Early Los Angeles Historical Buildings (1800s)

Historical Photos of Early Los Angeles

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(1860s)* - Exterior view of S. C. Foy saddlery shop, housed in a one-story, brick building with a portico. The store sign reads "Saddle & Harness Maker, Leather Depot" and has a silhouetted prancing horse on top. Tack and saddles are displayed on the front and several men are posing for the camera.  

 

Historical Notes

Samuel Calvert Foy moved to Los Angeles in 1854 and operated a successful harness business at 217 Los Angeles Street, which was the oldest business establishment in the city at the time of his death. He also served as the city's Chief of Police for a time.

In 1872, Foy built a house at the corner of Grasshopper (now Figueroa) and 7th Streets.  The house was reportedly "the first three-story building in the city." At the time the Foys built their house, the site was considered to be "way out in the country."

Foy's daughter, Mary Foy, was the city's first woman librarian from 1880-1884, a leader in the California Women's suffrage movement, a leader of the Democratic Party, and the first woman to be a member of one of the major parties' national committees.^*

 

 

 
(1870s)* - View of the west side of North Los Angeles Street, between Commercial and Arcadia streets. The Samuel C. Foy Leather Depot stands in the center-right.  In the far left is one of the first two-story buildings built in Los Angeles, by I.W. Hellman in 1870.    

 

Historical Notes

Isaias Wolf Hellman was a German-born American banker and philanthropist, and a founding father of the University of Southern California.

On September 1, 1868, Hellman and Temple founded Hellman, Temple and Co., the fledgling city’s second official bank. In 1871, Hellman and John G. Downey, a former governor of California, formed the Farmers and Merchants Bank, which became Los Angeles' first successful bank. Hellman lent the money that allowed Harrison Gray Otis to buy the Los Angeles Times and Edward Doheny and Charles Canfield to drill for oil.

Hellman was also a major landowner in Southern California and his holdings included numerous city lots and vast swaths of former rancho land. In 1871, he and a syndicate bought the 13,000-acre Rancho Cucamonga. In 1881, Hellman and members of the Bixby family purchased the 26,000-acre Rancho Los Alamitos (now home to Long Beach and Seal Beach). He also purchased the Repetto Ranch (now Montebello) with Harris Newmark and Kaspare Cohn. Hellman and Downey also bought up swaths of Rancho San Pedro from the Dominguez family. Hellman also owned much of Boyle Heights with William H. Workman.

At his death in 1920, Hellman was considered the leading financier of the Pacific Coast. His son (I.W. Jr.) and grandson (Isaias Warren Hellman) later became presidents of Wells Fargo Bank; and the Union Trust Company was merged with Wells Fargo after his death. His original Farmers and Merchants Bank would later merge with Security First National Bank.^*

 

Arcadia Block

 
(ca. 1870s) - View showing Don Abel Stearns' Arcadia Block, the first brick business building in Los Angeles, later demolished for the #101 Freeway. To its left is the Samuel C. Foy Building.  Numerous horse-and-buggies are parked in front.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1896)* - An artist's drawing of the west side of North Los Angeles Street, between Commercial and Arcadia, looking north. Arcadia Block, on the right, is on the southwest corner of Los Angeles and Arcadia Streets. The three towers of Baker Block can be seen in the background. The Hellman Building is on the left, then Samuel C. Foy Building, Wholesale & Retail Harness & Saddlery at 315 North Los Angeles Street.  

 

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Abel Stearns Adobe

 
(1857)* - View of Abel Stearns adobe known as "El Palacio", located on the southeast corner of Main and Arcadia streets. Stearns purchased the land from Francisco O'Campo and built his adobe. He gradually expanded the adobe from 1835-1838, and the home eventually became U-shaped with a wide-open cobblestone court, and contained a grand ballroom at least 100 feet long. At the time, it was the largest and most magnificent house in the pueblo, which the natives gave the name of "El Palacio de Don Abel", or simply "El Palacio". It became the site of the Baker Block in 1878.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1829 Abel Stearns came to Monterey, California, then settled in Pueblo de Los Angeles, present day Los Angeles. He obtained a concession to build a warehouse in San Pedro. Later, he established a stagecoach route connecting San Pedro Bay with the Los Angeles pueblo. In 1831, he built a three-story flour mill on North Spring Street, Los Angeles. Soon Stearns became one of the most prominent and influential Californian citizens of the pueblo.^*

 

 

 

 

 
(1857)* - Panoramic view of Abel Stearns adobe known as "El Palacio", located on the southeast corner of Main and Arcadia streets; four men stand scattered in the area, and two others sit in a horse-drawn carriage. Stearns purchased the land from Francisco O'Campo and built his adobe, gradually expanding the home over the years until it took on the proportions of a mansion - which the natives gave the name of "El Palacio de Don Abel", or simply "El Palacio".  

 

Historical Notes

Abel Stearns represented Los Angeles under American military rule, 1848-1850. He was a delegate to the 1849 California Constitutional Convention, representing the district of Los Angeles; later he was California State Assemblyman, and a Los Angeles County Supervisor and Los Angeles City Councilman.

In 1842 Stearns bought the 28,000-acre Rancho Los Alamitos between the Los Angeles and the harbor. However, there was a drought between 1862 and 1864 which was said to have resulted in the death of 50,000 cattle on Stearns land alone. Stearns mortgaged the rancho to Michael Reese, who then purchased it at a sheriff's sale and Reese's estate then sold it to John W. Bixby.^*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1850)^** - Photo of a sketch showing the LA Plaza and surounding area as it appeared in 1850. The Abel Stearns Adobe is located on the southeast corner of Aliso and Main streets and is marked with an X and the No. 9. The map is based on the 1849 Ord Survey.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1878, the Baker Block would be built on the same site as the Stearns Adobe.

