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-   -   noirish Los Angeles (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=170279)

ethereal_reality Jun 10, 2009 8:28 PM

noirish Los Angeles
 
I lived in L.A. for 8 years and still hold it in high esteem.
I recently spent several months going through some 50,000+ photos from the USC Digital Archives* and the Los Angeles Public Library.

Many of the photographs have a romantic quality to them.
I always felt this was a 'noir' city, especially in the winter when the warm Santa Ana winds swept through the basin.

I lived on Hancock between Santa Monica Blvd. and Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood.
Amazingly, the small bungalow where I lived is still there.

Enough said:
Here are the photographs of Los Angeles.
I will continue posting them over the next several months.

Please feel free to add any old L.A. photos you might have.

________


*IMPORTANT NOTICE

"The University of Southern California owns copyright to many of the images posted in this forum. The original images and descriptive metadata
can be found in the USC Digital Library <http://digitallibrary.usc.edu>, along with rights and licensing information."





Photobucket content was removed from NLA on July/26/2017

but the thread is still going strong & the majority of photographs remain. :)





below: Los Angeles, New Year's Eve. December 31, 1951

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/520...adec311951.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...M-N-9439-014~1







http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/362...yhall1952a.jpg

from City Hall 1952.

lost image. : -(




http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/4...ndateunkno.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...W-02-75-1-ISLA

above: downtown L.A. looking northeast, around 1965





http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/153...ortots1951.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...M-N-9413-001~1


above: This is one of my favorites! The rotating beacon is visible atop City Hall,
and a portion of Bunker Hill can be seen on the lower left. The year is 1951.



http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/917...ieldtoweri.jpg

The Richfield tower can be seen in the distance.



http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/682...ieldwith14.jpg

The Richfield Building with it's 146-foot tower in 1955


http://img154.imageshack.us/img154/5...nfromsouth.jpg

Downtown from the south in the 1930s.
Note the Richfield Building in the far distance.
_______

BrandonJXN Jun 10, 2009 10:19 PM

Amazing..simply amazing.

LosAngelesSportsFan Jun 10, 2009 10:26 PM

^ exactly right! awesome stuff. thank you

SLO Jun 10, 2009 10:54 PM

Such a fascinating era for the city. I got to tour around DTLA, Pasadena, and out to the beach cities with my inlaws who grew up in LA and Pasadena at that time. I really would have liked to see the city at that time, they talked about riding the streetcars, going through orange groves, and how far Long Beach and the other beach cities seemed at that time. Please post more if you have them...

ethereal_reality Jun 10, 2009 11:16 PM

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/3...nfromsouth.jpg

Downtown from the south 1929. Looks like street widening.





http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/8...ldowntown1.jpg

Downtown 1930s.
In the distance, the Hall of Records on the left, City Hall on the right. 15 cent movies, hear every word.





http://img543.imageshack.us/img543/7...eplacenla1.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...M-N-9399-023~1

Downtown Los Angeles 1948
There are two buildings with domes in the foreground. Can anyone tell me what they are?

___

sopas ej Jun 11, 2009 1:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4299196)
http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/6...nlosangele.jpg
There are two buildings with domes in the foreground. Can anyone tell me what they are?

I believe the one on the lower left is the Embassy Hotel and Auditorium on south Grand Avenue. I don't know what the other one is.

ethereal_reality Jun 11, 2009 3:36 AM

...well, thanks. wrong pic though. (see my post #5)

sopas ej Jun 11, 2009 3:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4299671)
...well, thanks. wrong pic though. (see my post #5)

Oops I meant to post the other one, lemme correct it.

Corrected.

ethereal_reality Jun 11, 2009 3:51 AM

Ok, now I understand. Thanks for the information sopas_ej.



One of my favorite buildings, the Hall of Records. The photo is from 1950s.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/3530/hallj.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1326337369662




http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8...mcityhall1.jpg

The Hall of Records west from City Hall, with remnants of Bunker Hill (or is it Court Hill/Ft. Moore hill?) in the background 1956.
Anyone know what the solitary building on the left is?




http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/6...ranierbeer.jpg
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1326337900157

Hall of Records, with Rainier Pale Beer sign....very cool.

