Thought I'd post this pic just because I like it.
 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8018/7...f5104c1b_c.jpg
Los Angeles Railway (LARy) South Park Shops, painting bus & streetcar, 1934
image from Metro Transportation Library and Archive


Also to say, with real sadness, I just found out Los Angeles Past (Scott) has closed up shop. He was a frequent and intelligent contributor here.

Also It's gotten remarkably quiet around here as well.

:previous:

Great shot--reminds me of exactly the feel you get inside the barns at the Orange Empire Railway Museum, where you walk between streetcars and buses...

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cXfTD5iJS2...museum+003.JPGOrange Empire Railway Museum


As for Scott, he was of the mind that political correctness alters history--way overstated, imo, certainly in terms of this thread--and he left in a huff, taking all his posts with him, like the proverbial ball. One positive result was that it made me feel alot younger than I actually am, in that as much as I love looking into the past, I know there are as many reasons to be glad I don't live in it as there were good things about it. Nostalgia is tricky that way--it photoshops out the negative. But that's what Noirish Los Angeles is for...nostalgia that doesn't edit out the dark side.... Also--do you really see it as quiet here? Seems pretty lively to me.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-s...ucernelapl.jpgLAPL

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-t...2520PM.bmp.jpgGoogleSV

I ran across this shot of the house at 629 S. Lucerne, and naturally had to see if it still stands.
It does...the lions are gone from sidewalk...thought maybe they'd been moved up close to the
porch, but the ones there now seem to be different. This is one of those old Windsor Square
houses that seem untouched by time. The birds of paradise, what looks like it might be a casual
approach to keeping up the grounds. I wonder if the house isn't inhabited by the figure in the
left upstairs window, who I imagine is elderly....

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-c...2520PM.bmp.jpg



Meanwhile, in the midst of the dystopian fantasies of some, apparently spawned by old movies, a DTLA revival is in full swing.... Which, it seems obvious, is signified by the restoration of the Chocolate Shoppe. To assume that cities are doomed is as mistaken as assuming that all suburbs are thriving and that rural places are like Mayberry. (If they are, what's with some American small towns seeming to have become nothing more than meth labs and some disappearing altogether? From what I read, cities are full of energy and the 'burbs and rural areas are not, and it's the way things are going these days. Thank God for those half my age.

Well, I didn't know about the huff or the proverbial ball part. Sometimes emotion gets the better of us all. Gotta do what makes you happy. As for my other remark it really just had to do with the dearth of activity over, oh I don't know, maybe the last 12-18 hours. Certainly the activity has ramped up exponentially over the last ninety days. This picture appeals to me a several levels not the least of which is I can almost smell the paints and thinners. And we rarely get to see an image of these machines in pristine shape.

I was in the area today so I stopped by to have a look and shoot a few "now" images. It appears that the house has gotten some TLC in the last few years. Except for those shingles.

http://dkse.net/david/516.Walden/DSCN0399.JPG


http://dkse.net/david/516.Walden/DSCN0402.JPG


http://dkse.net/david/516.Walden/DSCN0395.JPG

:previous:

You reminded me that I meant to comment on this from e_r on page 337...

That is a screencap from the 1995 movie Clueless, showing Alicia Silverstone walking in front of the house. The scene is toward the end of the movie. I'm not thinking people will want to read more about filming locations from the movie, but if you do: http://www.itsfilmedthere.com/2010/03/clueless.html ;)

GREAT Photo of The Los Angeles Railway South Park Shops! Thanks for posting it!

Cheers,
Jack

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/2...tworedoval.jpgLos Angeles Times, October 31, 1931


We've seen a good bit of the W.C.T.U. here before, including this shot in a post of e_r's:

The building started out looking like this in 1889 (photo 1922):

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018909.jpgLAPL


The city took 12.5 feet of W.C.T.U. property from the Temple side in 1928 to widen that street. To preserve most of
the building, a 12-foot, 4-inch section parallel to Temple was removed (indicated in top photo), with the south section
then being moved back to rejoin the north. I haven't seen a picture of the resulting structure, which didn't last
long in its new form very long. The 1933 Long Beach earthquake damaged the building...but like the W.C.T.U. itself, it
wasn't giving up so easily. After the quake, the two top floors were removed, resulting in what's seen in e_r's shot
above, and it remained that way until it finally met the wrecking ball in 1950. A county heating and cooling plant
is now on the site. The Carry Nations of L.A., to this day oblivious the famously disastrous effects of Prohibition,
moved to a house at 551 S. Kingsley where they still try to take us back to the '20s:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-y...al50s2000s.jpgWCTU
551 S. Kingsley, ca. 1951 and 2011


A little more here and at the W.C.T.U.'s own interesting site here.

http://img855.imageshack.us/img855/8...womenshome.jpgW.C.T.U.


