:previous:

Thanks gs-- I didn't recognize the Times building without seeing its tower and eagle.

a 1937 image of a street car wreck at the intersection of 1st street and hill street. I'm positive this is a newly uploaded image on the LAPL site, as i know i would have remembered this one.

wreck of the No. 1 street car of the Los Angeles Railway at 1st and Hill streets. Five passengers, two crew members and one bystander received injuries. Cross shows where the trolley was supposed to have stopped on the 1st Street downgrade, but the magnetic brakes failed.

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics30/00034811.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics30/00034811.jpg

ACME Signal
 

Post 2497, first photo, inlcudes an ACME signal with a box on top. I have seen lots of photos of ACME's and never seen one with a box like that. Anyone have an idea what that is?

Brian
www.caltrafficsigns.com

:previous:

I was wondering the same thing--thought maybe the street names might be on the edges of the cap, but then there are already signs on the lamppost at that corner... or perhaps the cap was part of some sort of neighborhood customization of the signals. We'll have to keep our eyes out when looking at other pictures with the semaphores in them.

Btw--in NYC, at least in Manhattan, there has been a alot of such customization in the past decade or so. Once upon a time ('60s-'70s) Manhattan (and Staten Island) had black lettering on yellow before going to what I thought was federally-mandated white on green in the late '80s or so, consistent boroughwide. (Other boroughs had more or less similar graphics but different colors at that time: Bronx, white on blue; Queens, blue on white; Brooklyn, white on black--all these also went to white on green.) My assumption of federal regs coming into play must not be correct, because these days there is a confusing jumble of varying designs and colors all over Manhattan. Having so many different styles and colors makes it tougher to pick out the signs for quick reference these days. (Sorry--I realize I'm digressing to the wrong coast... I shouldn't get started on the suburbanization of Manhattan here....)

A couple pages back in post #2456 Beaudry posted postcards of the Hotel Breevort and the Chancellor Hotel.
Here is another building that has ties with the Black Dahlia.

The Hirsch Apartments at 300 E. Washington Blvd.



http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/2...pts01at300.jpg
lakompany




http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/7...rschapts07.jpg
lakompany






http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/563...pts04possi.jpg
lakompany





http://img573.imageshack.us/img573/6...rschapts05.jpg
lakompany


The link below explains the connection with Elizabeth Short.
http://lakompany.blogspot.com/2010/0...partments.html

This is an especially interesting shot to me, what with Ralphs, Bullock's, and W&J Sloane all being represented along with the 7th Exchange. The Exchange building is now the awkwardly-named Spring Towers Lofts, badly altered on the lower floors; the little peaked-roof building to its left is gone. So is Ralphs, though at least we're left with a nice ghost sign behind it.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TT...82013%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TT...70853%20PM.jpgGoogle Street View

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TT...82636%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View

The Holland Hotel at 1404 W. 7th St.
Black Dahlia suspect Arnold Smith died here in a room fire.





http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/1...hoteldahli.jpg
lakompany






http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/8...andhotel23.jpg
lakompany





http://img814.imageshack.us/img814/3...landhotel6.jpg
lakompany







http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/224...ndhotel111.jpg
lakompany



http://lakompany.blogspot.com/2010/0...y-holland.html


Today is the anniversary of the murder of Elizabeth Short.

R.I.P. Elizabeth n.m.n. Short
 

ethereal--it is absolutely amazing that the Hirsch still stands--it's just about the only recognizable vintage structure in these parts, its survival doubly amazing in that it's built of wood, unaltered and apparently in very good condition. The dentils and column capitals are intact, and the facade is even carefully painted to pick out "THE HIRSCH APTS." on two sides. The Hirsch would have fit right in on old Bunker Hill; once common, there are very few rambling wooden apartments buildings like this in any kind of decent shape left in L.A.

Ethereal: Fascinating info. about Elizabeth Short and the Hirsch Apts. Never heard any of that before. Can it be at least partly true? Sounds convincing. Hmmm...
The Holland Hotel...good Lord, talk about dreary and depressing. Excellent photos. You can almost smell the stale odors.

GaylordWilshire
When I first came across the photos of the Hirsch I was astonished.
If I still lived in L.A. I think I would have to drive to the Hirsch just to touch it and convince myself that it is, in fact, still there.
For a wooden structure to have survived that many years, and without some sort of ill advised remodeling job is beyond fantastic.

It would be interesting to find out who owns it today.
The fine paint job shows whoever owns it has a decent amount of respect for the building.

such a great thread! thanks everyone for your info! :) :cheers:

Repurposing of The Normandie
 

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics15/00007395.jpgLAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics15/00007395.jpg


http://lh4.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TT.../normandie.jpg http://www.opposingviews.com/i/insid...arijuana-hotel
605 S. Normandie, sw corner of 6th

CNN story here: http://www.opposingviews.com/i/insid...arijuana-hotel


Interestingly, just two short blocks to the west is the Woman's Christian Temperence Union, the history of which has been written of here before. That the organization still exists amazes me, no less than does the survival of its current headquarters, a great Craftsman house at 551 S. Kingsley:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TT...91408%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View
The WCTU is the house to the right; I include a wider view here to show the house next door--now the
offices of a real-estate company--and the dome of the Wilshire Boulevard Temple in the distance at
Wilshire and Hobart. Perhaps Wilshire will always remain a narrow corridor of tall buildings and other
modern commercial structures, but it still surprises me that these houses, harking back to the brief
period of Wilshire as an upper-end residential district, remain only a block away.

