I assume you are speaking about the [paternalistic], Ms. Christine Sterling, who, without any input from the Chinese citizens, put together the 'movie set' version, of Chinatown--China City, and which burned down twice?

This view (below) of Los Angeles St. captures not only the grand old building which houses the Dragon's Den (which was in the basement) but also on down toward the Soochow Restaruant and Jerry's Joynt, where you can just make out the entrance to Ferguson Alley.

Just think how grand this area would be today, if these buildings had been saved and restored to the way they were in the early 1900's. What a waste of real estate, with the design of that on-ramp, and at that location. And, I agree with you about the Vincente Lugo House!! All, such a shame.

I have a deep interest in the history of the Chinese here in California; both, in the North and South of the state.


http://i49.tinypic.com/zv78kj.jpg

Dragon's Den.
Photo Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.

Yes, it was December 20, 1951, for this one short section in the downtown area, as reported in local newspapers at that time, as well as trade journals.
Other sections, were completed on other dates, and this may have added to confusion for some, who have written articles or have captioned photos, over the years.

Here is an (excerpted) quote from an article in the CalTrans, then Division of Highways, (DOH) in their [bimonthly] journal:

By R. C. KENNEDY, Secretary, California Highway Commission

THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES received a
Christmas present from the California
Highway Commission and the Division
of Highways on December 20th, last,
for on that day, a half mile of the Hollywood
Freeway, extending through
the Civic Center was open to traffic.

Dedicatory ceremonies started at 11 a.m.

Historic Spot
"This is an historic spot. We are
bringing this great freeway into the
heart of a city of 2,000,000 people almost
adjacent to the original Plaza
where Los Angeles started as a sleepy
pueblo in 1781.

"This one-half mile of the Hollywood
Freeway, which we are opening
today, is the culmination of a spirit
of cooperation rarely seen in state
government.

I am speaking of the cooperation
of the city and county of Los
Angeles with the Division of Highways
in arriving at an equitable solution
of the location of this particular
piece of the Hollywood Freeway.

Source: Official Journal of the Division of Highways,
Department of Public Works, State of California
January/February 1952.

http://libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/Californiahighways/chpw_1952_janfeb.pdf

Ray Bradbury The Pedestrian
 

Thanks for the post Chuckaluck. Ray Bradbury apparently never held a driving licence. He was a keen observer of the city -always on foot.

Bradbury maintained that the inspiration for his short story, "The Pedestrian" (1953), came from an incident when he was stopped by a police cruiser whilst walking down Wilshire Boulevard with a friend. When asked what they were doing, Bradbury is answered "Well, we're putting one foot in front of the other". After some arguing the police officer told them to go home and not to walk no more, to which Bradbury replied: "Yes, Sir, I'll never walk again".

Bradbury stated in an interview that "The Pedestrian" was effectively the beginning of Fahrenheit 451.

The Shape of Things That Were?

Strangely, I focused on Ray's statement that he traveled the streets on skates. This would have proven daunting for several reasons, including steel wheels, uneven terrain, unfriendly curbs and plenty of trolley tracks.

Another celebrated author, known for his sci-fi endeavors, was feted by Hollywood around the time Ray was breaking-in his skates. The question is where the event took place. Once source (LAPL) claims the Hollywood Roosevelt was the place, on December 4, 1935. Another source (Vanity Fair) sets the chicken dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

(clockwise from top left): Jack Warner, Paul Muni, William Dieterle, Hal B. Wallis*, Wells, Charlie Chaplin, and Cecil B. DeMille.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045054.jpghttp://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045054.jpg

*HbW ^^ reminds me of a young Alfred Hitchcock. (Not so below)

Vanity's prettier image:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/20...hotel-ss04.png



A.Hitchcock, circa '39
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics29/00064414.jpgLapl



Skating on the sand? (Yes, it is San Diego)
1926 - at or near a beach miles south of LA
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt1b69q075/hi-reshttp://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt1b69q075/hi-res

1958 - Children marvel at Pinky the donkey on rollerskates - Banning (former Stagecoach stop between parts east and LA.)
http://imgzoom.cdlib.org/Converter?i...=0&w=794&h=767http://imgzoom.cdlib.org/Converter?i...=0&w=794&h=767

A noirish Hollywood Roosevelt. Where HG ^^^ may have traipsed and RB may have rolled?


undated
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics04/00011984.jpg


Circa 1930
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072271.jpg


Circa 1936
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics16/00007614.jpg



no date (late '30s)
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics04/00011987.jpg


no date (late '30s)
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics04/00011986.jpg


no date (late '30s)
http://jpg1.lapl.org/spnb01/00007188.jpg


no date (late '30s)
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics04/00011985.jpg All from lapl

This is a very interesting photograph from the archive of a sign company.

http://imageshack.us/a/img191/2999/a...alheathdot.jpg
http://www.federalheath.com/company-...r-past/?pid=13

note the instructions on the photo: place the new sign 9'3" above the sidewalk and give the old globe lamp to the owner.