I wasn't aware of the W.C.T.U.'s Home for Women until now. I'll let the ladies describe it: "Constructed in 1927 to replace an earlier home in nearby Highland Park, [it] was a spacious building with accomodations for 100 guests. Later a convalescent hospital wing was added.... Located at 2235 Norwalk Ave., in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles, it served its patrons well for many years. However, with the passage of time, major earthquake and other safety refiting became necessary and the Home was closed and the building sold to GLAD, an agency for the deaf, in the early 1990's."


The building today:
http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/2...enshomegsv.jpgGoogle SV

Edison building, One Bunker Hill, Engstrum Apts.
 

I worked in the Edison Building (One Bunker Hill Bldg at the time) at Fifth and Grand in the early and mid-'70s. The street in question was Upper Fifth Street. If I were walking from the parking lot on the west side of the Engstrum Apartments and wanted to get to Fifth Street down below, I would take those stairs. It wasn't nearly as scary as you might think because, at the time, Bunker Hill was barren, the Sunkist Building was gone and there was not a lot of foot traffic. At that time, homelessness was practically nil. The parking entrance to the underground Edison Building was on Fifth Street. A short tunnel led the drivers into the Edison basement parking area. --- Don Ray

I worked in the Edison Building (One Bunker Hill Bldg at the time) at Fifth and Grand in the early and mid-'70s. The street in question was Upper Fifth Street. If I were walking from the parking lot on the west side of the Engstrum Apartments and wanted to get to Fifth Street down below, I would take those stairs. It wasn't nearly as scary as you might think because, at the time, Bunker Hill was barren, the Sunkist Building was gone and there was not a lot of foot traffic. At that time, homelessness was practically nil. The parking entrance to the underground Edison Building was on Fifth Street. A short tunnel led the drivers into the Edison basement parking area. --- Don Ray (sorry if I'm posting to the wrong places --- I'm dumb!

Wow. Sometimes they're just so striking and beautiful they simply must be posted.
 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7240/7...c5a282df70.jpg
muse-1940

The Muse of Music 1940

image from hollywoodbowl.com

Hearst Newspaper Collection, Special Collections, University of Southern California Library

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8148/7...b5654ab9_z.jpg
muse-2-1940

image from hollywoodbowl.com
Music Center Archives/Otto Rothschild Collection

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/4424/00071905.jpgLAPL

A shot we've most likely seen before, but I believe it's appropriately noirish as well as mournful, considering that the
end is nigh. No one brings the old place alive like Steve Vaught has over at Paradise Leased. I really regret never
having explored it. (David...care to breach the chain-link fence?)

http://img826.imageshack.us/img826/5437/00036831.jpgLAPL

I'm sure we've seen this shot too, but since it's from the roof of the Statler.... an atomic dawn, March 7, 1955.
Below... the soon-to-be-gone Statler roof and just about the only thing left in the 1955 view, besides City Hall
and the mountains--the Jonathan Club. The LAPL has dozens of pictures of the club, from construction (when it was the skyscraper) to many
views of its interior.

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/1...aerialredo.jpgGoogle Satellite

I don't recall seeing this photo: Opening of the Los Angeles Aqueduct,
November 5, 1913
California Historical Society

http://www.usc.edu/libraries/archive...s/aqueduct.jpgUSC

Note four men opening the valves. Anyone know where this spillway is located?

North portal, Elizabeth Tunnel. 1908

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb7q2nb4f6/FID3.jpgUC Riverside, Water Resources Collections and Archives

North portal, Elizabeth Tunnel. 1911

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb9f59p2b1/FID3.jpgUC Riverside, Water Resources Collections and Archives



Workers standing in front of tunnel entrance in the Los Angeles-Owens Valley Aqueduct, c. 1908
http://www.colapublib.org/history/gi...access/109.jpgAntelope Valley

The completed Fairmont Tunnel (aka the 'Elizabeth Tunnel') of the Los Angeles-Owens Valley Aqueduct, c. 1920s

http://www.colapublib.org/history/gi...access/108.jpgAntelope Valley

Students at Ivanhoe School act as water drops going through the Elizabeth Tunnel following completion, which occurred during construction of the LA Aqueduct in the first part of the 20th Century. Depicting William Mulholland on the right side is David Guerra of the Theatre of Will.
https://www.ladwp.com/cs/idcplg?IdcS...LatestReleasedLADWP

Some different pictures of Angel's Flight.

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/...x9/d3e5079.jpg

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/...0p/d3e5233.jpg

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/...d3/d3e5155.jpg

Court Flight.