 

 

 

 

 
(1871)* - View looking northeast at the intersection of North Main Street and Arcadia Street (previously Aliso Street). On the right (southeast corner) stands the residence of the wealthy merchant, trader, and government official, Don Abel Stearns. A number of low-lying adobe and brick buildings are seen in this panoramic view.  

 

Historical Notes

The Abel Stearns residence was a virtual mansion at the time, with fourteen beautifully-decorated rooms. It was the social center of the pueblo. Later it became the site of the Baker Block.*

In 1872, the section of Aliso Street between Main and Los Angeles streets was renamed Arcadia Street.

 

 

 
(1875)* - View looking east at the Abel Stearns adobe, with an orchard directly behind it, located on the southeast corner of Main and Arcadia (formerly Aliso) streets. Note how the adobe has been expanded since 1857 as shown in the previous photos.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1858, Abel Stearns constructed a two-story business block on Los Angeles Street nearby and called it Arcadia Block. It was named after an important person in his life - his wife.

Arcadia Bandini, born in 1823, was the daughter of prominent ranchero Juan Bandini. She came to be regarded as one of the most beautiful belles of Los Angeles and was just 14 when she married 40-year-old Abel Stearns, who had come west from Massachusetts and acquired Southern California's largest land-cattle empire. Stearns built a home for his bride one block south of the Plaza--the community's central gathering area--and the house, called El Palacio (as seen above), became the social hot spot.

In 1872, one year after his death, Arcadia Street was dedicated in honor of Stearn's wife, Arcadia.^*^

 

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LA Plaza and Early Water Reservoir

 
(ca. 1858)** - This is the earliest known close-up photograph of the Los Angeles Plaza. There is a square main brick reservoir in the middle of the Plaza, which was the terminus of the town's historic lifeline: the Zanja Madre ('Mother Ditch'). The reservoir was built in 1858 by the LA Water Works Company.  

 

Historical Notes

The site of the Plaza today is not the original location. It is the second, third, or maybe even the fourth. One of the earlier plots is believed to be  around where the current Pershing Square sits. It’s also thought that at least one of the first three was washed away in a flood. The current Plaza dates from as early as 1815.^#^#

When early settlers arrived at the Los Angeles River by way of Mission Road, they picked as a nearby gathering point a huge sycamore (upper right-center of photo) that gave them shelter and became a landmark, "El Aliso." That Spanish word for sycamore was later used to name the road carved out near the river (Aliso Street in 1854).^*^ 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1860)* - One of Los Angeles' first water reservoirs was the brick structure shown in the center of the Plaza. The adobe directly behind was owned by Augustin Olvera. The 3-story building behind was the Sisters of Charity Hospital.* Click HERE to see more Early LA Water Reservoirs.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1857, the city granted William Dryden a franchise to deliver water to homes through a system of wooden pipes beneath the streets. Dryden incorporates the Los Angeles Water Works Company and then erects a forty foot water wheel to lift water from the Los Angeles River to the city's main ditch, the Zanja Madre. He then constructed a large brick and wood storage tank (as seen above) in the center of the City Plaza to better manage the city’s water supply.

Click HERE to see more in LA's Early Water Works System.

 

 

 
(ca. 1869)^^* - Photograph of the Los Angeles Plaza and the entrance to Wine Street looking north from the Pico House. The Avila Adobe is visible on Wine Street (renamed Olvera Street in 1877). The Olvera Adobe can also be seen on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

Don Francisco Avila, a wealthy cattle rancher and one-time Mayor of the pueblo of Los Angeles, built the Avila Adobe in 1818. The Avila Adobe, presently the oldest existing residence within the city limits, was one of the first town houses to share street frontage in the new Pueblo de Los Angeles.*

 

 

 

 
(1850)^** - Map view looking northwest showing the LA Plaza and surrounding area as it appeared in 1850. To the right can be seen Olvera Street (Wine Street until 1877) at its intersection with the Plaza, with both the Olvera Adobe and Avila Adobe locations marked with an X. The Plaza Church is in the upper left corner.  

 

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Plaza Church (Mission Nuestra Senora de La Reina de Los Angeles)

 
(1857)^^* - Photograph of a drawing (by a young lady pupil of Sister's School) of the Los Angeles Plaza Church with a group of 14 nuns processing in the foreground. A wooden picket fence extends from the church at left to the right. A horseman prances nearby (at right). Two people stand near the church entrance (at left). A few other people are visible on the bare hilltop behind. Drawn in 1857.  

 

Historical Notes

The 'Church of Los Angeles' was founded on August 18, 1814 by Franciscan Fray Luis Gil y Taboada. He placed the cornerstone for the new church in the adobe ruins of the original "sub-station mission" here, the Nuestra Señora Reina de los Ángeles Asistencia (founded 1784), thirty years after it was established to serve the settlement founding Los Angeles Pobladores (original settlers).*^

 

 

 

 
(1860)^^ -  Photograph of a lithograph from Benjamin Nayer's diary depicting the exterior of the Plaza Church in Los Angeles, 1860.  