I've looked & looked for a later photo showing the new signage to no avail. What I did find was this matchbook (below)

http://imageshack.us/a/img803/3476/aabglobecoffeemb.jpg
ebay

I had no idea it was a cocktail lounge as well.
__

Yes, this is very interesting, such an obscure find from the very early 1930's.

You can see in the haze of the photo (same side of the street) the outline of The Title Guarantee and Trust Company Building (at 5th and Hill) an Art Deco style high-rise building at Pershing Square, which was built in 1930. This was another of the many buildings, designed by the Parkinsons who designed many Los Angeles landmarks, including Los Angeles City Hall and Bullocks Wilshire, and multiple buildings up in Pasadena.

And yes, you are correct, I just checked Google Street View, and the 'new' sign is not visible. :whistle:

Did you just solve my location query? I'm still a bit unsure (but the awnings match).




P.S.

The more I look at it, I'm sure this is the place. The William Fox Building across Hill Street was being built in 1931, which would explain the ground-floor construction in the News Stand photo. The Fox replaced the Butler Theater at 608 and other smaller buildings on the east side of that block of Hill:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-g...70230%2BPM.jpg
http://theatretalks.blogspot.com/201...treet-los.html

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-x...65517%2BPM.jpg
gsv - 625-613 S Hill

Doesn't this alley have a name?


Thx e_r :-)

Looks to me as though it's located on the ground floor of the Hotel Hayward but of course that would be Spring Street. I think this is the ground floor of the Consolidated Realty Building.

The awning stripes match, and also does the fire escape platform and ladder, which is directly above the awnings, closest to the street.

And....if you look carefully, you can see the two hooded flood lamps at the top edge of the awning, are visible in both photos.

Last, if you look down the alley and across (presumably) Hill St., you will see the large bldg. with all the small windows, which closely matches the still there, late 20's early 30's office building, which is visible on Google Street View, at 608 S. Hill, directly across the street from the 613 address and the alley.

IMHO, it's a match! ;)

Criss Cross, Sat, 4 May 13
 

There's to be a screening of "Criss Cross" (1949) at the Billy Wilder Theater at the Hammer Museum, Wilshire and Westwood on 4 May. It's on a double-bill with "The Killers" (1946):

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0...055%2520PM.jpg

http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/20...al-celebration

"Criss Cross (1949)

Directed by Robert Siodmak

A brooding narrative of betrayal and obsession set in the seedy nightclubs and back alleys of post-war downtown Los Angeles, Criss Cross stars Burt Lancaster as an armored car guard duped into committing a brazen heist in an ill-fated attempt to win back his duplicitous ex-wife (De Carlo) from her gangster husband (Duryea). Directed with atmospheric suspense by Robert Siodmak.

Universal Pictures Company, Inc. Producer: Michel Kraike. Based on the novel by Don Tracy. Screenwriter: Daniel Fuchs. Cinematographer: Frank Planer. Editor: Ted J. Kent. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Yvonne De Carlo, Dan Duryea, Stephen McNally, Esy Morales."

More info at the link above.

Thanks MR.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-K...35337%2BPM.jpg
http://www.you-are-here.com/downtown/realty.html

Consolidated Realty Building,
1908, by architect Harrison Albright

California Jewelry Mart
1935 'refacing' by architect Claud Beelman

Further 'modernization', 1967, by an unknown hand

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-X...35012%2BPM.jpg
http://www.csulb.edu/~odinthor/socal8a.html

(I couldn't find a photo of the Beelman version)

Early 40s
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-r...35130%2BPM.jpg
http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_fo...e-decades.html

I came across this photograph earlier today and it confused the heck out of me. The caption reads...

"Tracks for the Pacific Electric trolley heads past USC School of Art and over the Arroyo Seco in Garvanza, circa 1907."

http://imageshack.us/a/img5/4599/aab...secoingarv.jpg
http://highlandpark.wordpress.com/20...here-07-16-10/

PE had it's own bridge built in 1895 that crossed the Arroyo Seco taking it to Cawston's Ostrich Farm on the other side.