___

sopas ej Jun 11, 2009 4:34 AM

The old Hall of Records was indeed a nice building. Too bad it had to be demolished.

Here it is in its last days, with the Criminal Courts Bldg. being constructed right up against it in 1970:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics26/00032560.jpg

1973:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics17/00018182.jpg

Being demolished later in 1973:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics26/00032559.jpg

Of course the building is at an odd angle on the block because it followed the old street pattern before they were widened and realigned:
1924
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics26/00047853.jpg

All pics from lapl.org

sopas ej Jun 11, 2009 4:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4299693)

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/8...mcityhall1.jpg
The Hall of Records west from City Hall, with remnants of Bunker hill in the background 1956.
Anyone know what the solitary building on the left is?

I don't know what that building on the left is, but it can clearly be seen in this shot of that area a few years later in the early 1960s; you can see that the hill has mostly been smoothed down with the Civic Center Mall under construction and some government buildings occupying the area, and in the distance you can see the beginnings of the Music Center, with the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion still under construction and the Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson not built at this point; the DWP building is visible:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics45/00072423.jpg

Here's an earlier shot of the area before the DWP Bldg. and Music Center were even built:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics49/00044282.jpg

The same area in the early 1970s, before the old Hall of Records was demolished:
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics50/00074516.jpg
All photos from the lapl website

Sorry to veer away from the "noir" theme but I just wanted to show the evolution of the LA Civic Center.

dktshb Jun 11, 2009 5:36 AM

Thanks so much for posting these pictures. I very much appreciate it but it makes me almost ache to see so many of those buildings gone now.

BrandonJXN Jun 11, 2009 5:09 PM

Here is what found.

Downtown from the late 1970's
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2236/...1f2959b9_b.jpg
Matt

Eastern Columbia Building
http://img72.imageshack.us/img72/762...ncolumbvu9.jpg

Downtown circa 1930
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...1930AERIAL.jpg

6th Street circa 1913
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1.../6thst1913.jpg

Broadway circa 1940
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...eles_1940s.jpg

3rd St circa 1973
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1.../3rdst1973.jpg

Grand Ave circa 1982
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...RANDAV1982.jpg

Broadway circa 1931
http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8...ebroadwvk8.jpg

Miracle Mile (Wilshire Blvd) circa 1965
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics47/00058371.jpg

Los Angeles circa 1964
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics21/00060078.jpg

Venice Beach circa 1920
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics45/00057180.jpg

Bunker Hill circa 1969
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics49/00059372.jpg

Glendale circa 1900
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics22/00060851.jpg

ethereal_reality Jun 11, 2009 5:29 PM

So many great photos.

Concerning the 1st pic (color from the 1970s) that ThreeHundred posted:
Is this the area they want to turn into a park?

LAsam Jun 11, 2009 10:48 PM

That photo of Broadway is unreal. I like how the city used to look with City Hall as its tallest building. It looks quite majestic.

sopas ej Jun 12, 2009 1:08 AM

Here's another old photo from the LAPL website.

Again, not film noirish; this time more like end of the silent-movie era/dawn of the talkies. It shows the plan to widen Spring Street near that now-demolished Hall of Records and old County Courthouse building.

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics29/00049287.jpg

Here's the caption that goes with the photo: The gnarled hand of Time rips out a strip from the heart of old Los Angeles today, to make way for modern progress. Spring Street is to be cut through from Temple Street to Sunset Boulevard to create a new traffic artery, dooming the historic buildings crossed by the dotted lines marking the path of the extension and eliminating Justicia Street that goes up the hill at left. This street of memories, which was Buena Vista, "Good View," street in the past, and its hill that was the "Nob hill" of Los Angeles will be eliminated. The building first struck by the dotted lines is the old county jail. That just back of it is the old Hall of Justice. Photo dated: April 3, 1930.

Tanster Jun 12, 2009 1:20 AM

WOW this threads amazing !!!

sopas ej Jun 12, 2009 1:28 AM

Ah, could this be the building you were asking about before, ethereal?

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics08/00013839.jpg

The LAPL website doesn't say what it is, except that this photo dates from 1951. Maybe it was filled with law offices?