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/...w7/d3e5309.jpg

All from Loyola Marymount University, Department of Archives and Special Collections, William H. Hannon Library

If these have been show before my apologies, nice to have several in one place.

http://www.donaldlaird.com/landmarks...0-699/653p.jpg
www.donaldlaird.com
"The Cascades"
This is the terminus of the Los Angeles - Owens River Aqueduct, bringing water 338 miles from the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada to the city of Los Angeles. Begun in 1905, the great aqueduct was completed November 5, 1913. The Mono Craters Project, completed in 1940 extended the system 27 miles to its present northernmost intake near Tioga Pass.
http://www.donaldlaird.com/landmarks...0-699/653.html

:previous:

The spillways are just north of the 5 Freeway, near Balboa Blvd. The original spillway seen in the B&W photo, the one dedicated by William Mulholland ("There it is. Take it.") is the shorter one on the left. The larger spillway on the right was built later. The ill fated St. Francis Dam was nearby.

http://wwww.dkse.net/david/Spillway.jpg
www.google.com

St. Francis dam disaster, more than 600 souls lost, 12 March 1928...eminent engineer disgraced, falling from public view. Very Noire like!

http://www.scvhistory.com/gif/wf2801.jpgSanta Clarita Valley History


http://media.morristechnology.com/me...ncisDam_02.jpgThe Santa Clarita Signal

http://todayshistorylesson.files.wor...pg?w=320&h=213Todays History Lesson

http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$(KGrHqYOKoc...UER6Q~~0_3.JPGEbay

http://www.scvhistory.com/gif/ap2333a.jpgSanta Clarita Valley History

http://geology.cnsm.ad.csulb.edu/VIR...ages/Fig12.gifCSULB Geology

William Mulholland (September 11, 1855 – July 22, 1935) was the head of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, in Los Angeles. He was responsible for building the water aqueducts and dams that allowed the city to grow into one of the largest in the world. His methods of obtaining water for the city led to disputes collectively known as the California Water Wars. In 1928, his career ended in ignominy when the St. Francis Dam failed just hours after he had given it a personal safety inspection.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...nd-in-1924.jpgWikipedia

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/3...hcompletea.jpg
American Carpenter and Builder, July 1, 1916

Clarifying the history of the Dutch Chocolate Shoppe
 

Thanks for the wonderful report and photos from the Dutch Chocolate Shoppe, David. As one of the people who organized an earlier tour and historic lecture in the space, I just wanted to correct a few of the details of the building's interesting history and current status.

After Finney's Cafeteria left, the building was purchased by members of the Aslan family, and they turned the ground floor into small shops. The Aslans still own the building. A younger relative, Charles Aslan, is the individual behind the current move to reveal and clean the tiles and transform the space back into a chocolate shop.

Until earlier this year, the space was broken up into built-out bays with a variety of small shops represented. These included the phone store whose sign is on the exterior, and a hat vendor with really nice vintage-style inventory. It was not a single business (phone store or an office for Charles Aslan). Even with the built-out bays and roll-down security grates in place, a great deal of tile and various figural elements have always been visible to the naked eye.

So this is not a case of a surprise revelation when a piece of tile was found behind a wall, but of something that was clear to anyone who went into the space, and well known to the property owners.

It's really amazing to see the space opening up and how excited people are to learn about the Chocolate Shoppe. Beyond the beauty and potential of the Batchelder-designed space, this place represents an incredible opportunity for educating people about preservation laws and advocacy.

We have been taking people into this space for years on our Esotouric tours and talking about it as a poster child for why the city needs to strengthen its historic preservation guidelines with a interior landmarking ordinance. Although this space is an Historic-Cultural Monument specifically for its interior, the city currently has no power to enforce any protections of the interior, and if the property owner decided to turn it back into a flea market tomorrow, there would be nothing that could be done about it.

The proposed changes to the landmarking ordinance have apparently been stuck in City Council committee or in the City Attorney's office since summer 2009, and the story of the Dutch Chocolate Shoppe makes it crystal clear how important it is to pass the updated ordinance.

The updated ordinance is opposed by a powerful business lobbying group on the west side of Downtown (CCA, the Central City Association), representing property owners who do not want anyone telling them what they can do to their historic buildings.

The CCA, whose offices are currently being picketed by OccupyLA over privatization of public space issues, even drafted a private agreement with the Los Angeles Conservancy to try make the ordinance toothless, but this attempt failed. It's a big concern to me that the most prominent preservation group in the city would attempt to lend its support to a new law that endangers historic interiors, but happily, the Art Deco Society and other preservationists saw what was happening and spoke out against it. Ultimately, however, no changes to the interior portion of the ordinance were recommended.

Long live the Dutch Chocolate Shoppe!