Yes, it is a very popular page indeed! I visit it most days, in case there's anything I need for my SMK research, but have yet to post a query. I want to make sure anything I post is indeed in the SFV so I don't waste anyone's time. ;)

And for good measure, here is one of the ads from the Van Nuys News from Friday the 13th of November, 1914...

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/u...OrganPiano.jpg
courtesy of NewspaperArchive.com

Sherman Way opened for traffic in 1912 and indeed it originally included what is now Chandler Blvd, and that portion of Van Nuys Blvd which stretches from Chandler on the south to present day Sherman Way. If the Johnston Company built their manufacturing plant in 1913, it is likely this is the street configuration that was in use. If the numbering system is consistent with today's system (an admittedly big 'if') that would put the building at 6001 Sherman Way (Van Nuys Blvd) which is the northwest corner of present day Van Nuys Blvd and Oxnard Street.

:previous:

Despite having posted the map below only a few weeks ago--which I just remembered--I wasn't clear on the historical routings of Sherman Way. You have found the organ factory, MR. The northwest corner of Sherman Way and Oxnard it is, even more so since I've now run across descriptions of the Johnston/Morton building as having been near the corner of Aetna Street as well as at 6001 SW. There is also the definitive mention in the Daily News on October 30, 1944, of the Arthur Zweebell company, a manufacturer of radio cabinets, having "purchased the large industrial plant at 6001 Van Nuys Blvd., former home of the Robert Morton organ plant." I wonder when the building was demolished? There were reports of it being considered as a prospect for conversion to a brewery after the repeal of Prohibition, but I don't know if anything came of that.


This is a fragment of the map I posted here:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-u...2520PM.bmp.jpgLAPL

Your discoveries from the album you purchased fascinate me as well David. I love the archaic old signs in these two shots.

This art deco apartment was obviously inspired by the Mauretania Apartments at 520-522 Rossmore Avenue in the Hancock Park area.
The 'concave' area that you see in the L.A. Noir shot is at far right.

http://imageshack.us/a/img99/144/aal...pt52022ros.jpg
google street view

This 10 unit streamline moderne complex was designed in 1934 by Milton J. Black for Wizard of Oz Tin Man Jack Halley and his wife Flo.
The 4,000 square-foot penthouse was occupied by the Haleys for two decades, and by John F. Kennedy for four days in 1960.






below: The Mauretania in 1936. "The apartment is white in color with yellow wood trim & chromium bars."

http://imageshack.us/a/img696/6863/a...auretania1.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1337642875003


___

Over at blogdowntown.com there's a fascinating little bit of info from the ongoing restoration work at Clifton's Cafeteria:

http://blogdowntown.com/ah/i/c408a25...130/7848-m.jpg
[source: Hayley Fox / blogdowntown.com]

Crews have been uncovering layers of the restaurant's history, peeling back walls until they reach the original 1930s facade.

"We've uncovered just amazing things," said Meieran.

While many of these things he wants to keep as "surprises" for future patrons, Meieran did say that behind one wall they found a neon light -- it was on, and had been quietly glowing behind the wall for about 70 years. He's dubbed it the "Eternal Neon," adding that the light has no switch and must be hard-wired into a panel deep in the brick.

Neon experts told Meieran it must be the "oldest existing, continuing operating neon in the world."

http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/1...zah1st1000.jpg

http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/2...ngeles1000.jpg
http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/856...tionbefore.jpg


Signs of Northridge: Zelzah, ca. 1910-1929; North Los Angeles, 1929-1938; Northridge, 1938 to present.


Pics: The Museum of the San Fernanado Valley

:previous:

I wish they'd stuck with Zelzah. Such a great name! Think of all the proud grads of CSU-Zelzah there'd be in the world today. Or the 1994 Zelzah Quake!

And Handsome Stranger, your post has me feeling the need to research neon to figure out how it was possible for it to be on that long without becoming a fire hazard (or running up the electric bill enough for people to hunt the source of the power drain). Really amazing. I hope someone from some neon sign museum is able to give it a place of honor (if they aren't planning to do that in Clifton's, anyway).