Broadway and Temple, 1945
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics37/00068424.jpg

Broadway and Temple, 1930
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics08/00013671.jpg

Broadway and Temple, 1940
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics08/00013661.jpg

What a difference 10 years makes in scenery and fashions in clothes and cars!

And see that Old County Courthouse that dates from the late 1800s in the 1930 photo? It was demolished and then temporary bungalows were built on the site to house the various courts; looking at other photos, it became a parking lot, and then eventually the site of the current Criminal Courts Building, or the Clara Shortridge Foltz Courts Building or whatever it's called now.

Demolition of courthouse, 1936
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics17/00018444.jpg

1948, temporary bungalows housing courts:
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042941.jpg

All photos from LAPL.org.

ethereal_reality Jun 12, 2009 1:29 AM

^^^WOW sopas_ej.....that's an amazing find.

I've always wonders what the bungalows were doing in this area.
So they were temporary courts. I would have never figured that out on my own.

___

sopas ej Jun 12, 2009 1:33 AM

Some color photos, showing the LARY streetcar (NOT the Pacific Electric, which always gets all the hype).

1963, crossing the 1st Street Bridge; rail cars once again will be crossing this bridge regularly with the Gold Line Eastside extension! Woo hoo!
http://images.nycsubway.org/i17000/img_17333.jpg

1963, headed down 1st Street; that block of course is now the site of the new LAPD headquarters.
http://images.nycsubway.org/i17000/img_17339.jpg

Photos from nycsubway.org

ethereal_reality Jun 12, 2009 1:42 AM

http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/870...es1957poss.jpg
usc digital archive

The Times Building and the Richfield tower 1957.





http://img61.imageshack.us/img61/110...lywood1946.jpg
usc digital archive

Hollywood 1946

I love L.A.

sopas ej Jun 12, 2009 10:18 AM

The Academy Awards at the Pantages Theatre, Hollywood, 1951:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045013.jpg

The fans across the street:
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics21/00045003.jpg
From LAPL.org

Following photos from uncanny.net
Hollywood and Western, early 1950s
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/hotelrector1950s.jpg

Grauman's Chinese Theatre, 1954
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/chinese.JPG

Echo Park, 1950s
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/echopark1.JPG

The PE streetcars went in between houses in Hollywood in private rights-of-way...
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/hollytopo.JPG

If you drive to Sunset and Gardner now, where the Moun of Tunis Moroccan restaurant is, you can see the old diagonal right-of-way, which is now a driveway to the parking lot of the Moun of Tunis restaurant.

1950s:
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/vista1.JPG

Sunset and Gardner:
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/gardnercrossover.jpg

At Gardner St.:
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/gardner1.JPG

Santa Monica Blvd. and Palm, West Hollywood:
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/westholy.JPG

Same location, but much earlier, probably early 1920s; the south side of Santa Monica Blvd. hadn't been built yet (wasn't built until 1928), so two-way traffic went on the north side of the PE tracks:
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/WestHollywoodearly.jpg

sopas ej Jun 12, 2009 10:33 AM

Western Avenue looking north towards Santa Monica Blvd., 1940s:
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/westernave.JPG
From uncanny.net

Pasadena Freeway tunnels, circa 1950s... back when there was no graffiti:
http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/tunnels.jpg
From yesterdayla.com

ethereal_reality Jun 13, 2009 5:16 PM

^^^Get a load of the colorful cars....that is too cool.
I love all the pics of the old transit system as well.

ethereal_reality Jun 13, 2009 5:55 PM

All the following photographs are from the USC Digital archives.



http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3...ilebldg512.jpg

above: Mercantile Building, 512 South Broadway, Los Angeles
This photograph was taken in 1957





http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/3...bldg617nma.jpg

above: Sentous Building at 616 N. Main St. Los Angeles
The arrow points to a woman hanging a black wreath on the doorway in protest of it's destuction.
The photograph was taken in 1957.




http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7...ntbldghill.jpg

above: Paramount Building on Hill Street in 1960.
I'm confused about the now leasing sign (for a 35 story building)




http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1...bldgmainan.jpg

above: The Architect's Building at 816 W. 5th Street.
I believe this beautiful building was torn down around 1958.....but I'm not certain.
Let's hope I'm wrong.