...but USC in Garvanza?
After a little research I discovered the USC School of Art was located in what is today's Highland Park until 1920.

http://imageshack.us/a/img600/9145/a...secowatera.jpg
http://waterandpower.org/museum/Early_Views_of_USC.html

You can see the USC seal on the right side of the building. (it's visible in the first photograph as well)



http://imageshack.us/a/img838/3246/a...royosecopc.jpg
postcard/ebay

This somewhat odd building (described as 'moorish') burnt down in December 1909. In 1911 a two story shingled bungalow/craftsman was built on the site. Nine years later the school moved to the USC campus in south Los Angeles *.

*Beaudry had posted this photograph earlier in the thread (I didn't realize it wasn't on the USC campus even though Beaudry mentioned Garvanza)
http://imageshack.us/a/img580/2100/a...secobeaudr.jpg
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=9576

Compare this photo with the postcard. There are slight differences.


There is an interesting second chapter to this story that I'll post later (unless someone beats me to it). :)
__

I solved your mystery location without even knowing it T2! That's what makes this thread so much fun. -serendipity


but I am still wondering what this word means. (especially since my last name is Barr)
http://imageshack.us/a/img69/2999/aa...alheathdot.jpg
detail
__

Maybe the name of the Coffee Shop owner?? ;) This guy would have been about age 44-45 in 1930.


George Alfred Barraclough was born 4 February 1886 at Missouri.

He was the son of Alfred W. Barraclough and Mary A Smith.

Census1910

George Alfred Barraclough appeared on the 1910 census as the head of household, ED 101 pg 7 #77 626 S Hill, Los Angeles Assembly District 75, Los Angeles Co., California. His info on the census included: Barraclough, Geo A 25 b.MO married 4 years, occupation restaurant-

http://www.babcockancestry.com/SS2-o/p15894.htm

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8177/7...d56f9222_o.jpg
Murder at 1328 East First Street, 1951

Murder at 1328 East First Street, May 5, 1951. Richard Hardy -- 39 years (victim) lies sprawled on sidewalk in front of hot dog stand after argument over dollar bill.

USCdigital archive/Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection, 1950-1961

Thanks SoCal54. :)
__


I wasn't sure if it was Cawston's or Crawston's. While checking I came across this photograph of a Cawston's store at 723 South Broadway.

http://imageshack.us/a/img716/5656/sstore.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img835/1424/sstore2.jpg
http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/kt429025rd/

I had no idea Cawston's Ostrich Farm had a retail store downtown.
__


the resplendent interior.
http://imageshack.us/a/img560/8715/sint2.jpg
http://imgzoom.cdlib.org/Fullscreen....and=calisphere
__

...back to NOIR.


Guy Whittsen murder 1930.

http://imageshack.us/a/img594/4954/a...canyonroad.jpg
http://fototeka.com/lapd/index.html

"The Guy Whittsen killing occurred almost midway between Cahuenga Pass and Burbank, described as a lonely spot on
Dark Canyon Road."


Dark Canyon Road in red
http://imageshack.us/a/img442/6946/aabmurderdark2.jpg
google earth

Barham Boulevard is a major artery that branches off of Cahuenga Pass connecting Burbank to Hollywood.


detail/location of the Whittsen murder.
http://imageshack.us/a/img443/6867/aabmurderdark1a.jpg
google earth
__

A couple of posts may have indirectly touched on the Broadway address.;)

Dial "Garvanza 926-927"

http://cdn2.retronaut.co/wp-content/...2012/03/0.jpeg
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=8832

A. L. Bath Building/Willoughby Hotel (1898)
 

Here's a building that turns up in many photos as it stood on the SE corner of 5th and Hill, across from Pershing Square (then Central Park). The Moorish-Revival A.L. Bath building, designed by Robert Brown Young, was built by Albert Leander Bath (1829-1905), originally from Nova Scotia, on land Bath had bought from A Cottle in 1874. Bath was a wheelwright with a shop on Spring near 3rd.