After the movies, go to the mall . . .

View of the Crenshaw Shopping Center, ca.1952
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics24/00031926.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00078/00078383.jpg http://photos.lapl.org

At night, from a distance, the High Tower Apts look downright classy
 

Somewhere in the dark, a small, disgruntled domestic cat searches for his next can of Courry Brand cat food.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7220/7...e1b31f3d20.jpg
hightower by MichaelRyerson, on Flickr

from Silver Screen Oasis
http://silverscreenoasis.com/oasis3/...hp?f=22&t=5099

Baldwin Hills, ca. 1932 (Reverse angle? Looking N x NW?)
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics22/00030892.jpghttp://photos.lapl.org

Circa 1930, absent the detail of trees, evokes thoughts of staying indoors to avoid the blazing sun. "Please turn the fan on high!"
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072270.jpg LAPL

Forget it!, I will escape the heat by going to the movies! Hollywood Blvd. looking east (notice Graumans) in first picture - all circa 1930 from LAPL
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072271.jpg

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072268.jpg

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072272.jpg

Pacoima Dam

Photograph of a rear view of Pacoima Dam under construction, January 20, 1928
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...8A6364F6C?v=hrhttp://digitallibrary.usc.edu

Reverse view, same dam complete 1932
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045115.jpg

Has anyone posted an aerial photo of Wilshire or the surrounds where Bob's is visible? Have wondered how long the bird sat there.

http://imgzoom.cdlib.org/Converter?i...0&w=1091&h=693

1930s - Wilshire, looking East, Wiltern Theater is in center.
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072269.jpghttp://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072269.jpg

1930s - Wilshire, looking East, Wiltern Theater is in center.
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072269.jpghttp://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072269.jpg[/QUOTE]

Am used to seeing dead straight roads in the US, thats an interesting deviation from the straight and narrow in the near bottom left corner, Residents hold out from evil road builders perhaps??

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Andrew Meieran, the owner of Clifton’s Cafeteria, continues a major renovation that will add three new bars and another restaurant to the property at 648 S. Broadway. Meieran said he is updating the famous cafeteria on the ground level without altering its historic character; the street-level renovation will anchor the first phase of the project, which will also include the addition of a “neighborhood bar” on the mezzanine. Future phases will include the transformation of the second floor into a jazz and blues lounge/bar called The Brookdale, as well as a speakeasy style bar in the basement. The third floor is slated to get a tiki bar. A fine dining restaurant will go on the fourth floor, and an existing bakery will be renovated. The main cafeteria is tentatively slated to reopen by early 2013, and the new venues will arrive in phases every three months after that. The first phase will include a renovation of the building’s façade. Meieran hopes to get the property listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

© Los Angeles Downtown News 2012

Downtown projects
 

Some updates on Downtown Projects:

Hall of Justice-
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Kerjon Lee, public affairs manager for the County Department of Public Works, said historic architectural elements are being preserved on several floors of the Hall of Justice. A 2014 opening is expected for the 1925 building at 211 W. Temple St. The $231 million renovation of the edifice that closed after being damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake will include seismic improvements, elevator upgrades, new electrical and mechanical systems and connecting the building to systems for sewage, water and gas. The project will also create an underground 1,000-car garage on the north side of the building and a high-pressure wash of the granite exterior. When upgraded the building will house the Sheriff’s Department, the District Attorney’s office and other county agencies.

© Los Angeles Downtown News 2012

The building will be white again!

The City Hall Lawn-
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - The city Department of Recreation and Parks continues to work on a $390,000 renovation of the 1.7-acre lawn and park around City Hall. The space is expected to reopen in early June, said Tom Gibson, a city landscape architect. The makeover calls for a 51% reduction in the amount of water-thirsty grass in public areas that were damaged during the two-month Occupy L.A. encampment last year. The grassy south lawn will be mostly unchanged. Other areas will get more drought-tolerant plants and permeable surfaces. The council is also looking into a private fundraising campaign to help pay for maintenance, which will cost about $135,000 a year.

