CityKid, great shots of Long Beach! I like the now-vanished Municipal Auditorium surrounded by the now-vanished Rainbow Pier, and also the now-vanished Pike Amusement Park. Too bad all of those things are now-vanished.

If you're familiar with that area you'll know that where the Pier and Auditorium were was all filled in with landfill to create the area of Shoreline Drive, with the downtown Long Beach Marina. This area is where the Annual Long Beach Grand Prix is held.

Looking south on Spring Street from near its intersection with First Street, right around the turn of the 20th century...

Note the early electric sign on the rooftop in front of us. (It's too early for it to be neon - that started after 1910.) As best I can tell, this sign says:

CRANDALL
AYLSWORTH
COMPANY

UP TO DATE
BARGAINS

https://otters.net/img/lanoir/CHS-2856.jpg
USC Digital Archive


Here we are looking north(east) on Spring from First, around the same time period. There's the electric sign again, through which we can see Hamburger's Department Store in the Phillips Block (1887).

https://otters.net/img/lanoir/CHS-154.jpg
USC Digital Archive

See the policeman inside the elevated traffic kiosk on the northwest corner of the intersection? Every major intersection in L.A. had a police kiosk like this. Many of these were still standing well into the 1920s...

-Scott

^^^Two outstanding photographs Scott. Both those pics convey the hustle & bustle of an energetic & vibrant downtown

And CityKid, thanks for posting the Long Beach Photos. I thought they were great.
I didn't realize Long Beach had such density....especially in your photo number 3.

Earlier I posted this image, which Scott identified as the Temple Block.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...922/yQFHIj.jpg
unknown





Today I found this side view of the Temple block.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...923/P6qsQE.jpg
usc digital archive

____




Also, here is another image of the Baker Block, which we briefly discussed earlier.


http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/2...ocklosange.png
usc digital archive

Here's an intriguing photograph of the Bella Union Hotel in 1871.
It looks like a Bank of Los Angeles is next door.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/8...ionhotel18.jpg
usc digital archive


Anyone know any details on this one?

https://otters.net/img/lanoir/bellaunionhotelsite.jpg

Here is a California Landmark plaque for the Bella Union Hotel that is located across Main Street from the 1940 Federal Building. I took the picture during my visit to City Hall this past July 10. Unfortunately, I was facing in the direction of the sun, so the photo came out rather poorly. I will attempt a transcription:

"Near this spot stood the Bella Union Hotel, long a social and political center. Here on October 7, 1858, the first Butterfield Overland mail stage from the east arrived 21 days after leaving St. Louis. Warren Hall was driver and Waterman _rmsby, reporter, the only through passenger."

I think it's funny how the best they could do is say it was "near this spot," rather than "on this spot." Even the historians back then weren't entirely sure where this landmark once stood!

-Scott

^^^Excellent!! That plaque is too cool. Thanks Scott. :)

:previous: :previous:

Really awesome pics!

____________________________

The building on the left was the Jennette Block, built in 1888, which was torn down in the 1950s when they built the Hollywood/Santa Ana (US 101) freeway through downtown, leaving the adjacent Garnier Building (built in 1890) standing. The photo is from around 1925:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018809.jpg
LAPL

The Garnier Building is currently the home of the Chinese American Museum which opened not too long ago. A very fitting place for a Chinese American Museum, being that this building for decades was used by Chinese merchants, and being that this building faced the old Chinatown and is near the Old Plaza. It's considered the last building to be left standing from the old demolished Chinatown. Of course now the building faces Union Station.

Here's Madame Chiang Kai-Shek on a visit to Los Angeles in front of the Garnier Building in 1943:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics08/00003791.jpg
LAPL

During a Moon Festival:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics41/00055494.jpg
LAPL

http://www.camla.org/images/building.jpg
Chinese American Museum website

From these pictures, it looks like after the Jennette Block was knocked down, much of the Garnier Block was also knocked off. Look at these, taken some time after the demolition.