In this 1900 view the building is surrounded by private homes. The A. L. Bath Building was operated as the 30-room Willoughby Hotel by Mrs E Hollingsworth until 1917 (Willoughby was Bath's mother's maiden name). By the teens a Boos Bros cafeteria, the Portsmouth Hotel and the Lillie Hotel, among others, would join the Willoughby on the east side of Pershing square. The huge plate-glass windows look very inviting. A pendant street lamp and electric trolley car tracks show how modern LA was, even though the street remains unpaved.The Willoughby shared the Square with residences and two other large buildings, Hazard's Pavilion (1887) and St Paul's Episcopal Cathedral (1883):

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-C...20308%2BPM.jpg
uscdl


The urban additions to the Square made a huge change from its former exclusively residential use. The two-story home of Mary E. Taft may be seen near the NW corner of 5th and Hill in this 1880's view. Her brother, later Mayor, Henry T. Hazard built Hazard's Pavilion next door to her, to the west, in 1887. The Taft home fell in favor of the California Club in 1904. The home on the future site of the AL Bath Building / Willoughby's Hotel was enlarged into a boarding house before finally being demolished:
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-t...33538%2BPM.jpg
waterandpower.org/museum/early_cityviews

By 1890, the neighborhood had filled in considerably. The view below shows the back of Hazard's Pavilion on the right, next door to the Taft home. The AL Bath Building/Willoughby Hotel will not be built for another 8 years. The two-story home which will be replaced by the Willoughby still stands serenely on its corner. Pershing Square is out of view to the right:

By circa 1905 the Willoughby had gained some commercial neighbors. A residence remains on the south side of the Willoughby. It will be demolished in 1908:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-1...55255%2BPM.jpg
flicker via Beaudry

By 1910 Pershing Square was thoroughly urbanized. The scale of the buildings has changed dramatically. Wiring fills the sky. The Auditorium Building had replaced Hazard's Pavilion in 1906. The California Club has erased any trace of the Taft home. St Paul's Cathedral would vacate Pershing Square to make way for the Biltmore Hotel in 1922. The Broxburn, later Park, Hotel (also by RB Young), on the NE corner of 5th and Hill, one of the few buildings in the area that predated the Willoughby would fall for Curlett and Beelman's 1923 Pershing Square Building. The Willoughby/ A.L. Bath Building still holds its corner, with The Fifth Street Store rising behind it across Lindley Place:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-d...14340%2BAM.jpg
water and power (detail)

Willoughby and environs in 1910:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-R...25913%2BPM.jpg
1910 baist map - historic mapworks

Looking NW across the Willoughby's roof at the back of its tower (water tank?) ca 1912. The Broxburn Hotel's pointed tower is also seen to good advantage:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-8...12035%2BPM.jpg
cc pierce uscdl - detail (first posted by MichaelRyerson here)

This shot is looking SW from 5th (nd):
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-k...23230%2BPM.jpg
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/subwayarea.htm
(also posted here)

By 1951 the former Willoughby had lost its tower (presumably to accommodate the new roof-top billboard), its scale overwhelmed by (now named) Milliron's 5th St store behind it.
Street lamps have changed and buses replace trolleys:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F...54534%2BPM.jpg
water and power

1971 (below). I used to wait for my bus home to Hollywood in the late-1970's in front of the former Willoughby's, which was looking very tired. Both the old hotel and the Auditorium Building had rooftop billboards by then. Street lamps had changed yet again, not for the better. Pershing Square was very bare. Cops, sirens blaring, used to often drive right into it and spread-eagle suspects across the hoods of their squad cars. One of the things I was most struck by, returning to LA after years away in London, was how old LA was. There were more 19th-century and early 20th-century buildings still around then. Not really much different from large areas of London.

The upper floors of the old Willoughby were abandoned. After being away for a few days at the end of the '70s (or very early 80s), I returned to find that the top two floors had been demolished, the remainder covered with a flat, tar-paper roof. It was a real slap-dash job. The ragged edges of the tar-paper actually hung over the edges of what was left of the Willoughby. I suppose they were just saving the ground floor until the shop leases ran out. The single-story remnant hung on until 1984:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-g...20006%2BPM.jpg
urbandiachrony

Building detail:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-f...55553%2BPM.jpg
lapl

The Auditorium was destroyed in 1985; the site remains vacant. Also in the mid-1980s, the Biltmore turned its back on Pershing Square, relocating its entrance to Grand Avenue.

The 1988 view below shows the vacant lots where the Auditorium and the AL Bath Building / Willoughby Hotel once stood:

Now. Pershing Square Red Line station. The corner is an awful jumble these days and has one of those unfortunate Jetson-style cantilevered awnings:
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-p...21410%2BPM.jpg
gsv

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

There were wonderful follow-ups to this post:

Thank you to WS1911 for additional information:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=13742

oldstuff and Flyingingwedge added the following (some of which has been incorporated into the above):

Check out FW's entire, very informative post here.

And many thanks to Beaudry for confirming that RB Young was the architect.

The current view from the 'basement', SE corner 5th & Hill:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...20817%2BPM.jpg
http://eat-art.org/art/details/pershing_square_subway