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Cathedral of Saint Vibiana / Vibiana
The Italian-Baroque Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, Ezra F Kysor & WJ Matthews (1876). Facade remodeled and clad in limestone 1922-24, by John C. Austin.
Main and 2nd Streets. Planned since 1859. Built by Thaddeus Amat, LA's first bishop, on land donated by Amiel Cavalier. Cornerstone laid in 1871. Dedicated 1876. Cathedral of Saint Vibiana (source says ca 1880s): https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/vv...-=w794-h509-no http://waterandpower.org/museum/Earl...s)_Page_1.html Shorn of grime and its former context, now "Vibiana", a venue. Saved from the wrecking ball at the last second+: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-h...11151%2BAM.jpg gsv Event in progress: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...91203%2BAM.jpg http://www.vibiana.com/ Prepped for another: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-O...15600%2BPM.jpg vibiana At rest: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-o...12408%2BAM.jpg http://www.you-are-here.com/downtown/vibiana.html The foyer and the north door: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-b...90001%2BAM.jpg vibiana.com The north garden: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I...43012%2BPM.jpg vibiana.com Back in the day: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-l...13702%2BAM.jpg atlasobscura The wax, silk-dressed effigy (which encloses Vibiana's bones) in its reliquary above the altar. Vibiana's relics were in residence at the former cathedral for 100 years. The relics progress from Rome to Los Angeles made stops at New York City, Lima, San Francisco, Monterey and Santa Barbara: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-V...13434%2BAM.jpg findagrave Said to be based on the design of the 1755 Església de Sant Miquel del Port in Barcelona: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-H...25751%2BPM.jpg google maps That church was, in turn, based on the 13th century Basilica of Santa Maria Novella in Florence: https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Z...24407%2BPM.jpg wiki The 1924 facade remodel looks more like the 12th century Bascilica of San Miniato al Monte, also in Florence: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-j...24357%2BPM.jpg wiki https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-c...14820%2BAM.jpg water and power Terrible digression there, but I'm always fascinated with where LA gets this stuff. P.S. Ground has been broken for a new building to Vibiana's south (compare with photo above). |
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As an historical document pretty close to worthless but seeing Frank Shaw in a war bonnet is worth the price of admission. I won't feel diminished if I never again see the tape of the assault on Reginald Denny. |
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Now you see it...
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http://jpg1.lapl.org/00092/00092817.jpg LAPL |
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http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/1...lookingeas.jpg ebay |
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There's still something I don't quite understand about this space (?): https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Y...82232%2BPM.jpg previously posted by Chuckaluck Actually ws1911, that photo is my favorite of St Vibiana's. All the commecial signage together with the world's prettiest cathedral (if one asks me) delights me for some reason. I do wish they'd left the facade alone. The original was so curvy and lovely. Here's a photo of the paint store before it was the paint store: Quote:
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http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/456...thamerican.jpg
Source: The North American Architect (1917) http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3437/3...d2224bb9_z.jpg Source: vlasta2 The 125 foot tower: http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4128/4...a8896f6e_z.jpg Source: waltarrrrr I had to include this too! http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8386/8...712d58a6_z.jpg Source: Anika Malone |
In Search of the Magnificent Manhole Cover, 2013...