© Los Angeles Downtown News 2012

I walk past the park everyday. It's really looking good. Of course it will be trashed soon after it opens.

Los Angeles Street Cars-
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - In March the Metro board of directors was presented with the final streetcar route recommendation. The selection of the route clears the way for the start of the environmental review process, which could take up to a year; the environmental study is necessary to get federal funding for the project. The path calls for the streetcar to travel south on Broadway from First Street to 11th Street, turn west to Figueroa Street and go north to Seventh Street. It would then head east on Seventh to Hill Street and go north to First Street. It would end on Grand Avenue near MOCA and Eli Broad’s coming art museum. The exact stops have not been determined. The project is estimated at $106 million and officials with the nonprofit Los Angeles Streetcar Inc. expect to apply for $60 million in Federal Transit Administration Small Starts funds this year. Additionally, officials are working on plans to ask area stakeholders to pay for approximately half of the project through assessments similar to those in business improvement districts. The project already has $10 million from the CRA in place. Metro officials estimate the streetcar could begin operating in early 2016. At lastreetcar.com.

© Los Angeles Downtown News 2012

The whole list:

http://www.ladowntownnews.com/develo...a4bcf887a.html

Am used to seeing dead straight roads in the US, thats an interesting deviation from the straight and narrow in the near bottom left corner, Residents hold out from evil road builders perhaps??[/QUOTE]

At the risk of belaboring the obvious, one thing that makes this area interesting is its varied topography. It is generally in the flatlands that you see straight boulevards. The hills and dales don't naturally lend themselves to this, except for places like Bunker Hill, where the "Hill" is now unnatural and mostly a memory.

There could be any number of reasons for the shape and placement of a road, including existing topography and cost. As with the oil derrick in the middle of La Cienega or the Pacific Coast Hwy, through the Adams Estate in Malibu, it could be a question of competing property interests and in some cases, the path becomes a road via prescriptive easement or inverse condemnation.

Can't be certain from the photo, but the curved stretch looks like it is 6th Street between Wilton and Norton Avenues. Several lots North of 6th (Eastern area of Hancock Park) are large and unusually shaped compared with surrounding areas. I believe the this thread dealt with the 3 Stooges on Norton and many of the Homes in the neighborhood.

If you are interested in Curves, here's a few of which you may be familiar: (No coaching from the audience.)

http://mt0.google.com/vt/data=rNsPjH...J5-GexqR8DBtyA http://www.feelnumb.com/wp-content/u...img_9496-a.jpghttp://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/def...db928c105e.jpghttp://www.nogoodforme.com/wp-conten...bluejayway.jpghttp://www.google.com


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...%27s_Curve.jpg http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q...MansCurve1.jpg http://media.photobucket.com

http://images12.annyas.com/2001/mulh...screenshot.jpghttp://images.travelpod.com/users/mo...land-drive.jpg google

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:A...t7kUkBByZ_AHFwhttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gb_rjMw3Eq...0/IMG_0015.JPG http://www.google.com/

I think it has more to do with the Bimini Slough.... See, for instance, Johnny Socko's post from a few years ago here.

http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/4...ackmain920.jpg
http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/3550/track2920.jpg
http://img7.imageshack.us/img7/633/trackclosein920.jpg
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/4...ithsign920.jpg


One of the most intriguing L.A. architectural novelties I've ever seen was this take on the drive-in. It's The Track, with "Motormat" technology. You just know the crazy trolley system must have constantly hit snags, with burgers and fries and cokes all over the hoods of cars... and yet there seem to have as many as three in the L.A. area, for however long they lasted.