The following are BEFORE and AFTER photographs of the same building.



http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/8...bldg746slo.jpg

above: The Connell Building, 746 S. Los Angeles St.




http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/1...bldgmodern.jpg

The Connell Building, 746 S. Los Angeles ST. after modernization in 1959.

At least the old building is still underneath.

ethereal_reality Jun 14, 2009 1:19 AM

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/1...bldgdownto.jpg

^^^I love that SUNKIST Building.

sopas ej Jun 14, 2009 3:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4304775)

Oh me too. It's too bad that they felt they needed to move their headquarters into the SF Valley.

Of course now the Bunker Hill Steps and the US Bank Tower are in that area.

sopas ej Jun 14, 2009 4:12 AM

I'd like to call attention to what WAS the Southern California Edison Building, but what has now been called the One Bunker Hill building. If you notice, back in the old days, there was a street that sloped down directly in front of it, but that was obliterated later and now a small commercial building is in front of it:

Then
http://www.publicartinla.com/Downtow...nker_hill.jpeg
From publicartinla.com

Now
http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/Im...Oct08-002a.jpg
From glasssteelandstone.com

sopas ej Jun 14, 2009 4:51 AM

Here's the evolution (or devolution) of the 3rd St. Tunnel area of Bunker Hill:

3rd and Hill, 1901
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00008/00008530.jpg

3rd and Hill, 1903
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00008/00008585.jpg

3rd and Hill, circa 1910
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00008/00008586.jpg

3rd and Hill, circa late 1920s
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00008/00008549.jpg

3rd and Hill, 1930s
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00008/00008534.jpg

3rd and Hill, 1950
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00008/00008552.jpg

3rd and Hill, late 1960s
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00008/00008548.jpg

3rd and Hill, 1978
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017537.jpg

3rd and Hill, 1986
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017538.jpg

All pics from lapl.org

sopas ej Jun 14, 2009 5:10 AM

Bunker Hill, Hope Street looking south from 3rd, 1956
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb1/00017264.jpg

Bunker Hill, Hope Street looking south from 3rd, 1987
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017555.jpg

Notice the pyramid roof of the Central Library; it's very obvious in these shots that Bunker Hill was regraded and made lower.

I read somewhere that one plan for Bunker Hill redevelopment was to remove the hill entirely, and of course other hills in downtown LA were removed, but for some reason they went with just flattening Bunker Hill somewhat.

Here's another evolution of a downtown section:

Looking southwest from Hope and 4th, 1968
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017505.jpg

Same scene, 1969
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017507.jpg

Same scene, 1970
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042797.jpg

Same scene, 1971
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017557.jpg

Same scene, 1990
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017556.jpg

All pics from lapl.org

sopas ej Jun 14, 2009 5:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4304249)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1...bldgmainan.jpg

above: The Architect's Building at 816 W. 5th Street.
I believe this beautiful building was torn down around 1958.....but I'm not certain.
Let's hope I'm wrong.

I'm afraid it was torn down long ago...

In the pics I just posted above, it looks like it was torn down within a few years after the Art Deco Atlantic Richfield building was, to build the ARCO Towers/now City National Plaza. You can see what I think is the Architect's Building in the 1968 and 1969 photos.

You can also see the back of the Sunkist building in the 1971 shot.

ethereal_reality Jun 14, 2009 4:45 PM

^^^ Yes, you're right sopas_ej,
that is the Architect's Building in 1968 & 1969 photos.
Note in the second one they're dismantling it from the top down,
it seems the top 2 or 3 floors are already gone


http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/385...ectsbldgm1.gif

above: Here's another pic of the Architect's Building.
(the top seven floors were rented to prominent architect's, hence the name)



I have to thank you for posting the Bunker Hill evolution/devolution pics.
Bunker Hill is prime 'noir' territory
(featured in such films as 'Night Has a Thousand Eyes' 1948,
'Act of Violence' 1949, 'Criss Cross' 1949, 'Kiss Me Deadly' 1955 among others )
And yet it's still a mystery to me.
They leveled and destroyed it so well that it's hard for me to place it now.
(where it was exactly, or which way it ran, how large an area, etc.)


