Plat atlas
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I don't recognize this W.L. Baird Building on Wilshire Blvd. Does anyone know it's exact address and/or history?
I've 'googled' here and there with no results. http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/709...ingmystery.jpg http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...Number=2884205 ___ |
While searching for the Baird Building, I came across this photo (probably unrelated).
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/9148/bairdparklapl.jpg http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=36334 So where the hell is El Sereno? |
The death of 20 year old private first class Richard William Stahmer in a ravine under the Alpine Street Bridge, just off Figueroa in 1952.
http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/2...0yrdeadsad.jpg http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1325828261593 http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5...ddeadr2usc.jpg http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1325828261593 http://img585.imageshack.us/img585/7...ravineunde.jpg http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1325828261593 _____very sad. :( |
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http://urbandiachrony.files.wordpres...eberendonw.jpg I got as far as making a then and now image but I haven't published it to my blog since I lost the reference for the original image. I believe it's from one of the CSU libraries but I've never been able to find it again...if anybody has any leads I would be delighted to know! |
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Los Angeles in the 50's
Another great video found on Youtube.
Here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=n77NxU0CHPw The introduction on the video says: 'Motoring through LA in the early 1950s one's shocked to see freeways that are wide open, streetcars, even Model A Fords still on the streets, a bustling downtown and the first malls, a Ford and Chevrolet Factory and it all looks so clean.' After watching the video I must say that I have seen a lot of pictures of the 3rd street and Hill intersection showing the tunnel, and of course, the original site of the Angel's Flight... (May God bless the LAPL or the USC Digital Archives) But watching the same view in motion, from an old technicolor movie, really shocked to me. |
Urban development / urban sprawl
Here's another video; a piece by the great R. Crumb. Not quite L.A. related, but to me poignant and in keeping with the then and now images that we enjoy. (It could almost be Cahuenga Blvd.)
Also, vaguely related to urban development (or sprawl), I've noticed something looking at the old photos here and wonder if others agree. In the early pictures of L.A. it seems there are very few trees, compared to today's cityscape. Inn the early photos of L.A., Hollywood, mid-Wilshire, and the hills, I mostly see scrubby landscapes, with not much that is vertical to block the view. In a lot of the old shots, I get the impression that one could turn around in a circle from most anywhere in L.A. (except right downtown) and get a pretty good panorama of the hills and mountains. In modern L.A. it's much harder to find such views, especially in the lower lying areas. I notice this over and over when taking "now" photos; the difference is quite startling at times. Obviously the buildings all block the views, but in a way, the trees lining both sides of most streets block the view as much as they add to it. Not that I'm anti-tree...just an observation :) R Crumb's A Short History Of America |
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Last year my wife and I did some long urban walks in El Sereno and they were quite interesting. In fact I spotted some "thens" of El Sereno on this thread, and want to revisit one or two of those spots. El Sereno is striking for its closeness to downtown, largely unchanged (if decaying) old homes and businesses, and a surprising number of rough, unpaved roads in the hills. Just minutes away from downtown there are steep old rutted dirt roads with an odd mishmash of houses, and amazing views of L.A. from just east -- very different from the city views usually seen here. |
I'd seen Crumb's video before. It is unique, in that Crumbian way, and true to an extent.
Few trees because there were few trees to begin with. If you want to see what the L.A. Basin looked like 150 years ago, that part of the drive down I-5 through Pendleton is a decent approximation. (I laugh when people claim that some new development will result in a "loss of trees". Certainly true on the outskirts of Columbus or Atlanta or Philadelphia (Crumb's hometown) but rarely so in So Cal.) There are many good arguments against sprawl, but "loss of trees" is not one of them. Here's an image. Sorry for the size. (Sans 8-lane freeway and high voltage power lines, of course LOL) http://static.panoramio.com/photos/o...l/58418213.jpg Quote:
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I want to add a few intriguing photographs of the Marco Hellman mansion. http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6...ilt1911dem.jpg http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=66688 below: Remote control light switches in the old Hellman house. http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/243...emotecontr.jpg http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=50767 below: A secret panel hiding a walk-in safe. http://img641.imageshack.us/img641/6...ecretpanel.jpg http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=50768 below: The forlorn looking swimming pool. http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/9...anpool1950.jpg http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=66687 The last photo immediately brought to mind...... http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4...tnewyears1.jpg Sunset Boulevard (1950) |
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http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics49/00074499.jpgLAPL
The Hellman family built some serious houses...another of which was on the 2200 block of S. Harvard. Maurice Hellman's house above is gone, but, as we've seen, a number of big places on the prime Sugar Hill block remain, including the Rindge, the Washburn, the Beckett, the Cochran, and Hattie McDaniel's: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=5498 http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=5500 |
While vicariously exploring (via Google street views) the streets that border Elysian Park I came across this building along Riverside Drive.
http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/700...iversidedr.jpg google street view Upon closer inspection I noticed the building houses a theater company and began wondering about it's history. http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/6...nightsbrid.jpg I visited the Knightsbridge Theater website where it notes the building had originally been a silent movie house called The Colony Theater. Here is their website. http://www.knightsbridgetheatre.com/history.html ____ Next I visited http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/5069 Cinema Treasures lists the former names as the Riverside Theater, New Elysian Theater, and Elysian Theater but does not mention the Colony Theater (the silent movie house). A commenter on Cinema Treasures posted this snapshot from 1948. http://img710.imageshack.us/img710/8...heater1948.jpg http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q...02d01cc19f.jpg Another commenter wrote, "When this theater opened it was the Riverside Theater." and yet another said they knew it as The Elysian in the 1950s (as opposed to the New Elysian), and still no mention of the Colony Theater. So I am curious, does anyone have information on this theater at 1944 Riverside Drive? ____ |
http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/6...ilt1911dem.jpg
http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=66688 Incredible to see a front-on image of the mansion without the ivy and other flora overwhelming it. Just imagine what that block of Wilshire looked like in the 30's-50's, with the Baird/Post building on one corner and the Hellman Mansion across the street on the diagonally opposite corner. I seem to recall other business/buildings, in the 3300 block of Wilshire, previously being discussed on this thread. I will look around as time permits so that I can complete my mental retrospective portrait of the block. My parents must have walked that block many, many times as they lived just a couple of cross streets away in 43-45. ~Jon Paul |
Riverside Theater
ethereal_reality,
I looked through my historic theater files and I don't show that theater ever being named the Colony. I show it being the Riverside from the early 20's to the mid 30's and then the Elysian begining in '36 and on through the '50's. Strangely, I have nothing on the additon of "New" to the name and nothing at all on the theater after about '63. ~Jon Paul P.S. My files do show that the address switches back and forth between 1942 and 1944 depending where the data was culled from. |
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