 

Historical Notes

The completed new structure was dedicated on December 8, 1822. A replacement chapel, named La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles - for Mary, mother of Jesus or "The Church of Our Lady of the Angels" - was rebuilt using materials of the original church in 1861. The title Reina, meaning "Queen," was added later to the name. For years, the little chapel, which collected the nicknames "La Placita" and "Plaza Church," served as the sole Roman Catholic church in emerging immigrant Los Angeles.*^

 

 

 

 
(1870s)^^* - Exterior view of the Plaza Church or Mission Nuestra Senora de La Reina de Los Angeles. In front of the church is a fence that encloses the yard (at right). Three trees in the yard hinder the view of the building in the background. Two horse-drawn carriages are parked in front of the church and near the fence.  

 

Historical Notes

The original 1822 -built "Church of Our Lady of the Angels" incoporated a three-bell campanario, or "bell wall" which was replaced by a gazebo-like structure (seen above) when the Church was rebuilt in 1861. The "bell wall" or "bell tower" would once again return when the Plaza Church was repaired/remodeled circa 1901.^*

 

 

 

 
(1870)^^* - View of the 'Old Plaza Church" with its gazebo-like roof structure. Note the bare hills in the background.  Chavez Ravine, over the gazebo on the left, is where Dodger Stadium is today.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1870)* - Close-up view of the 'Old Plaza Church' (Mission Nuestra Senora Reina de Los Angeles) as it appeared in 1870. The three-story church features corner buttresses with spire-like tips.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1871)* - View across the Los Angeles Plaza where three people are seen posing for the photograph. The Plaza Church and the Cape House Restaurant are seen in the background. In the far background can be seen Fort Moore Hill. The Plaza was landscaped in 1871 and has served since that date as a public park.  

 

Historical Notes

Fort Hill (also known as Fort Moore Hill) was a prominent hill overlooking the pueblo of Los Angeles. Its commanding view of the city made it a strategic location.

Fort Moore was an historic U.S. Military Fort during the Mexican–American War. Its approximate location was at what is now the Hollywood Freeway near the intersection of North Hill Street and West Cesar Chavez Avenue, downtown. The hill on which it was built became known as Fort Moore Hill, most of which was removed in 1949 for construction of the freeway. The hill was located one block north of Temple Street and a short distance south of present day Cesar Chavez Avenue, between the Los Angeles Civic Center and Chinatown.^*

 

 

 

 

 
(1885)* - Plaza Church and an adjoining building as they appeared in 1885. This was the parish church for Los Angeles and was never a mission. Streetcar tracks are seen in the foreground.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1885)^^* - Panoramic front view of the Los Angeles Plaza Church.  There is an open octagonal cupola on the church roof to the left of the cross at the roof ridge. An adjacent building and large tree are behind a wooden picket fence. The street is cobbled with streetcar tracks.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - Exterior view of Plaza Church seen from the plaza, across the street. A trolley can be seen on the right side of the photo. In the background can be seen the Banning House sitting on top of Fort Moore Hill.
 

 

Historical Notes

The Plaza Church or Mission Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles (Church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels) was considered an asistencia ("sub-mission") of Mission San Gabriel Arcángel. Priests from Mission San Gabriel divided their time between the mission and the Asistencia site, but ultimately the installation was never granted mission status and the missionaries eventually abandoned the site. ^*

 

 

 

 

 
(1894)* - Plaza Church as seen by looking north from Pico House on Main Street. This was the parish church for Los Angeles and was never a mission. A woman is seen holding a small child in front of the church.  

 

Historical Notes

The surrounding area was named El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula ("The Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels on the River Porciúncula", which is the present-day City of Los Angeles). A chapel, La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles, was later erected and dedicated on December 8, 1822, and for years served as the sole Roman Catholic church in the Pueblo. It is the oldest church in the city of Los Angeles.^*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)#*^^ - View of the Old Mission Church from across the LA Plaza. Several men are seen relaxing on the Plaza's benches. In the background on top of Fort Moore Hill stands Los Angeles High School.  

 

Historical Notes

The new Los Angeles High School (seen behind the Plaza Church) replaced the original one that was built in 1872, at the former site of Central School on what was then known as Poundcake Hill, at the southeast corner of Fort Street (later Broadway).

This second location atop a hill was completed in 1891 and LAHS moved in. It was an enormous, for then, building. The new high school was built on part of the site of the abandoned Fort Moore Hill Cemetery, the first Protestant cemetery in Los Angeles, which was spread over the slopes of the hill.

Early buildings commissioned to house the Los Angeles High School were among the architectural jewels of the city, and were strategically placed at the summit of a hill, the easier to be pointed to with pride. One of the school's long standing mottos is "Always a hill, always a tower, always a timepiece." ^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^^* - Closer view of the Old Plaza Church as seen from the Los Angeles Plaza.  The clock tower of Los Angeles High School can be seen in the background.  

 

Historical Notes

This would be one of the last photos taken of the Plaza Church with its gazebo-like tower. It would soon be replaced with a "bell wall" similar to the one it had prior to 1861.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1901)^*# - Front view of the Old Mission Church with its newly installed "bell wall", similar to the one it had prior to 1861. There is a clear view of Los Angeles High School (2nd location, built in 1891) up on Fort Moore Hill and its relative relationship to the Plaza and the Plaza Church.  

 

 

 

 

Before and After

 
(ca. 1900)^^* - Old Mission Church with "Gazebo Tower"
  (ca. 1901)^*# - Old Mission Church with "Bell Tower"

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1901)* - View of the 'Old Plaza Mission' (Plaza Church) with its new 3-bell tower. A man and child can be seen crossing the street heading toward the church.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1902)^^# - View showing a group of well-dressed men standing on the edge of the LA Plaza and also across the street in front of the Old Plaza Church. There is a horse-drawn wagon parked by the curb near the church with a streetcar passing by.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)^^* - Panoramic view of the Los Angeles Plaza, looking west.  The F.W. Braun Building, Plaza Catholic Church, and shops along Main Street are visible in the background. Men are sitting, standing or moving about near the church, plaza and along Main Street. An electric streetcar is passing on Main Street carrying about a dozen passengers. Rocks and other forms of debris litter the dirt road. Utility lines and utility poles run along the streets.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1910)^^* - View of the bells in the Los Angeles Plaza Church tower.  Through one of the tower openings can be seen sidewalks, trees and people in the Plaza.  