Anyway, the pics you posted helped clarify it a bit for me.
But it's still somewhat of a mystery to me, and maybe it's better that way.

Leo the Dog Jun 14, 2009 5:02 PM

LA is just such an amazing city. The changes that have taken place in such a short period of time is just mind-boggling! It is unbelievable what will change in one's lifetime. This has got to be one of my favorite photo threads on this site. Thanks to everyone that has posted these pictures.

sopas ej Jun 16, 2009 6:01 AM

Freeways (all pics from lapl.org)

The oldest freeway on the west coast, the Pasadena Freeway (back then called the Arroyo Seco Parkway), 1940
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics52/00075971.jpg

Cahuenga Freeway, 1940s (now part of the Ventura Freeway through the Cahuenga Pass)
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics49/00074334.jpg

Harbor Freeway, 1950s
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics38/00068725.jpg

Hollywood Freeway, 1950
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics43/00041109.jpg

Section of Hollywood Freeway under construction, 1952, looking west from Western Avenue
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics43/00041137.jpg

Aerial view of Hollywood Freeway, 1951. From this view you can see how much was torn down and what a scar it has left.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics27/00033069.jpg

OneMetropolis Jun 16, 2009 9:49 PM

:previous: :previous: What happened to the LA street cars from back than? L.A. really seemed to be headed in the right direction at the time with that massive transportation system. Can someone tell me I really want to know.

ethereal_reality Jun 17, 2009 4:36 PM

^^^ Off the top of my head, here is my take on it.

In the 1950s/60s the powerful automobile industry (GM especially) used their significant political clout to lobby AGAINST electrified transit....and to lobby FOR gas powered buses and cars ("a car in every garage" was a motto back then)
They lobbied for highways and expressways that slashed through the urban fabric, destroying whole neighborhoods. In turn, downtown Los Angeles became pockmarked with hundreds of hideous parking lots. We lost thousands of vintage buildings for nothing more than a place to park.


OK, I just found an essay that explains it much better.
Below is an excerpt by Harvey Wasserman

In a 1922 memo that will live in infamy, GM President Alfred P. Sloan established a unit aimed at dumping electrified mass transit in favor of gas-burning cars, trucks and buses.

Just one American family in 10 then owned an automobile. Instead, we loved our 44,000 miles of passenger rail routes managed by 1,200 companies employing 300,000 Americans who ran 15 billion annual trips generating an income of $1 billion. According to Snell, "virtually every city and town in America of more than 2,500 people had its own electric rail system."

But GM lost $65 million in 1921. So Sloan enlisted Standard Oil (now Exxon), Philips Petroleum, glass and rubber companies and an army of financiers and politicians to kill mass transit.

With a varied arsenal of political and financial subterfuges, GM helped gut the core of America's train and trolley systems. It was the murder of our rail systems that made our "love affair" with the car a tragedy of necessity.

-Harvey Wasserman

ethereal_reality Jun 17, 2009 6:51 PM

The car culture takes over.

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/9...960slifema.jpg

Los Angeles 1960 LIFE magazine

Buckeye Native 001 Jun 17, 2009 10:18 PM

Absolutely love these old LA photos.

Phillip Marlowe would be proud ;)

Atlantan26 Jun 18, 2009 2:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sopas ej (Post 4301926)
Western Avenue looking north towards Santa Monica Blvd., 1940s:
http://www.uncanny.net/~wetzel/westernave.JPG
From uncanny.net

Pasadena Freeway tunnels, circa 1950s... back when there was no graffiti:
http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/tunnels.jpg
From yesterdayla.com

this doesnt even look real.
it looks like one of those model train set type things.

BrandonJXN Jun 18, 2009 9:49 PM

Here is what I found.

1959
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00081/00081918.jpg

1957
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00076/00076864.jpg

1989
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00081/00081244.jpg

1955
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics47/00058390.jpg

1954
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics32/00050664.jpg

1925
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics26/00047852.jpg

LosAngelesSportsFan Jun 18, 2009 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4311588)

looks like much hasnt changed in regards to traffic!

sopas ej Jun 19, 2009 7:07 AM

Westwood

I think the history of Westwood is interesting in that it was originally a planned community created by the Janss Corporation to complement the new campus of UCLA, which chose the Westwood site in the 1920s and opened in 1929; it was the third site for the campus, which originally was in the location of where the LA Central Library is in downtown LA; the 2nd site was on Vermont Avenue, where Los Angeles City College is now.