Here's a description of the operation from The American Drive-In, by Michael Karl Witzel:

"Debuted in 1949, a Los Angeles innovation promised total elimination of carhops. At a new drive-in called "The Track," it attracted customers from as far as Santa Monica with its unique type of service. Like a group of horses at a trough [there's a gracious image], cars ringed around a central building, forming a circular pattern. Twenty semicircular parking spaces bridged a center kitchen by means of metal tracks. Food and condiments rode the rails within carrying...compartment[s] each powered by a small ½-horsepower motor.

"The mechanical setup was reminiscent of the wackiest Rube Goldberg device. Positioned in a pre-determined [?] parking space, the diner rolled down the car window and was greeted by a stainless-steel bin that could be made flush with the door. Inside the box were plastic cups, a water bottle, menu, order pad, and change tray. It was large, too. Food for six people could be ferried back and forth on the elevated platforms. Patrons would jot down their orders and with the push of a button, the unit scotted a return to the kitchen.

"When the empty bin arrived at the kitchen, an attendant put through the order and added up the bill. As hamburgers and other entrées were prepared, the rail box made its second journey to the automobile to collect the money. By the time it returned to the preparation area, the food was ready to go--loaded into the compartment along with condiments and the customer's change. According to inventor Kenneth C. Purdy, the spoke-and-wheel-track arrangement sped service 20-25 percent."


Well, needless to say I wanted to know where this madcap drive-in was. There was a 1951 phone-book listing for a "The Track No 3" at 3816 Sepulveda in Culver City, now the site of a Carl Jr's, but current visual details didn't add up, width of streets, etc. So I squinted at the pics, especially the fourth one above, and decided that the sign on the Herman-Something real estate office at the top right must have said "Herman Shrager"--who, it turns out, dealt in cemetery real estate, as in plots. Anyway, after more digging I found that Herman had an office at 8152 Beverly Boulevard... and eureka! It all fell into place. At the northwest corner of Beverly and Kilkea was the distinctive Welch's Candy building that still stands...and so across Kilkea from it would have been The Track. It was at 8201 Beverly Boulevard, which by 1956 was Cook's Automotive Service. Looking north today at Beverly and Kilkea:


http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/3...rossstreet.jpg
http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/584...chslaplpic.jpg
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1039/welchsdual.jpg


The house in the top shot is also still there, along with Welch's:

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-W...trackhouse.jpg


First, third, and fourth pics: The Denver Post; second: Shutterstock; sixth pic: LAPL; all others, Google Street View 2011

In the third picture what the dickens is that multi-button thing on their dashboard?

I don't know how that happened but I was responding to your drive-in eatery post. I don't know where the Bimini Baths came from.

:previous:

Well, that's a postwar Chrysler they're sitting in. Here's the dashboard of a '47 New Yorker:


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-g...2520PM.bmp.jpgwcraig's photostream

Is it a pre-set button radio?

Just when you think you've seen everything, Gaylord_Wilshire finds this incredible automated drive-in!!

I am very impressed by how you figured out the exact location by studying the surrounding buildings (that still survive).
You win 'Sleuth-of-the-Week' G_W. :)

Hard to say that the curve is directly related to Bimini Slough, since it may have affected many areas of Melrose, Beverly, 3rd, and 6th Streets that aren't curved - yet it seems plausible given the proposed Silverlake Parkway map.

http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/2016/brookside.jpg http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...&postcount=642

The lot lines for expensive west-of Wilton estates in Hancock Park could have been determined by architect's whimsy or by following the natural topographical contours. I heard stories from long passed original residents that they would play Huck Finn and go fishing in nearby creeks - and have the hired help cook 'em up. But fish stories are sometimes fishy. I say this having seen family photos of the same old timers as "boys" watching someone tend an expansive backyard Goldfish pond. And on that point, thank you GW for reminding us of the Article also mentioned by Johnny Socko concerning LA's "lost streams." http://www.laweekly.com/2006-11-09/n...f-los-angeles/

“Do you know why there’s sometimes fog at the intersection of Beverly and Rossmore?” Hall asks. “It’s because there’s a perennial creek that runs through the country club there,” she says. “It goes underground beneath Beverly, and comes up again on the other side.”