 

Historical Notes

The Plaza Church bells were cast by Paul Revere's apprentice George Holbrook.

The bells bear inscriptions that read: "Across the street from the Plaza and to the west is the Old Plaza Church (535 Main St.), first established in 1784 as a chapel. The oldest religious structure in Los Angeles, this 1822 building is also known as the Church of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels. Originally built as a simple adobe by Franciscan Padres with the labor of local Native American Indians, it took an additional 40 years to construct the whole church. This Catholic Church now features some fine modern additions, including a tile mosaic of The Annunciation, created by artist Isabel Piczek in 1981. The interior displays ornate designs of wrought iron and gold leaf. A collection of religious canvases adorn the alter, and murals grace the ceilings. Today, Our Lady Queen of Angels serves as an active church of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles." ^^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1915)^^* -  View of the Old Plaza Church, showing what appears to be a new bell tower. Four churchgoers are seen behind a wrought-iron fence in front of the chapel. In the background on top of Fort Moore Hill can be seen the Banning House.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920s)^^* - View of the front of the Old Plaza Church as seen from the L.A. Plaza across the street. Early model cars are seen parked in front of the church.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1928)^* - View looking south on Main Street showing the newly constructed City Hall standing in the background (corner of Temple and Main streets) with the Brunswig Building and Old Plaza Church at right.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1937)** - A man is crossing Main Street directly outside of La Plaza Church. Signage on a water tower (upper left) promotes the nearby "Brunswig Drug Co."  Photo by Herman J. Schultheis  

 

 

 

 
(1970s)^^* - View showing the Old Plaza Church as it appeared in the 1970s.  

 

 

 

 
(2008)++# – View of the Old Plaza Church as it appears today.  

 

Historical Notes

The 'Old Plaza Church' was one of the first three sites designated as Historic Cultural Monuments by the City of Los Angeles, and has also been designated as California Historical Landmark No. 144.^*

Click HERE to see the complete listing of California Historical Landmarks in L. A.

 

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Bella Union Hotel (later Clarendon and then St. Charles Hotel)

 
(1865)* - The Bella Union Hotel which later became the St. Charles. This is a view of two sides of the hotel in which the front is mostly obscured by trees. Mounds of dirt and debris from construction lie in front and to the side of the building.  

 

Historical Notes

The Bella Union Hotel was considered the first hotel in Los Angeles. It became the Clarenden in 1873 and the St. Charles in 1875.

Constructed in 1835 as the home of Isaac Williams, a New England merchant who moved to Los Angeles three years earlier, the one story adobe became the last capitol of Alta California during the Mexican era when Governor Pio Pico purchased it for his office.

After the conquest of Los Angeles by American forces in 1847, the building was used by Lt. Archibald Gillespie, who commanded the occupying forces. Later it housed American troops, and after they left, it became a saloon. By early 1850, the building was operating as the Bella Union Hotel. Later that year, it became the county's first courthouse and beginning in 1858, it was the region's transportation hub. The Overland Mail Company operated by John Butterfield (the founder of American Express) rented space for a station until it built new quarters in 1860 at Second and Spring--the present location of Mirror Building. The Wells, Fargo and Company also had their office here and Phineas Banning operated coaches to Wilmington and San Bernardino from the hotel. ##^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1867)* - The Bella Union at 314 N. Main St. later became the St. Charles Hotel. To the left is the original home of Farmers and Merchants Bank, later merged into Security Pacific Bank. Standing on the balcony is Mrs. Margarita Bandini Winston.  

 

Historical Notes

Dr. J.B. Winston was one of the owners of the Bella Union Hotel. His wife, Mrs. Margarita Bandini Winston (seen on the balcony), was the sister of Arcadia Bandini Baker. #*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1870)* - View of North Main Street taken after erecting Pico House, but before completion of Merced Theater. The Bella Union Hotel can be seen at right-center of photo.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1871)* - A 4th of July parade on North Main Street of the Veterans of the War of 1812. Men are seen in two lines standing in the street, horses and carriages waiting and people on the sidelines. The Bella Union Hotel in the background is partially obscured by trees.  

 

Historical Notes

The area in front of the the Bella Union Hotel was long used as a social and political center.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1875)* - Exterior view of the St. Charles Hotel, originally the Bella Union Hotel. Horses and buggies are lined up along the street. In the foreground a sign reads, “Rifle and Pistol Shooting,” a reminder that Los Angeles was a Western frontier town.  

 

Historical Notes

The Bella Union Hotel became the Clarenden in 1873 and the St. Charles in 1875.

 

 

 
(1880)* - View showing the St. Charles Hotel, originally the Bella Union Hotel. To the left (north) stands the Farmers and Merchants Bank (previously the Pico Building). Further north is the 3-story Grand Central Hotel, built in 1876.  

 

Historical Notes

Located on the east side of the historic 300 block of North Main Street, the Bella Union Hotel building lasted until the 1940s when the entire block was demolished to make way for the extension of Aliso Street. Today, the Hollywood Freeway (Route 101) runs under where LA's first hotel once stood.

