Simpson Auditorium AKA Simpson's Auditorium was built as a Methodist church in 1888 and later became the Third Church of Christian Science. It was demolished in 1974. The building was designed by C.E. Apponiyi
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...0806d04f_w.jpg
Los Angeles Evening Express Feb. 13, 1888
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...001cf2c9_b.jpg
Los Angeles Times 6/28/74

I used to go to the Downtown Y at 7th and Hope, 1956 to 1962. I took the bus. Summer and Xmas vacation programs - my mom got me out of the house and off the street, and to meet boys from from different parts of LA. Swimming pool in the basement, two big gyms, with an indoor track on the upper level around the perimeter of the room, and a smaller boxing and wrestling gym. Upstairs was lodging.

Before and after the programs, mornings and afternoons, I’d explore downtown - department stores, book stores, cutlery shops, music stores, news stands, etc.

Great memories Slim.

My father used to give me one dollar and 3 cents [tax] to go to store, Newberry's, to get a toy. I would buy a model car kit.

Back in those 3% tax days, the state of CA had millions of surplus funds. The Golden Years of CA.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag...hot_(1071).png

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sK3Ult1PR98

Yet another remastered, colorized, sound added film....this one starts out on Hill St., goes past the Town Theater where "Butterfield 8" is playing, so that dates the clip to 1960 (assuming "Butterfield" was in first-run)....the film then jumps to the 5700 block of Santa Monica Blvd., heading west....

Just past Gower, at 6121 Santa Monica, we get a look at the Ice Capades headquarters, complete with a twirling skater....HossC covered that building here...https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/sho...0279&page=1584

You and ER just like to kid eachother, like old friends do. ER, where are you? You are the king and founder of this domain. When the cat is away, the mice play.

Back in those days, the middle class could afford to live here. Now the taxes nickle and dime you and it is getting impossible to live well on less than $100k a year. California is no longer the Golden State, but the leaden state, as in a lead ball of taxes and costs chained to your ankle. Noirish (dark) days indeed. I am getting grumpy as the years add up, but we remember how things used to be Doug, when good jobs were plentiful and houses were cheap, and you could actually earn good interest on savings, not 0%. They used to make cars and airplanes here. No more. And don't get me started on people camping on the sidewalks. :wiseman:

Didn't that twirling Ice Capades skater end up somewhere else? Adorning a roller rink -- I want to say on Lincoln Boulevard around Culver City?

Yes, ER and I are the best of friends. He likes to rag on me occasionally but he means no harm. I usually ignore his rants on me...its all just a lot of silliness. He even sent me a lovely Christmas message.

My father bought a 1920s house with pool for $27,000 + $7K remodel in 1957. Its now worth $1,270,000. Yes, I remember how things used to be.

Interest at my bank was as high as 14% on savings accounts.

In 1971, when I was a teen, my parents bought a large house with a large yard in a fairly nice area of the SF Valley for $25k. Now probably worth close to a million.

As far as savings rates go, I earned 15% on treasury bills, notes and bonds in 1981, and even banks paid that much on CDs. My mistake then was not to lock in these high rates for 10 or 20 years. I would settle for 5% now, but the FED keeps rates artificially low hurting retired people on fixed incomes. To earn even close to 5% now you have to buy risky things like junk bonds. But then you worry about return of your principal.

mystery location
 

Here is a handsome (if you like giant pediments and Ionic columns of various sizes) apartment building. Small cards saying "rooms" are taped to some windows.

https://i.imgur.com/BRoW80H.jpg

The label at Calisphere for this is: "Exterior view of a Colonial Revival-style apartment building at 94042 South Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, [s.d.]. That block of S Fig is somewhere off the coast of San Diego. (and the 94042 zip code is Mountain View, CA)

But the steep grade suggests Bunker Hill...

Obviously the address is completely wrong. It might be on Figueroa,
but maybe in the hills to the north of downtown, on N. Fig like Highand Park or Mt. Washington? It might be on Bunker Hill, but look at all the trees in the backround. Was that characteristic of old BH? Perhaps in spots. The best bet is to ID the multistory building to the right. One of the sleuths here can do it.

Come back ER. Not the same without you here trying to herd the cats and keep the topics from wandering into non noirish L.A. directions. I spend hours here. It is great to remember the way things used to be.

The nightingale tells his fairytale of paradise where roses grew.
 

https://waterandpower.org/M%20Histor...f_Figueroa.jpg

According to the good folks over at Water and Power:
"(ca. 1889) View showing a Colonial Revival-style apartment building located on 6th Street west of South Figueroa Street in Los Angeles. The main entrance is flanked by two massive columns, and a balcony can be seen over the front double doors. Two cement stairways lead to covered walkways on the sides of the building, while another set of stairs leads to the front door. A thee-story rectangular building can be seen at right."
https://waterandpower.org/museum/Ear...s)_4_of_6.html


When I looked up the Sanborn Map for that location, it appears that in the immediate area around 6th and Figueroa, the streets are somewhat haphazardly arranged. It shows that Figueroa Street dead-ends abruptly at what the map is indicating is 6th street, but it looks more like 5 and 1/2th street.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...7d347922_b.jpg

Novue Terrace
 

I'm so far not able to find a photo that gives a clear view of that specific location.
My best guess is that it would have been directly behind the St. Paul's Cathedral (2nd one on Figueroa), across the street to the south of the Bellevue Terrace Hotel, (Johnathan Club).

Just to the left of this frame:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...-5790.1%29.jpg

Perhaps one of these buildings in the top-right background?
https://farm2.static.flickr.com/1244...77831646a4.jpg

I was close - she moved to the Culver Ice Rink on Sepulveda.

Looks like a likely area. That cluster of trees in the upper left looks similar to the trees (eucalyptus?) in the original photo.

Cataloging error?
 

My vote goes to this being a photo of 940-42 West 6th Street, in the block west of Figueroa. We may have gotten 94042 South Figueroa by
someone mixing up the streets and leaving out an en dash.

At right, we see the east wall of the three-story Parodia Apartments at 944 West 6th.

Both buildings are on the 1906 Sanborn Map at the Library of Congress.

Both buildings were also damaged by fire on July 1, 1915, as this Los Angeles Herald article describes (though incorrectly giving the address
of the Colonial Revival-style building as 640 instead of 940).

You can see both 940-42 and 944 West 6th just above the bottom center of this west-facing 1929 panoramic view, immediately behind the
Rex Arms on the north side. The roof of 940-42 is different than in the older photo because of the 1915 fire damage, but the east wall of
944 looks the same in both photos.

Demolition permits for both 940-42 and 944 West 6th were issued in May 1932.

Thanks to Lorendoc for posting the photo and to Sakhal Nakhash for the crucial tip about 6th Street!

Images of old Los Angeles buildings lost primarily to the 1971 Sylmar quake (plus the 1933 Long Beach quake) could be its own thread...

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