Westwood Village was actually created as the "shopping center" for the area; it was actually considered an auto-oriented shopping center, even though people walked around the Village; so I guess it IS possible to make something with the automobile in mind but also pedestrian-oriented; I'd like to also point out that the main entrance to Westwood Village is from Wilshire Boulevard, another purposely auto-oriented street (on purpose, no streetcars ever went down Wilshire) but still pedestrian-friendly, at least during the pre-WWII era. In the 1980s, Westwood was a very hip hangout area for UCLA students and people from outside the area, and got very crowded on weekends, with the streets even being closed off to traffic while people promenaded to go to the many movie theaters and restaurants/nightclubs; in fact during the 80s, it was touted as one of the few places in LA where people actually walked. In the 1990s Westwood started going on the skids, even now it's very slowly making a recovery. It's still the site of many movie premieres, though.

Westwood Village, circa mid-1930s (from yesterdayla.com)
http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/westwood9.jpg



Westwood Village, circa mid-1950s. (from yesterdayla.com) Notice the specially designed streetlamps, which were installed throughout Westwood Village. The bases were purposely tiled in blue and gold, the colors of UCLA. They were all replaced in the 1960s or 1970s with the ugly twin cobra-head streetlamps. I think only one original "Westwood Special" streetlamp exists, it's on the side of that domed building you see in the center of the photo, which originally was the Janss Corporation office; in this photo it's the Bank of America. Today it's a restaurant.
http://www.yesterdayla.com/Graphics/westwood2.jpg

Westwood Village, 2005 (from wikipedia)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...oodvillage.jpg

LeConte and Westwood Blvd. looking southwest from entrance to UCLA campus, 1932
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013368.jpg
From lapl.org

Same scene, 1937
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013442.jpg
From lapl.org

Broxton and Westwood Blvd., 1930
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013367.jpg
From lapl.org

Fox Westwood Village Theater, 1930s
http://jpg2.lapl.org/theater3/00015716.jpg
From lapl.org

Fox Westwood Village Theater, 2006
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...agetheater.jpg
From wikipedia

Westwood Stores, 1934
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013397.jpg
From lapl.org

Westwood Village, 1940s
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013429.jpg
From lapl.org

1944
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013420.jpg
From lapl.org

1930s
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013435.jpg
From lapl.org

1940
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics07/00013441.jpg
From lapl.org

UCLA Campus, circa 1930s. The original buildings of the current Westwood campus of UCLA were designed in a Romanesque Italian red brick style, which was a popular style of architecture for American college campuses in the 1920s, but it was specifically chosen to complement the dramatic hilly location reminiscent of an Italian or Mediterranean hill town (with the exception of Kerckhoff Hall, built in a Gothic style, the only Gothic-style building on campus). After WWII, the architectural style was abandoned for contemporary modern and post-modern styles, and the campus has been built up with many buildings, obscuring the "lone hill town" look of the original cluster of buildings around the quad.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042374.jpg
From lapl.org

An arroyo or dry riverbed used to run through the UCLA campus, with a brick bridge matching the Romanesque Italian-style original buildings crossing over it, leading to the quad on the east side from Hilgard Avenue. However after WWII, the arroyo was filled in to provide land for more buildings; the bridge was subsequently buried, and today appears to be a paved walkway with low brick walls lining it.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042777.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042772.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042720.jpg
From lapl.org

Construction of UCLA's new campus, 1927
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042717.jpg
From lapl.org
From lapl.org

Students and the new UCLA campus, opening day, 1929
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042734.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042745.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics45/00042348.jpg
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics46/00042723.jpg
From lapl.org