The Bella Union Hotel (Claredon/St. Charles) site was designated as California Historical Landmark No. 656.

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the Historic 300 Block of N. Main Street

 

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Lafayette Hotel (later Cosmopolitan and St. Elmo)

 
(ca. 1870s)* - View of the La Fayette Hotel, located on the west side of Main Street opposite of the St. Charles Hotel. The same "Rifle and Pistol Shooting" sign can be seen here but from a different angle.  

 

Historical Notes

The Lafayette Hotel was built sometime in the early 1850s. The second city hotel after the Bella Union (the U.S. Hotel was the third), it was renamed the Cosmopolitan Hotel and then became the St. Elmo. The Lafayette was located on Main Street near Temple, and in the 1870s was known as the best hotel in Los Angeles.*#*

 

 

 
(ca. 1880)* - Closer view of the La Fayette Hotel. Several men sit and stand in front of the hotel entry way. The street is unpaved and two horses and carriages are seen in front of the building, one near the "Insurance and Real Estate" sign.  

 

Historical Notes

The Lafayette Hotel became the "Cosmopolitan" circa 1882.*

 

 

 
(1882)* - View looing north on Main Street, with the Downey Block on the left, followed by the second location of the Farmers and Merchants Bank from June 15, 1874, to October 29, 1883, followed by the Cosmopolitan (previously Lafayette) Hotel. On the right is the Ducommun Building, Bella Union-Clarendon-St. Charles Hotel, Pico Building (the first home of Farmer's and Merchants Bank), the Grand Central Hotel, and the Baker Block (with towers).  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)^^* - View looking northeast showing the west side of Main Street.  The Cosmopolitan Hotel (formerly the Lafayette Hotel; subsequently the St. Elmo Hotel) can be seen in the lower right corner.  The Downey Block, on the northwest corner of Main and Temple streets, is seen at center-left. There are several horse-drawn vehicles parked on the street in front of the buildings.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^## – View looking north on Main Street showing the Cosmopolitan Hotel at left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^## - View showing the front of the Cosmopolitan Hotel on Main Street. Note that the people standing on the sidewalk and front balcony appear to be posing for the photographer.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1920)* - View showing the St. Elmo Hotel (formerly the LaFayette and Cosmopolitan). Here the hotel is viewed from across the street, with a line of cars parked at the curb in front of the various ground floor businesses.  

 

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Wilmington Exchange Building

 
(ca. 1865)* - View of the Wilmington Exchange building, hotel and stage station to Los Angeles before the railroad on Canal Street (now Avalon Boulevard). In the front of the hotel is a 4-horse stagecoach with passengers.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1863, the Wilmington Exchange Hotel was built and was the first hotel in Wilmington. Phineas Banning’s first Wilmington home was the single-story building attached to the hotel (as seen above).^**^

Banning also owned a stagecoach line with routes connecting San Pedro to Salt Lake City, Utah and to Yuma, Arizona, and in 1868 he built a railroad to connect San Pedro Bay to Los Angeles, the first in the area.^*

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of San Pedro and Wilmington

 

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Workman Brothers Saddlery

 
(1868)* - View of Workman Brothers Saddlery shop located in a two story, brick commercial building on Main Street between Commercial and Reguena. The shop has J.B. Saunders retail store on one side and a bathing emporium on the other. A large silhouetted sculpture of a prancing horse sits atop the building.  

 

Historical Notes

The first marriage in Los Angeles city history in which both persons had "Anglo" surnames was in September 1845, of William Workman's daughter Antonia Margarita Workman to Pliny Fisk Temple (Francisco P. Temple or F.P.T ). The Temples had eleven children, eight living into adulthood.

William Workman and John Rowland organized the first wagon train of permanent eastern settlers, which arrived in Southern California on November 5, 1841. Together they owned and developed the 48,790-acre La Puente Rancho. Workman began this adobe home in 1842 and remodeled it in 1872 to resemble a manor house in his native England. He also established 'El Campo Santo,' this region's earliest known private family cemetery.^*

The Workman home and family cemetery have been designated California Historical Monument No. 874. Click HERE to see more California Historical Landmarks in LA.

 

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Temple Block

 
(ca. 1850s)*^# - Sketch of John Temple’s original two-story adobe at the intersection of Spring, Main and Temple, which became known as Temple Block.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1827, Jonathan Temple moved to the Pueblo de Los Angeles, where he opened the pueblo's first store, a business he operated for almost thirty years.

Temple Street (Los Angeles) was developed by him as a modest one-block dirt lane in the 1850s.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1872)* - Temple Block exterior view looking south toward Temple Street from some point on the Main Street side of the buildings. John Temple's original two-story adobe can be seen as part of the Temple Block.  

 

Historical Notes

The view above shows John Temple's 1858 Clocktower Market/Courthouse building and the first three buildings on the rest of Temple block. The original Temple Block structure is the two-story adobe at front (see previous photo) at the intersection of Spring, Main and Temple. It was demolished by FPF Temple ("Tempelito"), John's half-brother, to build the new Temple Block building in 1871. "Temple Block" seems to be used to identify all of these buildings and also, only the one in front, facing the intersection (whether the old adobe Temple Block or the new Italianate Temple Block).^*#

 

 

 
(n.d.)^^* - Temple Square (Temple Block) appears at the bottom-center of this photograph of a model of old Los Angeles. John Temple's 1858 Clocktower Market/Courthouse building is also identified. This would become the future site of the current City Hall.  

 

 

 

 
(1858)^^ - Photograph of an exterior view of the old City Hall building in Los Angeles. The two story building is long and narrow and has rows of large windows. A small cupola with a clock sits on the roof.  