Hall has found streams in the backyards of Brentwood and Hancock Park mansions, in unkempt parks dotted with oil derricks, in parking lots, and on golf courses and university campuses. She compares what she finds to archival maps and oral histories she digs up in libraries. In her files are several hundred pages of transcribed stories told by people who lived in Southern California when it was still wild and wet. One 1902 federal map shows the Los Angeles basin, a bowl ringed by mountains from the Santa Monicas to the Santa Susanas to the San Gabriels, shot through with thin blue lines — streams — each of them tracing the thin line of a canyon: Benedict, Coldwater, Laurel, Franklin. Hall is on a mission to find the threads of every waterway Los Angeles has systematically buried since the late 19th century."http://www.laweekly.com/2006-11-09/n...f-los-angeles/

I knew of a few homes that sit in the shadow of the Pacific Design Center with constantly running pumps (in their basements and yards) to remove runoff attributed to the Hollywood Hills. Their streets are not particularly curvy, but maybe they should be.;)

"A study published in a 1997 Geological Society of America bulletin reported that a subterranean "alluvial fan" extends from canyons above Hollywood through the heart of the business district. An underground barrier traps groundwater, creating a water table that in some places is as close as 15 feet to ground level." http://articles.latimes.com/2007/feb/09/local/me-stars9

1925 Topographical Map of Sawtelle area. Full size is here:http://130.166.124.2/latopoh/sawtelle25.gif

http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_fo...opo_detail.jpg

Evidently, much of early Santa Monica was carefully plotted in straight lines.
(As the Bimini Slough did not extend to that area. :haha:)
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_fo...ica_detail.jpg
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_fo...onica_full.jpg
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_fo...-archives.html

Actually the radio itself (with seven buttons) is a vertical unit mounted to the left of the central speaker grille--the 20 rectangular openings of which I think you taking to be a bank of preset buttons....

Here is a '46 Chrysler with a famous Los Angeles backdrop:


http://img848.imageshack.us/img848/3...ergriffith.jpgChrysler/Ebay

High Tower (Hollywood Heights)
 

A friend and I went exploring Hollywood's High Tower neighborhood; here are some photos.


First, here's a then and now, with the 1931 shot we've seen here recently. This is the north end of High Tower Drive, looking north towards the elevator. Sadly there there was no pretty girl waiting and willing to pose for me. Note stairway behind elevator. Local residents can rent a key from the Elevator Association, everyone else walks.

http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/aahi...931usc.900.jpg


http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/DSCN0223.1000.jpg



---------------------------------------------


My friend called this one "Candy Land", a perfect description. On the right is a "wish tree" covered with hand written notes. This is as un-Noirish as you can get, but it does remind me of Clifton's. ;)

http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/DSCN0220.JPG


---------------------------------------------


Walkway to Glencoe Avenue. Its houses can only be reached on foot.


http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/DSCN0229.JPG


A lower section of the walk.


http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/DSCN0230.JPG



---------------------------------------------



At the south edge of High Tower, overlooking Hollywood United Methodist Church is a Frank Lloyd Wright house, The Freeman House, at 1962 Glencoe, from 1924. This is the so called "textile block" design, very striking. I read that the owner donated the house too the USC School of Architecture. It has been in poor repair for a while, though some renovations seem to be going ahead.


http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/DSCN0232.JPG


http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/DSCN0234.JPG



---------------------------------------------


Many of the homes around here are on "walking streets". You need to park at least block or two away and walk. I imagined coming home from LAX with a heavy suitcase. Or moving furniture. This is the Paramount Stairway.


http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/DSCN0248.JPG


These homes are very close to the Hollywood Bowl. If you live here, I suppose you can hear the Hollywood Bowl shows from your balcony. This is Broadview Walk.


http://dkse.net/david/HighTower/DSCN0249.JPG

:previous: Wonderful post 3940dxer/David. This whole area is so remarkable!