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TT...94600%20AM.jpgGoogle Street View

i know we are going back in time a bit, but, whilst rummaging around through the Library of Congress's Historic American Buildings site, i stumbled upon that white house shown in E_R's post about the Dragon's Den that used to reside at 516-522 1/2 North Los angeles Street.




1936 image

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/c...s/012479pv.jpg
Source: Library of Congress Historic American Buildings http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/c...s/012479pv.jpg

Architectural Drawings

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/c...eet/00000a.gif

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/...1efe439c_b.jpg
Sources: Library of Congress Historic American Buildings http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/c...eet/00000a.gif and http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/c...eet/00001a.gif

1937 data sheet - note the condition of the building - "fairly well preserved" ....not bad for a then 102 year old structure

http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/c...7/data/002.gif
Source: Library of Congress Historic American Buildings http://memory.loc.gov/pnp/habshaer/c...7/data/002.gif


1857 image of the house

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-1724A?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archives http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-1724A?v=hr

the house in 1873

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-2460?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archives http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-2460?v=hr

by 1890, the 2nd floor porch became partially enclosed

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-2847?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-2847?v=hr

In the 1890's the house became the home of Leeching Hung & Co

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00081/00081456.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00081/00081456.jpg

in 1905 the Pekin Curio Store moved in

http://jpg1.lapl.org/00081/00081457.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg1.lapl.org/00081/00081457.jpg

the building in 1928. the building now houses the Canton Bazaar

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-36415?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archives http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-36415?v=hr

a 1947 view looking north east on los angeles street past Jerry's Joynt

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb629007wt/FID5
Source: Calisphere http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb629007wt/FID5

In 1950 a plan was presented to the State Park Commission for the proposed renovation of the plaza district. The Lugo House was very much a part of the design proposal

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...T-PLA-004?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archives http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...T-PLA-004?v=hr

unfortunately, one year later.......................................

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...T-BUI-544?v=hr

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...168-021~1?v=hr

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...168-021~4?v=hr

Sources: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...168-021~4?v=hr, http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...168-021~1?v=hr and http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...T-BUI-544?v=hr

1952 image looking north west across the site of the Lugo House towards the intersection of Los Angeles Street and Sunset Boulevard on the North side of the Plaza

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...NXKCBG476Q.jpg
Source: California State Library http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...NXKCBG476Q.jpg

bingmaps aerial of the site today

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5043/...e8946033_b.jpg

Excellent compilation on La Casa De Don Vicente Lugo, gsjansen! :tup:

Amazing post gsjansen.
I have often wondered about the history of the Lugo House.

Since you mentioned Jerry's Joynt in your post.
I thought I'd repost these these two photos of Jerry's Joynt.
Mostly because I think Jerry's Joynt is just too cool.



http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/1788/sj1d.jpg
usc digital archive




below: Here you can see a car pulling out of Ferguson Alley.
Notice the sign for the Jade Room. I would give anything to see the interior of this place.

http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/6...rrysj21948.jpg
usc digital archive


There, now I'm happy. :)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5286/...13757a01_b.jpg

i love that the advertisement for jerry's joynt lists the address as ferguson alley

^^^Oh yes, that AD is great!

I just now found these three photographs of Ferguson Alley. All three photos are dated 1933.


http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/6...nalley1933.jpg
usc digital archives




Below: Cars parked along Ferguson Alley in old Chinatown


http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3...alley1933a.jpg
usc digital archive


I am a bit surprised the alley is so hilly.




below: Looking through a gate out to Ferguson Alley. You can see a small drug store across the alley.

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/8...usonalley2.jpg
usc digital archive

those are great images of ferguson alley E_R. the 1st one is looking east towards alameda from the intersection of Calle de los negros. i found this image of jerry's joynt looking down calle de los negros

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...16-4-ISLA?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...16-4-ISLA?v=hr

an 1882 view looking north on calle de los negros towards ferguson alley

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-7127?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-7127?v=hr

another view taken sometime in the 30's looking north easterly on calle de los negros towards ferguson alley. this building is really beautiful! according to the sign on the building, just to the left of the gentleman posing, this is the Chinatown location of the YMCA

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-6686?v=hr
Source: USC Digital Archive http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-6686?v=hr

here's a 1940 image of the same building, apparently now named old los angeles which claims to offer the shortest route to union station....i'm kinda guessin' that the Big "Y" at the far right indicates that this building is still the YMCA

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics19/00019099.jpg
Source: LAPL http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics19/00019099.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_zXN_GwdMYMo/TT...53826%20PM.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zilf/99...n/photostream/


great stuff, gs & ethereal-- I love that Jerry's bridged the cultures-- everything from steaks to chop suey. Here's a glimpse of the interior of the Jade Room bar.... Btw-- "That Strange Place of Elbowing" --what does it mean, and does it refer in the ad to Jerry's or to Ferguson Alley?