 

Historical Notes

Jonathan Temple was one of Los Angeles’ first developers, constructing such landmarks as the original Temple Block and the Market House, which later served as city and county administrative headquarters, contained the county courthouse, and featured the first true theater in southern California. He also served as the first alcalde (or mayor) of Los Angeles after capture of the pueblo by the United States during the Mexican-American War and served on the first American-period common (city) council.

In 1849, after Los Angeles was ordered by California's military governor to conduct a survey, but couldn't pay for the work, Temple paid for the Ord Survey out of his own funds, and then was repaid by the sale of lots created in the survey.^*

 

 

 
(1860s)* - Three men stand at the top of the stairs in front of the old County Courthouse. This was actually LA's 5th courthouse location.  

 

Historical Notes

The County Courthouse, which later became the Bullard Block, stood on the site of the new City Hall. It became the seat of government in the early American period.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1869)* - The old County Courthouse, originally built by John Temple in 1858 as a marketplace and theater.
 

 

Historical Notes

The first floor of the building was used as a marketplace for a number of years, and the second floor was the first theater in Los Angeles. The building was briefly occupied by Los Angeles City Hall in 1861, but was mostly used by the County as a courthouse between 1861 -1891. The County leased the building for 8 years before purchasing it for $25,000 in 1869.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1869)* - Closer view (same photo as above) of the Clocktower Courthouse.  Originally built by John Temple in 1859 for a city market. It was leased to the county in 1861 and then purchased by the county in 1869.   

 

Historical Notes

Famous pioneer lawyers and judges used the courtrooms of this building, which gave way in 1891 to the Red Sandstone Courthouse .  Witnesses and attorneys, rather than crowd into the stuffy courtrooms of this Courthouse, sat in the shade of the building or in some office nearby, while waiting their turn.  At the right moment the bailiff poked his head out of a window and yelled for the man wanted—calling the name three times at the top of his voice and with “esquire” appended. #^^#

 

 

 

 
(1869)#^ - View looking east at the old LA County Courthouse located in the Temple Block. It was the County's 5th courthouse location. Market Street ran between Main and Spring on the north side of the Courthouse building, and Court Street did the same on the south side.  

 

Historical Notes

Through more than 150 years the county has used at least eight buildings as its county courthouse. All have been situated within a mile of each other in downtown Los Angeles south of the original plaza in what has for the past 80 years been called the Civic Center.

◆ The first county courthouse was in the adobe Bella Union Hotel, where court was held in rented rooms from 1850 to 1852.
◆ From January 1852 until November 1853, the county rented the home of county attorney (and later judge) Benjamin Hayes on Main Street.
◆ The Roche (or Rocha) House, an adobe on the corner of Spring and Court Streets, which the county and city jointly purchased from Jonathan “Don Juan” Temple, was used from November 1853 to March 1860.
◆ From 1860 to 1861 the county rented a building, probably a two-story brick house on Main Street, from John Nichols, former mayor of Los Angeles.
◆ The Temple Market Block (seen above) — where City Hall now stands — was rented by the county in May 1861, purchased in 1867 and used until 1891. This was the Clocktower Courthouse, known for its rectangular tower with a clock on all four sides.
◆ The Red Sandstone Courthouse on Poundcake Hill, completed in 1891, was damaged beyond repair by the Long Beach earthquake of 1933 and demolished in 1936. It is now the site of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center, constructed in 1972.
◆ The Hall of Records, built next door to the Red Sandstone Courthouse in 1911, was used along with other buildings as the courthouse from 1934 until 1959, when the current courthouse was occupied. It was demolished in 1973.
◆ The current courthouse, the Stanley Mosk County Courthouse, is located at 111 N. Hill Street.  Dedicated in 1959, it was the largest courthouse in the United States. *#^^

 

 

 

 
(1876)* - View toward the old Courthouse built by John Temple for market and theater, looking east. Spring Street is on the west, Main on the east, and Market on the north and Court on the south.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1881)^## - Stereoscopic view of the old Courthouse and surrounding buildings. The building was occupied as a court between 1861 and 1891. The LA river can be seen in the background. Note: Temple Block would become the site of today's City Hall.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1885)* - View showing the Temple Block and surrounding area in 1885. The intersection of Market and Spring streets is at lower left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1880s)+^ – View looking northeast showing the Los Angeles County Courthouse with its clock tower.  The corner of the courthouse closest to the camera is on the southwest corner of Spring and Court streets.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1891)^*# - View of Market Street looking west from the cupola of the United States Hotel, soon after the construction of the New Courthouse on Poundcake Hill (background). The old market and Courthouse of Temple Block can be seen at left.  

 

Historical Notes

Temple Block would become the site of today's Los Angeles City Hall.

 

 

Click HERE to see 'From Temple Block to City Hall'

 

* * * * *

 

 

Downey Block

 
(ca. 1870)* - Stereographic card showing an unpaved Temple Street, looking west from Main Street. In the right foreground is the Downey Block located on the northwest corner.  

