sunset and Broadway, 1929

LAPL

Sunset and Broadway, 1971

LAPL

Sunset/Cesar Chavez and Broadway, Saturday, July 30, 2016, as seen through my windshield.

Photo by me

I was very surprised to learn on my drive into downtown LA from South Pasadena, through Chinatown, that that little building on the corner is now finally gone. It had hung on for so long! I guess there's a huge development in the works for both sides of North Broadway just south of Cesar Chavez/Sunset. I didn't know the building had been demolished because I've been taking the Metro into downtown for a long time now, especially now, because of all the traffic that's there due to new construction of buildings, a subway project, and just the new hustle and bustle that's going on downtown because of more residents and gentrification.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I found this color slide in an old file of mine and I believe it might be new to NLA.


And here's a wider angle that shows the ultra-modern office.


https://www.flickr.com/photos/vokoba...n/photostream/



_

Eames chair in front of desk and George Nelson couch at the left.
Ultra modern for 1970. The Eames products were designed in, where else...Los Angeles.

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I found this color slide in an old file of mine and I believe it might be new to NLA.


eBay / 2008

You can see a rather pronounced hill in the distance. (so what is the big white building on top of the hill?)






_

Just to get the discussion going, I'll suggest that it's the Shell Building, 1000 W. 6th St. (at Beaudry Ave.). It's reincarnation as a black-glass structure that houses a self-storage business was mentioned sometime back, but I don't think we saw any photos of the original.

I visited there once (1969) to see a former classmate who was working in the Shell transportation department, so that memory of the building might well be shaky. However, I sometimes park across the street when I have DTLA meetings and can't take public transportation, so I'm well aware that the hill crests a short block west at St. Paul Ave. That doesn't leave much room for other buildings given the land taken up by the Harbor Freeway and the S-curve of 6th St. to the north. OTOH, I've been wrong before and might well be again.

[odinthor]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I found this intriguing 'mystery' photograph the other night on eBay.



"Los Angeles Non-Denominational First Radio Church Historic Press Photo"


http://www.ebay.com/itm/LA6-1920s-Lo...oAAOSwqBJXVKQk


The writing on the back lists..."L.A., Historcial, Churches, Misc., First Radio Church" (in that order),

and written on a post-it attached to the back...."KHJ = 1922, Sister Aimee 1924"
________________________

Do any of you noirishers recognize this building, or the location of the photograph?

I'm a bit stumped.

__

on the reverse






Here's one last look, enlarged a bit.



I just notice there's a sign with writing over the front porch.



Okay, lets try looking at it extra-LARGE



Can anyone decipher it?

_

FIRST [approx. 3-letter blob] [approx. 2-letter blob] CHURCH

I like the look of that little building. Not that I think it's the location, but it has the air of something you'd find in Avalon (the Catalina one, not the King Arthur one).

[HossC]

Have we seen this proposed development around the Wiltern before? These Julius Shulman pictures of a model date back to 1980. This is "Job 5892: Rossetti Associates Wiltern project - model, 1980".



It looks like the tower was to have flat side and stepped side.



I find it a little curious that the octagonal section on the left of the Pellissier Building was to be turned into an almost separate tower.



All from Getty Research Institute

Obviously, the development never happened. Here's what's there today.


Google Maps