1968; looks like they might've restored the old firehouse by then.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00079/00079160.jpg
LAPL

Notice the firehouse being worked on.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018785.jpg
LAPL

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018784.jpg
LAPL

Compare the above photo with this much earlier shot:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics18/00018787.jpg
LAPL

Undated photo, but as you can see the Garnier building's facade is restored, but is still not as big as it once was:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics50/00059888.jpg

Here's a photo of it in 1971:
http://content.cdlib.org/dynaxml/dat...nb2xx-FID5.jpg
cdlib.org

Here's a view of it today:
http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/276...uildingjq5.jpg
From imageshack

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2216/...0a9820.jpg?v=0
From flickr


Here you can see it in context to the rest of the historic Plaza area, next to the Old Firehouse Museum and the Pico House.
http://www.inetours.com/Los_Angeles/...za_SW_7313.jpg
inetours.com

Hey, there's the Newmark Fountain in front of the Temple Block! Larry Harnish wrote a great piece about it in his Daily Mirror blog last year. Here is the Newmark Fountain's story. The female figure atop it was nude, which made it an object of some interest at the time. Unfortunately, the fountain met a premature end when a team of runaway horses hit it in 1892...

-Scott

That's completely amazing. I had no idea the Garnier Building had been so altered during its history. Seeing how much of it they removed when the freeway was built, it makes me wonder why they left any of it standing at all. The restorers did a very authentic and convincing job, I must say.

When I was there in July, I saw two old brick buildings on Main Street near the Plaza that were in the process of being restored. One was the Brunswig, but I can't recall the name of the other...

-Scott

Cahuenga Pass, 1911-1941
 

What a difference a hundred years makes...

Cahuenga Pass, 1905.


https://otters.net/img/lanoir/CHS-10514.jpg
USC Digital Archive



It only took 30 years to go from this:


https://otters.net/img/lanoir/cahuengapass1911.jpg
LAPL


To this:

https://otters.net/img/lanoir/cahuengapass1941.jpg
LAPL


The layout of the roads looks much the same today!

-Scott

Post on my blog here.

Wow sopas_ej....that was a great post with all the old and contemporary photographs. I thoroughly enjoyed them all.
The Garnier Building history and photos were especially interesting.


Also cool pics of Cahuenga Pass Scott.
I briefly lived in North Hollywood when I first moved to L.A., so I used the pass hundreds of times.

For a more exciting drive I took Laurel Canyon with all its twists and turns.
Here's a map. The details are hard to read though.

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/7...lcanyonmap.jpg
unknown


Driving through Laurel Canyon I remember passing the ruins of Houdini's estate (see below).
I always thought this was rather cool. The ruins of the estate remain today, undisturbed for over 50 years.


http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/5...08houdini1.jpg
davesweb.cnchost.com

I just noticed the guy watering the plants. Kind of SPOOKY.
At first I thought he was tied up with a mask on.

Below: The Plaza in 1873...showing the reservoir.

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9...servoirfro.jpgusc digital archive



Below: A close up of the reservoir.


http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/1...servoir188.jpg
usc digital archive

Below: I just realized the church facing away from the camera is....

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/9...servoirfro.jpg
usc digital archive




...the Church of the Mission Los Angeles 1870.

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/2...rchofmissl.jpg
usc digital archive

The Plaza some twenty years later in 1890.

http://img230.imageshack.us/img230/4...lesplazain.jpg
usc digital archive

Below: Looking southeast, this is a view of 6th Street Park in 1883.
The park will later be known as Pershing Square.


http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/4...stparklate.jpg
usc digital archive

Love this image with the bare hillside in the background. I'm guessing that's Chavez Ravine over the church at left, where Dodger Stadium is now...

I think you're right. My first thought was that it was Angelino Heights/Echo Park, but Chavez Ravine is in that general area too.

Below: The Sackett Hotel at Cahuenga Drive and Hollywood Blvd. ca.1890




http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3...hotelcahue.jpg
usc digital archive

Below: Downtown Los Angeles looking southeast from Olive and 5th. 1890
Does anyone know what the large building in the lower right corner is?
It looks like it could be an auditorium.


http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/9...nlalooking.jpgusc digital archive




Below: Main Street from 3rd 1890.


http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6...eetfrom3rd.jpg
usc digital archive





Below: Looking north on Spring Street from 3rd. 1891
At the corner of the next block is the ornate Bryson-Bonebrake Block.

http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/6...ookingnort.jpg
usc digital archive






Below: The Westminster Hotel Main Street at 4th 1893.


http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/3...sterhotelm.jpg
usc digital archive