___

This one's for you Gaylord_Wilshire. :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img259/2884/a...are1905sil.jpg
silver gelatin print/ebay

The Berkeley Square Gate after a brief rain, circa 1905.

___

Freeway traffic in 1950s Los Angeles (be sure to watch full screen).

http://imageshack.us/a/img545/9472/a...lesyoutube.jpg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZNEy...feature=relmfu

____

Thank you, e_r. You could have given me no better present, other than perhaps one of the lamps on top of the gateposts or a scrap from one of the columns reading BERKELEY SQUARE. The
clarity of this shot is fantastic. I have a fuzzier, cropped version of this photo, which is the only thing I've uncovered so far that shows any part of #5 Berkeley Square, the Phillips/Hunt/McAdoo
house, the history of which is here. This is the Western Avenue gate at the east end of the Square; through it, from the right column, we see #5; to its left are the Llewellyn-Milner/Bilicke
house at #7; the Chester Arthur Montgomery house at #9; the Russell McDonnell Taylor house at #11; and the Albert Lllewellyn Cheney house at #15. (Perhaps you remember poor old dope
Al Cheney for his entanglement with our very own Hazel Glab, who is described in Fab Fifties Fan's Noirish post here.) The date is closer to 1913; the Taylor house was not completed until
1911, the Cheney not until 1912.

Great looking car, better looking building. Thanks.

Nice find E-R, the opening shot, obviously shot from Vermont looking down on the bus entry ramp, shows what was Wilshire Hospital high on the hill slightly left of center and then pans across to Queen of Angels north of the freeway. I was born in 'Wilshire' Hospital, now called Temple Community Hospital, in March, 1944.

Originally posted by Gaylord_Wilshire
http://imageshack.us/a/img535/8494/aaadohr.jpg
http://blog.modernmechanix.com/

The creamery statue sounded familiar (I circled it's description in red).



below: I recalled an earlier post of mine, and sure enough you can vaguely see the advertising 'sculpture' near the palm tree on the right.




And now for the piece de la re'sistance. The Adohr Creamery sculpture in all it's glory.

http://imageshack.us/a/img217/8194/a...gespelling.jpg
unknown


Obviously the location differs from the grounds of the creamery.
This field looks familiar; I believe it's the same field where several of the other sculptures were photographed.
Perhaps the advertising company trucked the massive sculptures to this field for photographs and then delivered them
to their intended sites (mind you this is only a guess).

Also it looks like the Adohr Creamery decided to paint the sculpture pure white (see my first photo above).



_____

originally posted by BifRayRock
http://imageshack.us/a/img442/2140/aacompanionssp.jpg
http://www.lapl.org/





Here is an companion photo that was probably taken on the same night.

http://imageshack.us/a/img100/1207/a...roughsdotc.jpg
http://www.ebay.com/

___

Betty Grable as Jenny Dolly about to careen off a cliff in 'The Dolly Sisters'.

http://imageshack.us/a/img717/7705/a...ollygrable.jpg
20th Century Fox

___

Here's a belated welcome Joe Gillis. Your posts have been great!

http://imageshack.us/a/img716/2749/a...cfidelity6.jpg
ebay

Of course the first thing I wanted to know is if the Pacific Fidelity Building is still standing.

below: The Pacific Fidelity Bldg can be seen down the block on the right (that's Bullock's Wilshire on the left).
To my surprise Westmoreland Avenue has been blocked off at this point.

http://imageshack.us/a/img11/6391/aa...cviewsofro.jpg
google street view




below: This view is looking north from 7th Street showing the blocked off Westmoreland. That's the Pacific Fidelity Building at the center
and Bullock's Wilshire on the right.

http://imageshack.us/a/img210/461/aa...cfidelityl.jpg
google street view

It turns out the Pacific Fidelity Building is part of Southwestern Law School. It's now known as the Westmoreland Building.