The older campuses of UCLA
Here is UCLA's second campus, on Vermont Avenue, which was the location for most of the 1910s and 1920s. What was then the southern branch of the California State Normal School moved to the Vermont Ave. campus in 1914 from downtown LA. In 1919 it became absorbed into the UC system and attained University status. It quickly outgrew this campus which is why it moved to Westwood in 1929. This Vermont Avenue campus is now the location of Los Angeles City College. I don't think these buildings even exist anymore:
1920
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00077/00077666.jpg
From lapl.org

Here's where it all began, the 1st campus location of the institution that became UCLA. Hope St. at 6th St., downtown Los Angeles, looking north, about 1912. Straight ahead, Hope St. is blocked by the State Normal School, which I believe was a teachers' college. The old Normal School site would be taken by the L.A. Public Library. On the right is the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, which would later become Biola University (Biola is an acronym of Bible Institute of Los Angeles), which in 1959 moved its campus to suburban La Mirada. The old Bible Institute afterwards became the Church of the Open Door, with a neon "JESUS SAVES" sign on top. That building eventually was torn down for a mid-rise office building in the early 1990s. The neon JESUS SAVES sign was put on another old building somewhere downtown.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017552.jpg
From lapl.org

Church of the Open Door, 1980
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00075/00075104.jpg
From lapl.org

Street-level view of the Church of the Open Door on the right, looking north on Hope Street towards the LA Central Library, site of the old State Normal School, 1983
http://jpg2.lapl.org/spnb2/00017553.jpg
From lapl.org

sopas ej Jun 20, 2009 4:09 AM

Crime

I find old Los Angeles crimes fascinating. Somehow glamorous, even. ;)

This photo-diagram shows where a beautiful blonde girl was found stabbed to death at 721 Turner Street, downtown, east of Alameda, in the industrial area, south of where the 101 freeway would be now, adjacent to the Arts District. Dotted lines shows the path of the car of her slayer. Cross shows where her nude body was found. Marks on the ground indicated that she had put up a terrific struggle for life. Photo dated: December 26, 1939.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics24/00046682.jpg
From lapl.org

1949, body in the LA River
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From lapl.org

Photograph caption reads, "Photo-diagram of yesterday's holdup at Grauman's Chinese Theater, in which robbers escaped with two days' receipts of $15,000. Officer Crowley is shown firing at the trio, who return the fusillade, wounding James P. Thorpe, a bystander." Photograph dated July 16, 1929.
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00076/00076438.jpg
From lapl.org

Lena Trontey shows how she looked through a window of her apartment and saw a man "put on the spot" by gunmen. The photo-diagram shows the scene of the shooting as viewed from Miss Trontey's window and what she saw, according to her story, included the gunmen taking their victim with them. This crime took place outside Theodore Kotzin, located on East Pico. Photo dated: August 11, 1930.
http://jpg3.lapl.org/pics38/00068790.jpg
From lapl.org

This picture cracks me up, this is Mrs. John Bersinger, the woman who discovered the Black Dahlia's body. I get the feeling she got all dolled up before going to the police station and sitting for this very posed picture. January, 1947
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics01/00010447.jpg
From lapl.org

This is a wide angle shot showing Sherry's Restaurant (on the right side) where Mickey Cohen and 3 others were ambushed at 3:45 a.m. in front of the restaurant on the Sunset Strip. Mickey's car drove up to the curb and gunmen (hiding across the street under an advertising sign indicated in the area circled on the left side of the picture) opened fire with shotguns. The gunmen then sped away in a gray auto, tossing out the guns a block away. Mickey was the least seriously wounded. (File date: July 20, 1949)
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics01/00010449.jpg
From lapl.org

Three women placed under arrest at 5667 W. Olympic Blvd., 1948
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From lapl.org

LA City Jail in Lincoln Heights, 1936
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics35/00037432.jpg
From lapl.org

Drunk tank in Lincoln Heights Jail, 1956
http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics50/00044611.jpg
From lapl.org

OneMetropolis Jun 20, 2009 5:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality (Post 4311302)
^^^ Off the top of my head, here is my take on it.

In the 1950s/60s the powerful automobile industry (GM especially) used their significant political clout to lobby AGAINST electrified transit....and to lobby FOR gas powered buses and cars ("a car in every garage" was a motto back then)
They lobbied for highways and expressways that slashed through the urban fabric, destroying whole neighborhoods. In turn, downtowns became pockmarked with hundreds of hideous parking lots. We lost thousands of vintage buildings for nothing more than a place to park.


