Rex's Missing Arm.
 

Agreed, E.R........

Phenomenal detective work.......And of course answered a nagging question I had when looking at various iterations of the Rex......Not that I lost much sleep over it, but I recall first seeing a color view of the Rex (w/ giant tire billboard on its roof), across from the completed Statler, then I would try to rectify that with earlier images.....which all led to a general "WTF....I'm confused!"

But that brings me to a bigger point.....How do you folks index/catalog/file your images? Any hints?

I've been following this topic for quite some time and I've got to say it's fantastic. I haven't spent much time in Los Angeles but I've always liked it since I visited when I was 7 or 8 in the late 40s. It's all changed too much since then, but a lot of these pictures really take me back so thank you to everyone who has posted.

Is it OK if I ask a question? I've found a picture on the internet of a church in Los Angeles that I kind of remember but I can't place. It's a computer image not a photo so I don't know if it's accurate at all but it does looks familiar.

I wonder if anybody here can identify it.


http://i.imgur.com/RLcOn.jpg


Thank you,

Vincent.

Hello Vincent--welcome to the thread.


That is the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, at 734 S. Hope Street.

It was constructed in the late 1880s as the Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church:

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics51/00075494.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics51/00075494.jpg


A later remodeling added an auditorium:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075526.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075526.jpg



http://i.imgur.com/RLcOn.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/RLcOn.jpg

It became the Third Church of Christ, Scientist, around 1911. Further remodeling stripped some of the details of the tower in particular, as can be seen in your picture. It was demolished after severe damage as a result of the '71 Sylmar quake. But...there is a remnant. The north wing (at left in your pic, just above) is still a Christian Science Reading Room at 730 S. Hope:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_z...20701%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View


P.S. The ABSOLUTELY FIREPROOF building in your pic and in the current Google Street View, at 746 S. Hope, opened in September 1925 as the Auto Center Garage. It is considered by some as the oldest parking garage downtown.

GW, i found a great 1906 map of los angeles and it's suburbs, (los angeles has suburbs?)..

anyway, i've zoomed into berkeley square, and there it is!

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5211/...6fc1368d_o.jpg

the full map may be viewed at the online archive of california's web site

Thank you, GaylordWilshire, what a wealth of information! I remember my uncle worked at a hotel downtown, the Stillwell perhaps. I must have seen the church when going there.

I've been told that the picture I found is from a video game called 'L.A. Noire', which I have seen mentioned a few times here. It looks quite interesting, an interactive Los Angeles circa 1947 with a noir detective storyline so my grandson tells me. I'm sure it's made with younger people in mind than a 70 year old, but it does sound good.

Thanks again,

Vincent.

Great map, gs--the first few houses in Berkeley Square would have been going up in 1906. It's interesting here that BS isn't depicted as open to Hermosa/Gramercy, and that Adams Place (now St. Andrews) seems to be depicted as an entrance to the south. Actually, though, the Berkeley name is shown here in alignment with 24th Street rather than in line with 22nd ("21st" on this map). The parts showing the outskirts of L.A. on alot of these early maps were done as sort of speculation in terms of street layout and naming--perhaps based on early info from the developer, or just guesswork.

Now that you mention the derivation of your picture, Vincent, I realize that the stripped nature of the church as shown in it may have something to do with a photograph or postcard having been adapted for game use. Here are a few more shots through the years:


http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075522.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075522.jpg
ca. 1922


http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075525.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075525.jpg
ca. 1965


http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075329.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075329.jpg
Demolition, ca. 1973

And here a couple of shots of the interior:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075524.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075524.jpg

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075523.jpgLAPLhttp://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075523.jpg

"Rex's Missing Arm".....very clever malumot. :)

Beaudry, thanks for all the information on the Elk's Parade photos I posted earlier. You made the pics 10x more interesting.




below: originally posted by GaylordWilshire.

http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/789...hodistepis.jpg
lapl


http://img29.imageshack.us/img29/347...hodistlapl.jpg
lapl

I find this unusual church VERY intriguing.
I stared at it for quite some time trying to figure out the architectural style.

Is it Richardsonian with Persian touches?
Is it High Victorian with Moorish influences?
Is it Eclecticism and the architect's Attention Deficit Disorder?

It has me stumped.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_z...ybQs/vfpic.jpgLife/Getty http://www.life.com/image/85080412
This picture appears (misdated) in a March 2011 Vanity Fair article on Paradise Cove
in Malibu. (No note was made in the magazine's caption of the fire raging in the hills, or
of the great bathtub '49 or '50 Nash Ambassador parked in front of the sign....) Then,
as now, the Cove was trailer heaven:

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_z...73316%20PM.jpg http://www.flickr.com/photos/38952296@N00/1073636880/


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics06/00022919.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics06/00022919.jpg


http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics06/00022927.jpgLAPL http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics06/00022927.jpg


http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics40/00054951.jpgLAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics40/00054951.jpg

Thanks for the kind words! I really dig that image of the Elks Lodge. There's something I just love about...bunting. My house was built in '07 and I'm now kind of obsessing over finding lots of 45-star bunting before the next 4th.