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I scoured the west side of the building first and found nothing...so I circled around to the Main Street side, approaching from Temple...and this is what I see... http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/7210/img1939au.jpg (Suddenly I feel patriotic and civic-minded....!) my photo As I approach the foot of the stairs, I see something off to the right....can it be? http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/3002/img1942aw.jpg my photo Yes!!!! Thanks for the suggestion for the pilgrimage, e_r! As of 2013, it is still in place! I've lived in this city since I was born, and it's great to "discover" all of these things everyone has mentioned in this thread! If I had joined earlier, I might have been able to help with that whole business about Teed Street awhile back (growing up, I remember seeing rubble, cobblestone steps in that vicinity, all over grown with foliage. When asked, my dad told me he thought it was a "children's home long time ago..." (Cabrini Orphanage?)). I might not be able to contribute alot of vintage photos for everyone to enjoy, but alot of the things discussed from the 1930's and onward are things I can relate to, given the stories told to me by my dad and uncle. They lived in Old Chinatown in the '30's. http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/3561/img1937ak.jpg my photo ________________ ...and while we're moseying around downtown anyways, here's an update on our good friend, Clifton's Cafeteria: http://img834.imageshack.us/img834/2194/img2064a.jpg my photo I'll post a few more pics of things I encountered today later when I get a chance; there are a couple of places I wish I knew more about down near 8th and 9th near Spring and Main. |
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-D...0/DSC03823.JPG me, 2012 |
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P.S. to ws1911 Another fave pic of St Vibiana: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...13042%2BPM.jpg http://framework.latimes.com/2011/10...of-st-vibiana/ The building's looking a bit disjointed now with the 1922-24 limestone facade and paint everywhere else: Quote:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-x...13301%2BPM.jpg http://www.preservela.com/archives/000714.html |
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I hope not too many spell your name Mat…or maybe Mate…for those of us who can’t spel you never know what you will get. I do wonder about the significance of the Asheville diagram on your posts…my father was born in Asheville in 1911 is a clapboard house on North Street that is still standing. |
The House on 4th Street
Much earlier on this forum there was mention of a house on the corner of
4th & Hope (?) and was of an unusual design for the area with a flat roof. It sat where the cockeyed Bank Of America building is erected and was just about the last house to be razed in the Bunker Hill Area. Is there anything special about this residence or any close up pictures before destruction of the neighborhood ? |
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I would like to see a good view of the back of St. Vibian. I love the cupola.
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St Vibiana
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https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-n...15037%2BPM.jpg More: http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...cathedral.html Another: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-z...15152%2BPM.jpg http://www.panoramio.com/photo/7026381 And another: https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...25817%2BAM.jpg vibiana's https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-m...85529%2BAM.jpg vibiana's A recap of the cliff-hanger that was the fight to save Vibiana: https://www.laconservancy.org/issues/vibiana The cupola's lantern spent 11 years (mid-1996 to mid-2007) lying in the parking lot. LAT details the happy ending |
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https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...900%2520PM.jpg preservela http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/5381/rectory2.jpg USC Digital Archive http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/9552/rectory.jpg USC Digital Archive https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-X...435%2520PM.jpg waterandpower Was there a later structure on the paint store site, or did it become a fenced-in garden as it was just before it became a secular venue? ____ |
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You are remembering the Stuart K. Oliver house. It has been mentioned several times in the thread. Here are two pics from my photo-stream... http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8030/8...6f531b0a_o.jpg House on hill in front of office buildings, William Reagh William Reagh, 1968 This is the Stuart K. Oliver house at Fourth and Hope Streets, the last house to be turned asunder on Bunker Hill. Mr. Oliver, an attorney, had purchased the lot and built his modernist anachronism on the lot immediately to the north of the Hildreth house on the Fourth Street side and not where the old Hildreth carriage house once stood on Fourth Street below the main house. I suppose he recognised the desirability of living so near his offices in downtown and, perhaps, of positioning himself to negotiate with the CRA from a position of relative strength, his house being neither blighted nor an eyesore. California History Room, California State Library http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8367/8...d92dd8f6_o.jpg Aerial view of Bunker Hill area, 1965 Aerial view of the SW Bunker Hill area, looking north from 5th Street along Figueroa, Flower and Hope Streets. Central Library is in the lower right hand corner. The Stuart K. Oliver house is at upper right and just below it, it would appear we're seeing some last remnants of the Hildreth house, perhaps a stone wall or two or some foundation work. And maybe a little ruin of the carriage house which would be Margrethe Mather's studio. If so, this is most certainly the last visual remnant of her studio. Photograph taken from the Goodyear blimp by Hal Jensen. LAPL |
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The context now is not sightly to my eyes. The massive parking structure is so bulky and the Little Tokyo Branch Library, while seemingly trying to defer to Vibiana, is confusing and enhances nothing. The spaces between the buildings are awkward, lacking in grace. However, it can all be fixed at some point. It's in a bit of a holding pattern these days; temporary "storage" of a lovely building from our shared past. If the branch library had been kept to the 2nd and Los Angeles St corner, leaving the site directly east of Vibiana's tower open for a park, I think it would have been much better. As for the parking structure, charge an entry fee to bring one's car into downtown (London does) and make public transportation free. There's some interesting info on Saint Vibiana here: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg...r&GRid=6740574 |
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