Here's a couple more LA Noire Grabs.
Engine Co. No. 28, and yes you can drive the firetruck.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8098/8...09f284017b.jpg
Engine Co No 28 by krell58, on Flickr

Clifton's. A bit blurry on this one.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8071/8...221e18de99.jpg
Clifton's by krell58, on Flickr

Just flappin' in the wind
 

Originally posted by ethereal_reality, but modified by little ol' me.

And then there's this photo of a young woman who strongly resembles Elizabeth Short (circled in red) at a cast party (location unknown).
http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/1413/dahlia2.jpg
http://www.dialmurder.com/author/kenton-ridgeway/

Will someone please tell Howard Hughes that we have noticed his wigglybits? Thank you.

I love this thread.

Since I kind of barged into it with replies to posts and no introduction, using initials for regulars as if we're old friends, etc., I figured some introduction now might be polite.

I'm a lifelong northern Californian, the last 25 years or so in the Bay Area. I've always had a love for architecture, maps, and history, and when the three go together, all the better. Particularly fond of Art Deco architecture, along with craftsman and streamline modern, but I have a growing appreciation for a wide variety of styles. I get a serious thrills when I see beautifully designed and/or historic buildings from the past have either been kept up or lovingly restored. I spent a good number of vacations in my youth poking around the LA area with my dad while visiting grandparents (mostly in search of great bargains on antiques). My interest in LA's history and development has long exceeded my knowledge, so this thread is right up my alley.

Many months back, after so many years of driving down I-5 and catching glimpses of favorite buildings like city hall and the old county hospital, I decided to do some searching around online for photos of them from way back when. That pretty quickly led me here, and right away I felt the need to grab a certain noirish nighttime Toys for Tots city hall shot as my desktop wallpaper.

I've followed pretty much everything in here over the last several months, learning so much about the layout and history of LA old and new along the way, but still have yet to work my way very far through the beginning of the thread. I will get through all of it eventually though, in spite of some missing pictures due to website reconfigurations, there's so much great stuff to be learned here. I want to thank you all for the time you've put in here and the most pleasurable education it's given me. I hope that I'm able to spend enough time researching to give a little back along the way.

And thanks for indulging my very self-indulgent introductory post! :rolleyes:

Welcome to the thread gus37!

Like you I was doing a search on the net trying to find a picture of the downtown LA buidling, where my mom worked during WWII, and quickly stumbled across this thread. Well that was almost three years ago and it has been a great experience being a part of it!!!

I semi-retired two years ago and then started my own design business that keeps me busier that I've ever been so, unfortunately, I don't get to post much anymore but I still look forward to visiting the thread every day.
So once again welcome and enjoy:cheers:

~Jon Paul

More Black Dahlia & Dog info:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...-homicide.html

I noticed, but was hoping it was the world's smallest Speedo.

Welcome gus37, if it's OK to say that as I've only been posting here for 2 or 3 months longer than you after having been a lurker for years, long enough that I cannot now remember how I got here.

And please don't mind me, I've been convinced since I was about 5 that I'm the chief of the Architecture Police.

Very interesting photo of the New (at the left) and Old Los Angeles High Schools taken for the Court House at Broadway and Temple. View looks north in this reverse image.

Very interesting photo of the New (at the left in this reverse image) and Old Los Angeles High Schools taken for the Court House at Broadway and Temple.

Thanks for the warm welcome JP and T2!

Good eye, Hobocat! Yes, this is a horizontally-reversed image. It's important to note details like that. :tup:

-Scott

After a few days of looking around it is striking how hard it is to come up with anything showing Hill Street tunnel no. 2, either the south portal at Temple (a few shots, not much) or the north portal at Sunset (virtually nothing). Here's a smallish, grainy shot of the nearby north portal at Glendale Boulevard and Lucas.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8491/8...57ae7a10_o.jpg
PE Subway portal, Glendale Boulevard and Lucas, ca.1960

I think it's safe to say we're looking back across what was once the Toluca yard of the Pacific & Electric.