 

Historical Notes

Construction on the Downey Block began in 1869. It was named for John Gately Downey, a pharmacist who served as the governor of California for two years (1860-1862) before becoming a real estate developer. Downey was also one of the founders and first president of Farmers and Merchants National Bank. The city of Downey was named in his honor after he subdivided his land holdings there and converted them into farms.*

 

 

 

 
(n.d.)^^* - Downey Block was located on the northwest corner of Main and Temple streets, highlighted at the bottom-center of the above model of old Los Angeles.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1871)* - First civic parade in L.A., July 4, 1871. Twenty-six volunteer firemen arranged in two lines of thirteen trail the horse-drawn cart which holds the pressurized water pump. This view is looking north at the intersection of Main, Spring and Temple streets with the Downey Block seen on the left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1871)* - A closer view of the corner of Main and Spring Streets, looking north from Temple Street, showing the Downey Block. Several horse-drawn vehicles are on the street as well as pedestrians milling around.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1875)* - View showing the North Main Street side of the Downey Block. Two well-dressed men are standing on the dirt road in front of the building.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1870s)^## - View looking northeast from the top of Poundcake Hill showing the Downey Block (center) at Temple and Main streets. The building with the pitched roof in the foreground is St. Athanasius Episcopal Church. Acroos the street is the Temple Street Stables (lower-left). Also seen is the Temple Block at center-right. The Los Angeles River runs horizontally across the top of the photo and the wide street at upper left is Aliso Street where the 101 Freeway runs today.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1880s)* – View of the Downey Block located on the northwest corner of Temple and Main streets as seen from the front of Temple Block. The two-story building has a large sign over the portico that reads: THE CAPITOL. Two men are sitting on the window ledge at upper left-center below another sign that reads: Crystal Place Cookery - China Ware. A horse and buggy is parked in front of the building while another appears to be moving west on Temple.   

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1884)* - View of an unpaved Temple Street, looking west as seen from the second floor of the Temple Block on Main Street. Horse-drawn carriages and wagons are parked along the street. In the right foreground is the Downey Block, housing the Crystal Palace, wholesale and retail sellers of crockery and china ware. Behind it is the Temple Street Stables. At left-center with ptiched roof and circular window is the St. Athanasius Episcopal Church located ate the southwest corner of Temple and New High streets. Poles strung with electric/telephone wires are seen in the foreground.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)* - Drawing of the Downey Block on the northwest corner of Main and Temple Streets. Various horse-drawn vehicles are seen on the street, including horse cars to Agricultural Park/Washington Garden, Spring & 6th Streets/S.P.R.R. Depot, and Boyle Heights/Los Angeles and Aliso Avenue/Perry Villa Tract.  

 

Historical Notes

Various businesses were housed in the Downey Block building, including The Capitol, La Cronica, H. Sloterbeck & Co. gun store, I.W.L. Auction Co., Libreria Espanola, L.W. Thatcher, Commercial Restaurant, Davis Architect, and L. Harris Clothing. Stairs lead up to the second floor, on which the Los Angeles Public Library was housed from 1872 to 1889.*

 

 

 

 
(1887)^^ - View of the Downey Block showing a multitude of horse-drawn carriges and wagons that are 'parked' along the curb.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1889)* - A parade on Main and Temple streets, looking north, in front of the Downey Block. Crowds of spectators flood the street but make way for a horse-drawn carriage escorted by police officers holding sabers. More spectators look from the second-story balcony.  

 

Historical Notes

The above photo provides a good view of the 300 block of North Main Street which was an important part of Los Angeles history as early as the mid-1800s. It was considered the uptown commercial heart of the old city and was always buzzing with activity. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the Historic 300 Block of N. Main Street

Also seen above is the City's new 150-foot tall electric light pole, first put into service in 1882. Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Streetlights.

 

 

 

 
(1891)^## - View looking west from the corner of Spring and Temple streets with the Downey Block at right (N/W corner of Main and Temple). The Temple Block is on the left behind the two men leaning on their bicycles and the LA County Courthouse (built in 1891) is in the distance (S/E corner of Broadway and Temple).  

 

 

 

 

 
(1900)^^* – View looking northwest showing the Downey Block on the northwest corner of Main and Temple streets.  There is a streetcar in the street in front of the building at right, and several pedestrians can be seen as well.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1904)^^* – View looking north showing the Downey Block on the corner of Spring Street and Temple Street. Men and women stand along the sidewalks and in the street in front of the Romanesque Downey Block, a building which houses several commercial interests; The Hazard and Harpham Patent Office advertises on the top floor, while signs on the bottom floor advertise all types of alcoholic beverages.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1904)#^ - Image of the corner of Temple Street and Main Street in downtown Los Angeles showing the Downey Block building, with cobblestone streets and horse-drawn wagon.  View is looking west with Temple Street on the left.  The fountain in the left foreground stands in front of the Temple Block. The awnings and windows of the Downey Block storefronts have signs including: "Dr. Crawford, Dentist" "Dr. U.D. Reed, Dentist" "Maier & Zobelein Pilsener, Beer on Draught" "John Brown Our Best 5 Cigar... 301 J.N. Rushton" at 301 N. Main Street, and "303 New-York Clothing House." The edge of Hazard and Harpham Patent Office can be seen attached to upper floor of building in upper left of image.  

 

Historical Notes

The Downey Block was demolished in 1904. Since then the corner has been the site of two Federal Buildings: the Federal Building and Post Office (1910 - 1937) and the Federal Courthouse and U.S. Post Office Building (1940 - Present).

 

* * * * *

 

Pico House

 
(1869)^^* - View showing the Pico House, Masonic Temple and the Plaza area from a hill overlooking Spring Street and Main Street, Los Angeles, December 1, 1869. In the foreground is a community of small houses. Just beyond the community is the Pico House, which faces Main Street. The Plaza is to the left of the Pico House. The Masonic Temple (or Hall) stands several buildings to the right of the Pico House. A majority of the buildings in view are residential houses.  

