Originally Posted by ProphetM (Post 6750552)

The Richfield Oil Company took this idea even further as a promotional tool, and erected a whole series of beacons along the entire west coast in 1928-29 to guide both flyers and drivers. Each was 125 feet high with a revolving beacon of 8 million candlepower, and most had a service station at the base, which were downright opulent compared to any other gas station of the day. Even the pumps featured specially designed encasements, including - instead of the typical logo globe topper - a miniature version of the Richfield racing car sculpture that has been pictured many times on this thread. This was placed atop the regular gasoline pump, while a similar airplane sculpture topped the Ethyl pump.

I happen to have a short book on the subject right now, as I have been making a Google Map of all the Richfield beacons. The tower & beacon on top of the long-lost beloved Richfield Building in DTLA was a part of this chain. As you might guess, the Great Depression put an end to plans to complete additional service stations at the towers that didn't yet have them, as Richfield soon entered receivership. Also scrapped were plans for an entire travelers' community with dining and lodging at each site. Only the beacon in Barstow ended up with the full treatment.

Though the tower on the Richfield Building was 4-sided, the other towers were 3-sided, with 'RICHFIELD' spelled out vertically on two sides and a two-letter code on the third side to indicate the location to flyers. All but one of the California service stations were of an identical design in the Mission Revival style. The northernmost CA station, and all of the ones in OR and WA, had the same footprint but were of an English Norman design. The tower usually sat directly in front, between the station and the road.

The operational life of the towers as aids to navigation was short; within 10 years they were essentially obsolete as radio navigation matured. Many remained for decades as promotional tools however, with some being used to advertise other businesses at the sites long after the Richfield lettering was removed. A few of these station buildings survive, including one mission-style station that still has its tower in Willows, CA, and one English Norman station with tower and two-letter code in Mt. Shasta, CA. The closest remaining building to Los Angeles is in Paso Robles, which retained its tower into the 1990s until a road widening and redevelopment of the property. The beacon from atop the tower at Capistrano Beach now resides at the Dana Point Historical Society's museum. The tower once located at Castaic Junction (just north of Six Flags Magic Mountain) was purchased by the LA County Fire Department in 1943 for reuse as a broadcasting tower in the mountains north of Chatsworth, near Michael Antonovich Regional Park. It may still be there today, or the current tower could be a replacement.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-O...ichfieldAD.jpg
Auto Club of So. Cal's Touring Topics, November 1928

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6751578)

We've seen many accidents on NLA, but this one doesn't ring a bell. (for me anyway)

March 10, 1946
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...537/116bU9.jpg
http://www.laweekly.com/informer/200...-march-10-1946

"This traffic accident occurred in front of highland Park's Arroyo Seco branch of the public library at Figueroa and Piedmont.
It involved a trolley car, a motorcycle and two cars."

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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6750061)

Here's a group of sepia photographs I found on ebay of the Von's Supermarket at the Crenshaw Shopping Center.
The shopping center was built in 1947 and I believe the Von's followed one or two years later...so these photos are probably around 1949.

detail / note the sans-serif V's on the collars of their smocks. pretty cool!


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Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6751635)

:previous: Aw, soooo cute! -and the baby isn't bad either. ;)

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Originally Posted by Graybeard (Post 6750582)

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6751604)

Here's another Broadway view from 25 years earlier!

1911
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...912/UVmDzV.jpg
http://memoriastoica.tumblr.com/post/61564043603

alas, it's a LARGE orb crowning a turret on an unidentified building.
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...540/GwZMdg.jpg
detail

...also, can anyone read what it says under the eave on that white building on the left? -it looks like Victor something.

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Originally Posted by oldstuff (Post 6750790)

Another note: from the 1920's through to about 1953 there were airports in the area, which are no longer there. Most notably Vail Field, which was located just southwest of the area of the beacon. There are maps on the site "Abandoned Airfields" which show its location as well as that of Montebello Airport, later East Los Angeles Airport, which was founded in the early 40's and lasted only into the early 50's. Some old maps show as many as three other airfields in the area. If someone who can post pictures would check the site and post the maps it would be clear where they were located. Vail in particular, was used apparently as a training field during the war.

When looking at a current map of the area, we see Vail Avenue and also interestingly "Mines Avenue" also in the area, Mines being the original name of LAX

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6751604)

Here's another noirish look at downtown Los Angeles from 25 years earlier!!

1911
http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...912/UVmDzV.jpg
http://memoriastoica.tumblr.com/post/61564043603

Originally Posted by Lorendoc (Post 6752029)

Thanks for that night picture, e_r. It is a lot more "primitive" looking somehow, what a difference 25 years make.

The view is from three blocks east of Broadway, looking east down E 5th Street. The building on the left is the "Victor Ponet Building" (early capitalist, Belgian consul, real estate developer).

The clues are the Somerset House (214 E 5th) and the bright sign "5 cents G[lobe] T[heater] which was at 202 E 5th. I think the picture was taken from the six-story Hotel Baltimore, which was and is at the SW corner of 5th and Los Angeles Sts.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6752635)

The Willard Storage Battery Company was another one of the factories listed under 'Midwick View Estates neighbors'.

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...538/Ecx90D.jpg
usc

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 6752635)

In the distance is a massive billboard advertising Montebello Park. It shows a giant arrow hitting a bulls-eye - pretty cool isn't it?

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/xq90/673/DW9zBj.jpg
detail

So is the building with the billboard on 9th street or some side street (it's hard to tell without knowing the direction of the photograph)
I'd like to know if the building's still there....it's a pretty nice looking.