I'm also floored by this church (I've never really sat down and looked at a gang of pictures of it before; that's one reason this thread is so valuable) and find your stupefaction over its architectonic form totally hilarious and I share it with verve. A 50's article says it was built in 88-9, though a contemporary source says Simpson Methodist Episcopal Tabernacle was dedicated in '91, I dunno, do they wait two years to dedicate a church? I'm going with the '91 date; a 1910 article puts its date at '94; and was 134 x 165, seated 2,000, and boasted "unsurpassed" acoustical qualities (regarded as one of the best audience halls in the country, it was said: Tetrazzini, Melba, Schumann-Heink performed there). Anyway, mid-90s the MEs get into financial difficulty and donate the structure to USC, becomes known as the "Simpson Auditorium". Became the Third CoC,S in 1905, as a rental from USC, and the Christian Scientists buy it outright in 1910. But nothing about its architect. More digging may be in order.

Its original incarnation reminds me of a synagogue in that temples so often use the "twin tablet" motif, and here we see it in the windows (in the earliest picture with the horse-cart). And the Scientist remodel redid all the windows (including the strange pentagram one) and added the front part. I'm guessing the tower got truncated after Long Beach, so the 1947 LA Noire depiction isn't really accurate if my supposition is correct.

One other small thing, the ca. 1922 pic (which almost looks like an infrared -- and that ivy should place this church in Middlesex) , I'm just fair to middling at dating cars, and I'd confidently place those at 1929-30. Though I welcome to be proven wrong!

Now, its style. Uh...already mentioned synagogue, and it's got minarets. The Scientists add Gothic tracery. It's Richardsonian in brick and not stone. I...give up, which is the mark of a great building!

some more berkeley square info

LAPL has a resource page which has digitized telephone and street directories for various years dating from 1909 t0 1987. it can be found here

starting in 1956, the directory listed residences by streets. below are the 1956, (on the left), and the 1960, (on the ..........well you know), residence listings for berkeley square.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5015/...e51c4d2d_o.jpg

by 1961.........berkeley square listings?.....not so much. (i was amazed to see that the developers of berkeley square, the burkes at No. 6 held on to the end)

what is really interesting, is that the early directories listed people by they're occupations and where they worked.

an example would be a search i did in the 1932 telephone directory for Brown Derby.

the 1st listing that came up was for a Hilda Black. it indicates that she worked as a waiter at the brown derby, and that she resides at 946 Irolo.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5051/...a04889be_o.jpg

when you think about the 1940's unsolved serial killings that involved women in the los angeles area, it's pretty easy to see how this kind of information available in the phone book could be used for not the best of purposes.

of course for urban archeologists like us, this kind of information is priceless.

go take a gander, and do some searches through the directories, it's amazing what info comes up........such as this 1923 listing for a photoplayer by the name of gloria swanson who is the home owner of 1800 wilcox avenue :cool:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5219/...4daf6028_o.jpg

This map is genius! Can't stop staring at it. And it never really occurred to me that the subway might rattle people in the Fremont or Granada...every time I look at it I find something new, and, more importantly, something unique to 1931, which was a fascinating time specifically...

1939er (1939, also a great year!) welcome to the fold, brother! I too have always had a fascination with the old auto zone. I wrote a bit about it here http://www.lottaliving.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=14656 ...go down to 1919 in this http://onbunkerhill.org/ArchitectsBuilding#comment-110 and there's a bit about the REO showroom at 12th & Hope... but it's more than just auto row, downtown was thick with dealerships, gas and service stations, equipment shops, paint, parts, body shops, ad automobilium. I know I have some images of a couple of the fixit stations that were around 12th & Grand. Have to dig those out. I suppose you have the postcard of Kelley Kar at 12th & Fig? It's pretty common. (But if ya don't, say the word.)

Again, good times![/QUOTE]

great job on the other sites a big thumbs-up i can tell you did your home work on the subject.looking for any information and or pictures of the area from 1921 to 1955 in perticular felix chevrolet. again thank you

Felix Chevrolet 12th and grand 1930

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...JPYQCKMM89.jpg
Source: California State Library

detail of lobby facade

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...HFV9RL1KYI.jpg
Source: California State Library

current view of the building

http://www.you-are-here.com/los_angeles/felix.jpg
Source: you are here

Nothing against Hilda, but.....

How ironic that the first attorney listed at Black, et. al. is Carey McWilliams - Perhaps the foremost observer of early- to mid-20th century Southern California.

His 1946 classic "Southern California: An Island on the Land" should be required reading for this thread. LOL

http://www.amazon.com/Southern-Calif.../dp/0879050071

From the Back Cover
Widely recognized as the best non-fiction book written about Southern California for the period 1920s through the 1940s.