Metro Transportation library and Archive


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8300/7...f8fae871_o.jpg
Aerial view of intersection -- First, Second, and Glendale, Glendale (taken from Goodyear blimp 'Akron', 1100ft. pm), 1936

At lower-center the P&E Toluca yard is seen. North portal of Pacific and Electric tunnel is just out of frame at bottom center. Beautiful shot. First Street enters the frame at right center and runs west (to the left) and as it passes through the intersection it becomes Beverly Boulevard. Second Street enters from the lower right side and runs through the intersection, turning slightly right or north, becoming Glendale Boulevard. Lucas Avenue enters frame from the lower left and runs up to the intersection, making a slight jog left as it encounters the edge of the Toluca yard. S. Toluca Street enters frame lower right, encounters Second Street and then picks up beyond First Street at right center as N. Toluca, with a fork just north of the intersection for Douglas Street bearing to the left. The 'flatiron' building at the divergence of N. Toluca and Douglas is still there along with the two houses above it on N. Toluca. As is the white garage on the curbside of Lucas and the narrow staircase just above it has survived as well.

USCdigital archive/Automobile Club of Southern California negatives, 1892-1963



http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8191/8...1b7a07ff_o.jpg
PE Subway Article from Electric Railway Journal, September 6, 1924

Metro Transportation library and Archive


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8326/8...86d5eac4_o.jpg
PE Subway Elec. Ry. Journal- 2

Metro Transportation library and Archive


http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8362/8...bfc30a22_o.jpg
PE Subway map

Metro Transportation library and Archive

Always find it disconcerting when a map isn't oriented with the north to the top. Here north is to the right, obviously.

Interesting (at least to me) comparison of the intersection of Hill and Temple.
 

Here's a shot we were looking at a couple of days ago. The old City Garage used to be just to the right here, where that little triangle of dirt is sitting under that Rice Krispy billboard. If you look closely you can still make out the original Hill Street roadbed where it came out of the tunnel and met Temple at a ninety degree angle.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8369/8...72ab1488_o.jpg
Hill Street Tunnel at Temple, 1945

Small businesses and dilapidated hotels and apartments are in this view looking north from the top of the Hill Street Tunnel which was bored through a part of Bunker Hill in 1909 and connects Hill Street from First to Temple. The tunnel has two lanes; one for streetcars, left, and one for automotive traffic. A northbound Pacific Red Car stops for passengers. It will continue across Temple and then bend slightly left (west) and enter a tunnel which will carry it under Fort Moore Hill and come out on the north side adjacent to the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hill Street. A billboard for "Rice Krispies" with its "Snap, Crackle, Pop", right, is across the street in front of the 'Temp-Hill' Hotel (get it? Temp-Hill, Temple and Hill?? Yeah corny). Center, a billboard for "GMC Trucks" borders a parking lot. At the back of the lot is a billboard for "Eskimo Pie". A man climbs the stairs at the side of the tunnel. The broken balustrade on top is held together by a wooden frame.

LAPL

Now here's the intersection about twenty years earlier...notice the 'Temp-Hill Hotel' is there and the roof line of the building behind the billboards is the same and yet with the offset of Hill Street, jogging east as it crosses Temple, it is hard to see where the P&E tracks are. The curbline appears quite solid so where do the tracks cross over? I believe the Hill Street tunnel opened in 1916, so this is well after that date but I can't see where they cross Hill Street. When did tunnel no. 2 open for business? They must be just out of frame to the left.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7248/7...abc28585_o.jpg
Los Angeles City Garage with the civic center in the background, 1927

Photograph of the Los Angeles City Garage with the civic center in the background, 1927. The garage can be seen in the foreground at right and many automobiles are visible in a parking lot at center. The Hall of Justice, the Courthouse, the partially completed City Hall and the Hall of Records can be seen from left to right in the background. City Hall has no walls and is made of steel beams. Wide paved streets are visible in the foreground and at left.
Legible signs include, from left: ""Starts Friday April 1 Matinee Ladies", "Now Mats. Tues. Thurs. Sat. Smashing All Records Alias the Deacon with Berton Churchill", "Mother's 'Secret' for wonderful coffee -- Newmark flavor", "Now Playing New Mission Playhouse R. D. MacLean", "Old Gold", "Goodrich", "Rooms $1.00 & Up", "New Hotel Broadway and apartments", "The McCarthy Co. Homes on Terms", "Hotel", and "Private Keep Out".

USCdigital archive/California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960


And another shot of Hill and Temple from up Hill Street showing the back of the Temp-Hill Hotel and the extreme width of the roadbed north of Temple. (I believe these two 1927 shots may have even been taken the same day)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8296/8...eab5e6db_o.jpg
View of the Los Angeles Civic Center with the partially completed City Hall in the background, ca.1927

Photograph of a view of the Los Angeles Civic Center with the partially completed City Hall in the background, 1926-1928. The Hall of Justice, City Hall, the courthouse, and the Hall of Records are visible in the background from left to right. Only a skeleton of the City Hall is visible. In the foreground, several large Victorian houses line a section of Hill Street north of Temple. Early-model automobiles can be seen parked along the curbs on both sides of the street.

