Hey, the Vendome Hotel! That was an early one, at 231 South Hill, smack dab in the middle of the block between the two tunnels of 2nd and 3rd, built about 1888, when of course there were no tunnels there.

The reason the building next to it looks like a retaining wall is I think because it looks totally out of place next to the Victorian Vendome. That was a Late Moderne 1949 fire department garage and office building. In this earlier photo (1939, USC Digital Archives) you can see the 1924 fire dept HQ for Engine no. 3, Truck no. 2 and Rescue no. 3.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2551/...5d699218_o.jpg
The 1949 building was built in that parking lot between them.

As far as the Ems goes, if you look at the Baist's Real Estate Atlases, they list it as the Elms...even they thought "Ems" was too weird to deal with. I never did figure out where they got that name from. Much less why they plastered back only 1/3 of the building and then left all that naked shiplap.

Hi Nathan

Excellent information and photographs. They made my afternoon.
It's always amazing to compare before and after photos (especially when the after pics are from 1973).
I found the 1957 Thomas Guide map of Bunker Hill to be very helpful.

Below: I found a photo of the building we were discussing on the previous page. The one at 3rd Street and Grand Ave.
You were absolutely correct.....there is a sign for the New Grand Hotel (as well as the deli).


http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/9...donlylarge.gif

I don't have any info, but I'm guessing this is Walker Evans.

Below: Hotel St. Angelo at the corner of Grand Ave. & Temple Street. 1887



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

The Bradbury Mansion at the corner of Hill Street & Court Street 1890.

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3...bradburysr.jpg
usc digital archive




Below: The same mansion, different angle.


http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3...ymansionco.jpg
usc digital archive

Interesting! There's a b/w negative on eBay right now showing First and Spring from City Hall, and on the roof of the old building across Spring from the Times, a sign can be seen that clearly says, "Wilson Bldg." I'm assuming that's the glorious old Wilson Block that was opposite the Nadeau, cut down to only two floors?

It's odd which buildings survived and which didn't. The ones that did... well, I would have picked other more architecturally-worthy structures, but I suppose we should be grateful that anything within 3-4 blocks of the Civic Center survived at all...

Below: Looking northeast from Hill & 4th Street 1903.



http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/6...stfromhill.jpg
usc digital archive

*sighs* The gas tanks. Those things were iconic to me when I was a child. So were the big, brightly-colored ventilation fans on the roof of the Friedman Bag Co. building in front of them! When exactly were the gas tanks removed? In my mind's eye, they were still there around 1980, but clearly that recollection is mistaken. Also, when did the Brew 102 building meet its end? See how much I missed not living in L.A. for the last 26 years? :shrug:

Below: Looking east from the Crocker Mansion 1898. I think this photograph is exceptional.

What is the huge building on the distant horizon?



http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/2...eastfromcr.jpg
usc ditial archive


I just noticed what might be a cyclorama on the right hand side.
I recognize City Hall, but a couple of the other prominent buildings are a mystery to me.

There's a Newsom-design victorian if ever I saw one! Here is our local example of a grand Newsom manse...

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...California.jpg
Photo by Cory Maylett, Wikimedia Commons

That is this landmark structure.

Angels Flight Pharmacy 1960.


http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/2...illangelsf.jpg
unknown



http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/6...llangelsfq.jpg
unknown

So THAT'S the Los Angeles Orphans Asylum.
My god, it's a behemoth.

I had no idea it was so visible from downtown L.A.

Thanks for the info Scott.....much appreciated.

post 1

OMG these are all such great pics!

And Beaudry, great name! VERY old LA, I like it. Makes me think of Beaudry Avenue in downtown LA; I assume that street is named for Prudent Beaudry, an early Los Angeles mayor who was originally from Quebec, I believe. :)

I'm nostalgic for the Brew 102 building. I remember being fascinated by it as a kid when I would ride in the car with my family and we'd drive right by that building on the freeway (I didn't learn it was the Brew 102 building until I became an adult). What fascinated me about it was that it looked really old to me, and it was right up against the 101 freeway. In my mind as a kid, I thought it was odd that they would build a building right up against the freeway, when of course the building pre-dated the freeway and it was the freeway that was built up against the building, which created a little jog in the freeway. I don't remember when the Brew 102 building was demolished; mid or late 90s, maybe? Maybe a little later than that? I don't know, but even after it was gone, the jog in the freeway was still there for years. I think now with the Metro Gold Line Extension construction and the addition/reconfiguring of on and off ramps, even the jog in the freeway is now gone.

^^^Here is a photograph showing the Brew 102 Building Sopas_ej. It was taken from the top of City Hall in 1952.


http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/3...c1vbrewery.jpg
usc digital archive


I just noticed the Friedman Bag Company is there as well.
Are those the ventilation fans you were talking about Scott?

Move along, move along. ^^

Yep, that's them! Here's another view, from highway level, in this case Aliso Street:

https://otters.net/img/lanoir/00009385.jpg
lapl

Back when I was a kid, each of those ventilator fan things were painted a variety of bright pastel colors. They really stood out against the drab background of the gas storage tanks.

Anyway, your picture above is really fantastic. I guess that wasn't really freeway through there yet, though I'd think it would have been by 1952. There's evidently a traffic signal or stop sign there just beyond the Brew 102 building where cars are all stopped. And I love how Commercial Street is 6 lanes of one-way traffic in the foreground! Then 3 lanes veer sharply to the left and turn into Aliso/101. Great highway engineering there!

-Scott

That's from the Cushman Collection, which is absolutely great. Provides gems like these -- Broadway btw 1st and 2nd, 1952, http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2696/...cd66c4d9_o.jpg
and the 200 block of South Main,
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2711/...1ac2894c_o.jpg
...believe it or not, both of the vintage light poles in each picture remain. All of the buildings have been leveled, save for the tall building on the far right of the South Main image.

This is a great shot, which I'm sure was taken from the roof of the just-completed Fremont Hotel. That's the Hotel Antlers closest to the camera. And it's before the Black Building went in:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/...0a9934fe_o.jpg

I've always loved the dome atop the Brighton Hotel at Fourth and Hill.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2776/...84a02dd5_o.jpg

Which of course like other structures that've been talked about here lost its top to parapet ordinances...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2762/...dbf5bc2e_o.jpg

(top, cal state library, bottom two, USC digital archive)