Southern California: An Island on the Land is packed with fascinating material on the region and its galaxy of personalities--from Helen Hunt Jackson to Aimee Semple McPherson, from Huntington the financier to Hatfield the rainmaker.

Carey McWilliams provides insights into many subjects, ranging from the origins of Hollywood to the flowering of International Style architecture in Los Angeles.

This book was originally published in 1946. This reprint edition has been continuously in print from Gibbs Smith, Publisher since 1973.

i finally figured it out!, (of course i'm sure everyone else knew and i'm just either the last to know, or the 1st to state the completely obvious.............which by the way, i can and do state the obvious at will)

the grand avenue entrance, (or is it exit?) to, (or from as the case may be) the Baltimore hotel garage between 5th and 6th street

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5140/...3021a8ee_b.jpg
Googlemaps streetview

the view looking across the street at the west side of the block......the hilton checkers hotel, (very visible in the shot from the movie, obviously taken from the parking deck above the garage through a studio added picture window)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5094/...832b862d_b.jpg
Googlemaps streetview

Speakin' o' which, I couldn't resist this 1909 postcard. :D

https://otters.net/img/lanoir/elks_l..._recto_sky.jpg

-Scott

Dayum! if i don't keep going back in time on this thread and responding to posts eons later :D

aerial looking north at pickfair 1143 Summit Drive 1926 and now

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/...9f353bff_b.jpg

Fairbanks and Pickford were divorced in January 1936, and Pickford resided in the mansion with her third husband, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, until her death in 1979. A recluse in her later years, Pickford received few visitors and would only speak to them over an intercom while secluded in her bedroom. The only one who was allowed to enter her room was the butler, and that was to bring her a fresh fifth of whiskey every day!:eek:

It stood empty for several years after Pickford's death and was sold to Los Angeles Lakers owner, Dr. Jerry Buss, before being purchased by actress Pia Zadora and her husband Meshulam Riklis. They announced they were planning renovations to the famous building but revealed in 1989 that the house had in fact been demolished and a new larger mansion constructed in its place.

Faced with criticism from the public, Zadora defended her family's actions, stating that the house was in a poor state of repair, and was infested by termites.

The only remaining artifacts from the original Pickfair are the gates to the estate with their prominent P motif (visible in both photos above the main house), and the swimming pool, which as i recall reading somewhere, was the very 1st for a residence in town, so something historic does indeed remain!

some more interesting information on the location of the original plaza

Plaza, Church of Our Lady of the Angels, and Sonora Town in 1869

http://dbase1.lapl.org/images/dwp/ws///1006036.jpg
Source: Photo Collection
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

The caption beneath the photo says;

Father Adam says, "Where Buena Vista Street is now open, north on the hill stood a chapel from 1784 to 1812; where a Franciscan friar from San Gabriel said mass every Sunday and holidays." At the extreme right of the picture is a fence about the Plaza it was built by the owners of the reservoir. Later they planted trees and otherwise improved it.

additional commentary included on the photo site:

There is no trace of the buildings erected by the original colonists or of their lot stakes, so noting remains today to show exactly were the homes stood. However, it is generally believed that one corner of the plaza was anchored across Sunset Boulevard from the Church of Our Lady of the Angeles, that is boundary continued along the east side of North Main Street to the line of Bellevue, thence across to New High, south to Sunset, and thence back to the point of anchorage. When North Main was cut through it is said to have gone directly through the old guard-house of the Pueblo site. The old and new plazas thus touch only at one point, the northwest corner of the present Plaza.

According to De Neve’s “Instruction para la Fundacion de los Angeles,” the old plaza lay square with the compass, with streets all running square with the plaza; so that “no street would be swept by the wind,” as the matter was put. House-lots faced the plaza on the north, west and south, the east side being given over to public buildings – a town hall, granary and a guard-house.

A cattle-proof adobe wall was built about the whole pueblo, and the lands outside the house-lots were cut up into planting fields. Then came pasture lands, beyond which were commons, leased lands and royal lands; revenue from the last two going into the pueblo treasury.

Hi mdiederi:Replying late to your fascinating post with photos of the beautiful, charming French Village complex in Hollywood. I never heard of it, but what a treasure. The photo of the scraggly Palm Tree and freeway presently on the site is what? sad, heartbreaking, infuriating?
Interesting is that no one has come up with info or photos of Normandie Village on Sunset. At the time I asked about about it in a post, I wrote to LA Times blogger Larry Harnisch to see if he had anything on it. All he could come up with was an LA Times article from the early 60's about a proposed Senior high-rise residence on the Sunset Strip that was to be built "on the site of the old Normandie Village Apartments." The architect's drawing of the Senior Complex showed a typically boring 60's box.
I wish I had saved the photo I came across a few years ago of the huge Normandie Village (long before I knew of this Noirish Los Angeles site)...it was taken shortly before the complex was razed. Have no idea where I saw the photo and an internet search has yielded nothing.