Way before the Harbor Freeway (i.e., pre-20th century), Figueroa's alignment was straight northward (though not due north, of course) following the alignment of Boylston, toward Angelino Heights. At some point, Pearl, which angled slightly eastward off Figueroa just above Pico, became the new northward Figueroa. The old Figueroa north of Pico then became Boylston. (I thought we'd written about this, but of course the search feature here is basically useless. Grumble grumble.) So... Figueroa on your map is now Boylston; Pearl on the map is the current Figueroa alignment, which, if continued southward on the map, would meet the southbound Figueroa at Pico; and the right-hand Beaudry Ave is the present Beaudry. (Not sure what's going on with that second Beaudry.)

Correction per ProphetM's info in post 10386 above: The left-hand Beaudry is the present Beaudry; the second Beaudry shown on the map became Fremont.

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1501/pavo1000sh.jpg
Vintage Los Angeles/Charles Phoenix

The enormous tree discussed was within the perimeter stone wall of the old Bradbury manse - just across from the Bixby home on No.Hill St. - also across from the Stevens Apts (corner at Court St.- Maybe a weedy ash tree grown to near 4 stories tall..

I did an overlay with Google Maps.

Here's a non-overlay for reference:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-R...452%2520AM.jpg

Here's an overlay on the map:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-n...parktract1.JPG

And here's an overlay on satellite:
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4...parktract2.jpg

So Figueroa became Boylston, Pearl become Figueroa, the right-hand Beaudry became Fremont and most of Bellevue became Sunset Blvd. At the rightmost edge of the tract map, Philadelphia became Grand Ave.

And yes, the freeways did a number on this neighborhood, and a school took out most of the rest. The only non-apartment home left in the entire tract appears to be at the back of 1160 Bellevue. Zillow.com calls that parcel Park Tract Lot 17 and says a multiple-occupancy home there was built in 1926, but you can see a house at the back so I don't know if they're talking about that one or the larger building in front (or a combination of both). LA County GIS-NET won't load for me today to get any more info.

Figueroa/Bolyston & Grasshopper/Pearl/Figueroa
 

Oh right, I'd forgotten the Figueroa/Bolyston connection. Thanks so much GW for the info. And Pearl was previously Grasshopper. I guess why the heck they named two streets "Beaudry" will have to remain a mystery for now.

And many thanks to you too ProphetM, that's an outstanding graphic you put together (it reminded me too that we still have a bit of Angelina).

I guess, all things considered, Surfridge got off lightly. Obviously coulda been worse.

P.S. At some point I had space high in the 3rd & Hope building and could watch them clear the land and then build the misbegotten "new" Belmont High School (which got named something else in the end) at Beaudry and 1st. I had no idea of the history of the site I was looking at. I'd never heard of the Park Tract.

Afton Park?
 

I love the Alexandria & environs. I was just blithering five pages back about wanting the roof and facade illuminations restored to the Alexandria Hotel as was promised by the rehabbers. Since the nuking of Bunker Hill saved the Historic Core, many of us have opinions, I'm sure, on what should be done with it.

There's a good-sized piece of cleared land immediately to the south of the Alexandria (between it and the Arcade Building, which gobbled up Mercantile Place), which backs on to the rear of the distinctly low-rise 1910 Clune's Broadway/Cameo Theater, giving the site a lovely open feeling. It would make a great garden for the Alexandria or a nice public, pocket park (something we don't have enough of). It could be named Afton Park after the hotel that was there (actually the Odeon too was between the Alexandria and the Afton). Open-air movies could be shown on the back wall of the Cameo, which is still intact enough to be returned to its original purpose.

If that sounds more gentrified than noir, no doubt somebody could pull off a crime-of-passion or two there still.

:previous:

tovangar2

Have had a lot of 'accompaniment' to my Thanksgiving day... family still very loud & jolly downstairs, so I decided to seek a few moments' peace here in noirish, always a nice refuge. I amended my post below... ProphetM is correct about the Beaudry Avenues on your map (west Beaudry = Beaudry, east Beaudry = Fremont).

Yeah, I got that, but I'm still wondering why there's two streets named Beaudry. It's not like one's Beaudry Ave West and the other's Beaudry Ave East. One's just called Beaudry and the other's....Beaudry. Could maybe only be carelessness by Renshaw Litho. I need to find an old street map to check that.