OK, I just found an essay that explains it much better.
Below is an excerpt by Harvey Wasserman

In a 1922 memo that will live in infamy, GM President Alfred P. Sloan established a unit aimed at dumping electrified mass transit in favor of gas-burning cars, trucks and buses.

Just one American family in 10 then owned an automobile. Instead, we loved our 44,000 miles of passenger rail routes managed by 1,200 companies employing 300,000 Americans who ran 15 billion annual trips generating an income of $1 billion. According to Snell, "virtually every city and town in America of more than 2,500 people had its own electric rail system."

But GM lost $65 million in 1921. So Sloan enlisted Standard Oil (now Exxon), Philips Petroleum, glass and rubber companies and an army of financiers and politicians to kill mass transit.

With a varied arsenal of political and financial subterfuges, GM helped gut the core of America's train and trolley systems. It was the murder of our rail systems that made our "love affair" with the car a tragedy of necessity.

-Harvey Wasserman


thanks for your response I found it helpful. To bad that's the way things went though.:(

ethereal_reality Jun 20, 2009 8:10 PM

The crime photos are fantastic sopas_ej.
I love when they used white-out and black ink over the photos.
It's the first time that I've seen hand drawn gangsters.
(with puffs of smoke coming out of their guns....how cool is that?)


Also thanks for the info. and pics concerning Westwood.
I have to go back and read your comments more thoroughly though.

I have a few old color pics of Westwood I'll post in a day or so that
you'd probably like to see.

ethereal_reality Jun 20, 2009 8:26 PM

sopas_ej wrote:
This is a wide angle shot showing Sherry's Restaurant (on the right side) where Mickey Cohen and 3 others were ambushed at 3:45 a.m. in front of the restaurant on the Sunset Strip. Mickey's car drove up to the curb and gunmen (hiding across the street under an advertising sign indicated in the area circled on the left side of the picture) opened fire with shotguns. The gunmen then sped away in a gray auto, tossing out the guns a block away. Mickey was the least seriously wounded. (File date: July 20, 1949)

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/4015/20879980.jpg
lapl originally posted by sopas_ej

I thought it was interesting you posted the above pic sopas_ej.
I have three additional photos in my file from the USC archive.
(but I didn't have the one you posted)


http://img838.imageshack.us/img838/8...manhid1949.jpg


above: The would be assassins hid behind this billboard across the street.



http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/3...9093sunset.jpg

above: stray bullet holes.



http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/16/sjuly201949.jpg


above: Cohen's car in front of Sherry's.

ethereal_reality Jun 20, 2009 8:53 PM

Cohen had his Cadillac overhauled to make it bulletproof and bombproof.
(I don't know if he did this before or after the Sherry's attack)


below: the 3 inch thick windshield.

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/8...cohenscadi.jpg
unknown




below: the 3 inch (or more) side window vent.

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/3...ohenscadix.jpg
unknown




below: Cohen's Cadillac in the shop.

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2...cohensbull.jpg
unknown

sopas ej Jun 21, 2009 1:45 AM

ethereal_reality thanks for posting those pics! Very interesting; and that window glass on Mickey Cohen's Cadillac was THICK!

Seeing the address of Sherry's in those pics you posted, I typed it into Google Maps and I see that the site is now where the Key Club is located. I must admit, once I find out the address of where something notorious in LA happened, I usually have to look it up and drive there to look at it myself. I remember when I first read "Helter Skelter" and the addresses of the Manson Murder locations were mentioned, I just had to drive to the locations.

kanhawk Jun 21, 2009 6:52 PM

Fascinating thread. I look at these and think of Jimmy Stewart or Humphrey Bogart or Jack Nicholson wearing fedoras and tailing mobsters. Noirish indeed.

ethereal_reality Jun 23, 2009 7:39 PM

http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/1...atowndestr.jpg
USC archive

This was labeled Old Chinatown destroyed.
So, this area in the foreground is now Union Station? Is that correct?

I just noticed the buildings at the extreme bottom right are missing their roofs.


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