USCdigital archive/California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960

I tell ya, that tunnel no. 2 is an elusive thing.


'course we can go all the way back to the Montana Grocery store days...

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8425/7...a4bb690e_o.jpg
Montana Grocery Store on the corner of Temple Street and Hill Street, November 1908


Photograph of Montana Grocery Store on the corner of Temple Street and Hill Street, November 1908. A sidewalk is visible in front of the two-story store along the two roads, although neither road is paved. A sign advertising Coca-Cola is legible in huge lettering on the side of the building, below the clapboard veneer. The sign for the grocery store itself advertises "Fresh Fruits, Cigars and Tobacco," and "Laundry Agency". Utility poles line the side of Hill Street. Trees are visible at the top in the background at the top of the hill at the intersection with Court Street.

USCdigital archive/Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960


and we can then step across the street (Temple) turn around and take another snap...(here you get a nice sense of the second Los Angeles High School's location)

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8445/7...fe8af758_o.jpg
View of Hill Street looking north from Temple Street, Los Angeles, ca.1906

Photograph of a view of Hill Street looking north across Temple Street, Los Angeles, ca.1906. A man stands with his hands on his hips in the middle of Hill Street in the center foreground. The Montana Grocery is to his right and bears an advertisement for Western Star Soap. People walk along the sidewalk behind him. A wrought-iron fence stands in front of a two-story house further back, which is partially obscured by trees. In the background, the clock tower on Los Angeles High School on Fort Moore Hill can be seen. More Victorian-style residences line the street to the right. Utility poles enter the frame from the right foreground. The streets are apparently unpaved.

USCdigital archive/Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960

Could the bottom image (dated ca. '06) actually be later than the first (dated Nov. '08)? The advertising painted on the clapboards has expanded and the closest utility pole seems to have grown another cross arm. :rolleyes:


I have wondered whether the second image didn't give rise (literally) to the notion of a levitating house on its way to Oz. Notice the building that appears to float or be balanced on a single support. Coincidentally, L. Frank Baum, of Yellow Brick Road fame, had several residences in Downtown and Hollywood, including 2322 Toberman Street and 1749 N. Cherokee Avenue (aka "Ozcot.") Read more about it here: http://allanellenberger.com/l-frank-baum/


Ozcot (undated, Cherokee and Yucca)
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics42/00070843.jpgLapl

Yes, the dates could vary by several years in either direction (we see that sort of thing all the time) but I think the side board advertising has expanded with the 'Coca Cola' advertising in the '08 image which would mean the White Star soap image was painted over while the smaller black (appearing) signage nearer the front of the store goes the other way, ie larger in the earlier pic and smaller in the later one. although, now that I say that, the smaller square above the black signage could very well have been a separate, portable sign, maybe printed on tin and therefore not actually part of the wall painting. Of course none of that explains the sudden expansion of the telephone crossmembers.

On the seemingly never ending focus on La Brea Avenue auto dealers, I noticed an undated interior shot of an auto showroom located at or near 4th and La Brea. It is coincidentally described as the "H.W. Baum Building." If I can find my way, I am thinking of offering $100 down and traveling to San Jose.

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...MVSUXEIX83.jpg CalStLib

Have just caught up with all the pages to this thread and am amazed at the knowledge out there - I come from Southern England but am fascinated by the thirties and forties Los Angeles - particularly the "bent" police force.

However - I wonder if anyone has any information on Charles H Bigelow who used to drive a "twin six Packhard" he called "Cactus Kate" - I believe he did a regular run between LA and Las Vegas in 1915/16 ?

Keep up the good work and long may this thread continue

Nomad13

Those are Chevrolets, 1930 models, I'd say. I posted something about Nugent Chevrolet a while back (#7504 here). The dealership was once at 627 S La Brea until moving to 400 by 1934... so if this is actaully a shot from La Brea's auto row, it must be 627. H W Baum was a building contractor, which may explain his name being attached to the building.

The Wilcox Hotel is now being rennovated starting today. Some time ago I heard that it was being converted into affordable housing for seniors. Whether this is still the direction of the project I do not know. I asked a construction worker what was happening and all he knew was that he was to take one section of the hotel and turn it into a "model unit."

I'm walking over now to take pictures but I do not know how to post a new thread on this site or whether it is possible. I remain confused about how this site works and therefore miss posting much valuable information that comes my way.