below: The closed off portion of Westmoreland Avenue forms a mini 'quad' connecting the Westmoreland Building to the Bullock's Wilshire building
(now the main building & library of Southwestern Law School)

http://imageshack.us/a/img209/2072/a...cf1westmor.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southwestern_Law_School

___


Next I wondered about the two towers that can be seen in the distance in the old construction photo.

http://imageshack.us/a/img802/2749/a...cfidelity6.jpg




The taller of the two is The First Baptist Church at 760 S. Westmoreland Avenue.

http://imageshack.us/a/img52/461/aac...cfidelityl.jpg
google street view


below: The shorter tower belongs to the first Unitarian Church at 2936 W. 8th Street.

http://imageshack.us/a/img526/461/aa...cfidelityl.jpg
google street view

___

http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics32/00065626.jpgLAPL


I'd never noticed this church before, e_r. It looks remarkably unchanged--the clock is gone (though a shadow appears to have been left behind), but even the various finials seem to have been deemed stable enough to remain.

It looks as though the street lighting remains original too.

Regarding the Pacific Fidelity Bldg., is there a construction date? (Assume it to have been post WW2) When visiting the BullocksW, the docent referred to the same building as having been used by Shell Oil. Was Shell a former occupant?

Pacific Fidelity is not listed at Westmoreland in '56 phone book, but several Ins. Cos. are at 621 and 630 Westmoreland. A glimpse of '60s phone books indicates 601 was Federated Dept. Stores and 616 included Chicago Title and Aviation Underwriters, but there is no Shell. For that matter, there is no "670" listed either. Guess the Fidelity Bldg., acquired a new mailing address when it eventually grew walls.

http://imageshack.us/a/img716/2749/a...cfidelity6.jpg

____________________________

Shell gas station and El Vaquero drive-in market, date unk.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059328.jpg LAPL

September 19, 1939, address unk.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics46/00057647.jpg LAPL


Looking N., Shell Oil Station South Broadway and Olympic Blvd. Circa 1939
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...DB62DAB51?v=hr http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1337867411393

Looking west from Broadway and Eleventh Street, November 21, 1931. In the first photo, there is a building bearing a long linear sign for "Southwestern University."

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-7644?v=hr

Good timing for the following motto: "The store where bargains reign." Do we know the store's name?
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-7643?v=hr

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets.../CHS-7642?v=hr

1939
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...6-18-ISLA?v=hr

1939
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...9-22-ISLA?v=hr

1928
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...A-EN-1237?v=hr

1925
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-37270?v=hr






All from http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1337867411393

:previous:
Like the reference to "Los Angeles' Finest Legitimate Play House"...I sure hope people at the time knew the difference and didn't go to the wrong sort (if they didn't want to).

It looks like the old Southwestern University building had tennis or basketball courts on the roof (the fenced off area on the left).

I really like the building on the corner. Is it an automobile showroom? Also notice the well dressed woman at the corner.

Here are a couple more interesting construction photographs.

below: You can see the steel frame for the Pacific Fidelity Building in the distance.

http://imageshack.us/a/img844/9854/a...c1midlandi.jpg
ebay







http://imageshack.us/a/img6/9854/aac...c1midlandi.jpg
ebay

"self erection" ;)

___

Could very well have been both, or even a multi-use deck, but I think in Chuckaluck's first pic you can see the backboard for a basketball hoop.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-_...icfidelduo.jpghttps://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...neinfoduo2.jpg


An even-numbered address doesn't makes sense for the west side of an L.A. street.... I figured the typist of the crane picture captions for a ditz, especially after noticing "Westmore" for "Westmoreland" in the second.... Anyway, the 600 "block" of Westmoreland is really two blocks, from 6th to 7th with Wilshire in between. The Bullock's business office and later its Federated parent company were a block north of the store at 601; the Pacific Fidelity Building was, as you can see from the two Times articles above, at 675. Interesting to note that it was a Welton Becket design. The articles are, respectively, from June 28, 1959, and June 24, 1960.


Pics: LAT, ebay