Many thanks again to both of you for spending so much time on this :-)

Pictorial & Birdseye Maps of LA
 

http://www.lanopalera.net/LAHistory/OldPuebloFromW.gif
nopalera
Looking SE in 1940, from Ft Moore Hill, over the site of the original Pueblo (see below) with Union Station in the background.
The building on the lower left, which still stands on open ground, is now the Colima Restaurant at 400 W Chavez Blvd.


http://www.lanopalera.net/LAHistory/OldPueblo.gif
nopalera
The location of the original Pueblo 1781-1815, before it was moved in circa 1815-1835. The original site remains unmarked.

This next one's huge, but one couldn't read it otherwise.
http://www.lanopalera.net/LAHistory/LAMap1871.gif
Howard Metcalf
Los Angeles 1871. Bunker Hill looks more riven with canyons in this view than it does in photos. The town curves around it with the cemetery in isolation on Bunker Hill overlooking Ft Moore Hill.
I wonder what they did with the bones when Bunker Hill was built over.
The Nickel is farmland.
Drawing based on the 1929 Women's University Club of LA map
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/...64l+pm000231))

Correction: The above map shows an incorrect location for the cemetery. It was actually on top of Fort Moore Hill, not on Bunker Hill.

There's also a nifty 1909 birdseye view that shows the Park Tract as built and the rest of town. I spend way too long with the zoom feature on these maps.
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_im...5&jpegLevel=80
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/...p/~ammem_QiHm:
All my favorite noir locations look so wholesome, although I'm sure LA was just as corrupt back then as it ever would be in the future.

January 26, 1931

"View of the open channel from the La Brea bridge at Venice Boulevard before construction of the Sacatela Storm Drain Extension. . . . This residential area will be greatly benefited by the construction of the Sacatela storm drain extension, which will eliminate this dangerous and unsightly open channel".
http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...A823521C4?v=hrUSC Digital

Some of them might still be there... :uhh:

There's a brief history of the Los Angeles City Cemetery aka Fort Moore Hill Cemetery on Find A Grave.

Even briefer version: The cemetery was active from 1847 to 1879, after which it was closed to all except those who already purchased plots. From the early 1900s to 1947, bodies were relocated to cemeteries throughout the area. The moves were not well documented however and about 80 sets of remains were uncovered during school construction in 2006.

More complete history here, including interments.
According to the history there, in the early days of the cemetery there was literally no one in charge and burials happened without record. In 1884 the city sold off some land that was part of the cemetery complex, for residential development. It's claimed that whatever bodies may have been there (and beneath the new streets) were not removed beforehand. Eventually the board of education gained control of the cemetery, which was down to 5 acres from an original size of about 10 acres.

Fort Moore Hill Cemetery
 

The Fort Moore Cemetery was notorious, both while it was in use and its haphazard and macabre desecration. I'd already read that SCGS page you referenced. That's one that will keep you up nights. What a town. Our beloved noir era is just one of the beads on a very long string.

P.S. I'm convinced now that the pictorial map of 1871 LA, which I posted previously, shows the cemetery at the wrong location, as I can find no other reference to a Bunker Hill Cemetery, but the Fort Moore Cemetery had already been in use for over 20 years by 1871.

Sacatela Creek
 

http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/CHS-44293.jpg
USC Library
The Arroyo de la Sacatela running through Bimini Slough (undated, pre-1930's photo) looking much prettier than in the photo at top.

The great and powerful Militant Angeleno has the lowdown (literally) on Sacatela Creek. Nathan Masters has something to say on it too.

I read somewhere or other that the creek was filled in with old Pacific Red Cars before it was paved over.

LA's actually a very wet place but almost all the springs have been redirected to storm drains.

P.S. Don't forget Friday is Buy Nothing Day. Make it so.

This is awesome. I suppose the Rochester was part of the Park Tract. There is a great article about it at Big Orange Landmark. Apparently it was to be moved from Temple St. to the Plaza, but the Victorian style didn't fit into the Stearling-esque Plaza.

http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.c...rochester.html

http://bp2.blogger.com/_p9IsUrNH-mA/...+Rochester.jpg
Big Orange Landmarks

Here is a picture of it being moved. This shot is at 2nd and Beaudry, on October 1, 1970.
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics41/00055395.jpg
Los Angeles Public Library - Herald Examiner Collection

I don't think I have seen this posted here before. This is a great little booklet on Angelino Heights posted to Picasa by the Echo Park Historical Society. I will link just a few pages here

https://picasaweb.google.com/1003506...ngelinoHeights


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-h...12/page1.1.jpg
Echo Park Historical Society

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-J...512/page10.jpg
Echo Park Historical Society