 

Historical Notes

Pío de Jesús Pico (May 5, 1801 – September 11, 1894) was the last Governor of Alta California (now the State of California) under Mexican rule. In 1868, he constructed the three story, 33-room hotel, Pico House (Casa de Pico) on the old plaza of Los Angeles, opposite today's Olvera Street.

In 1821 Pico set up a tanning hut and dram shop in Los Angeles, selling drinks for two Spanish bits (US 25 cents). His businesses soon became a significant source of his income.

By the 1850s Pico was one of the richest men in Alta California. In 1850 he purchased the 8,894-acre Rancho Paso de Bartolo, which included half of present day Whittier. Two years later, he built a home on the ranch and lived there until 1892. It is preserved today as Pio Pico State Historic Park. Pico also owned the former Mission San Fernando Rey de España, Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores (now part of Camp Pendleton), and several other ranchos for a total of over one half-million acres, or 800 mi².  ^*

 

 

 

 
(1876)* - Panoramic view of the Los Angeles Plaza in 1876. The Pico House is the prominent 3-story white building at the center of the photo. The LA River can be seen in the background.
 

 

Historical Notes

At the time of its opening in 1870, it was the most lavish hotel in Southern California. Even before 1900, however, it began a slow decline along with the surrounding neighborhood, as the business center moved further south. After decades of serving as a shabby flop house, it was deeded to the State of California in 1953, and is now a part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Monument. It is used on occasion for exhibits and special events.^*

 

 

 

 
(1875)* - The Pico House, built by Pio Pico 1869-70. Several men are standing on the sidewalk while a stage coach and two other horse-drawn wagons are parked in front of the hotel.
 

 

Historical Notes

The Pico House was designated California Historical Landmark No. 159 (Click HERE to see more in California Historical Landmarks in Los Angeles).

 

 

 
(late 1800s)**#^ - View of the Pico House dining room circa late 1800s.  

 

 

 

 
(1878)* - The Pico House, sometimes called "Old Pico House" was built by Pio Pico in 1869-70. Seen here from the Main St. entrance of the Plaza. The road in front and to the side of the building is dirt, and a set of tracks runs down the middle.  

 

 

 

 
(n.d.)*#^ - Map of Historic Sites in and near the Plaza Area. The Pico House sits on the southeast corner of Main and Republic, across from the Plaza.  

 

Historical Notes

Map of Historic Sites in and near the Plaza Area. On this map, streets which no longer exist are shown in a light grey, and/or labeled in italics. The approximate locations of the 101 freeway and its ramps are shown in a darker grey. Buildings which no longer exist are outlined with dotted lines.*#^

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the LA Plaza

 

* * * * *

 

Merced Theater

 
(1870s)* - The Merced Theater sits between the Pico House, and the Masonic Lodge. This was the "first business block on Main Street".  

 

Historical Notes

The Merced Theatre, erected in 1870 on North Main Street next to the Pico House, was the first building built expressly for theatrical purposes in Los Angeles. It was built by William Abbot, a cabinetmaker, and named in honor of his wife Merced Garcia.*^*

The theater was built in an Italianate style and operated as a live theater from 1871 to 1876. When the Woods Opera House opened nearby in 1876, the Merced ceased being the city's leading theater. Eventually, it gained an "unenviable reputation" because of "the disreputable dances staged there, and was finally closed by the authorities." ^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1876)* - Main Street and Plaza showing the Pico House, the Merced Theater, and the Masonic Lodge. The first gas works can also be seen in the foreground; the tanks were built in 1867, the Pico House and Merced Theater in 1870 and the Masonic Lodge in 1865.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1878)^^* - View of Main Street looking south. A horse-drawn wagon with two men in it is parked in front of the Pico House near the Merced Theatre on the left. The road is unpaved and a streetcar track runs down the middle. Both sides of the street are lined with imposingly large buildings. At center on the left side of the street is an especially big building topped by three prominent towers (Baker Block ). Most of the other buildings are somewhat Romanesque, with large columns and archways dominating their facades. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the Historic 300 Block of N. Main Street.  

 

 

 

 
(1890s)**#^ - View of Main Street looking northeast.  The Plaza, Pico House, and Merced Theater are visible.  A sign above the theater reads “Barker & Allen, Furniture & Carpets.” A stagecoach and horse-drawn wagon are parked in front of the Pico House.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1909)^^* - Photograph of the Teatro Mercedes (or Merced Theatre). Below the Romanesque architecture of the three-story building, a crowd of pedestrians stand in front of the Japanese shops at ground level which read "A. Itami Clothing Store" and "Yamanobe Grocery". An early model automobile is partially visible in the foreground.  

 

Historical Notes

The Merced Theater, completed on December 31, 1870, opened its first professional engagement on January 30, 1871. It was "used later as an Armory, then again as a Fire Engine house".^^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1945)* - Exterior view of front of the Merced Theater and businesses to the left and right down the street. Signs can be seen for a barber shop, a shoe shop, the Tom Hotel and others. To the left of the Merced is a portion of the Old Pico House.
 

 

 

 

 
(1968)* - View showing the front of the Merced Theatre. At the very top reads, "1st L.A. Theater Mercedes." On the left is the Pico House.  Photo by William Reagh  

 

Historical Notes

Ezra F. Kysor designed the Italianate theater, built in 1870 by William Abbott and named for his wife. It opened on January 30, 1871 and is the oldest surviving theater in Los Angeles.*

The Merced Theatre was dedicated as California Historical Landmark No. 171.

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the LA Plaza

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

 
(1868)^^* - Left panel of a panoramic photograph/sketch of downtown Los Angeles looking east from Bunker Hill with each property annotated and listed at top. The photographer, S. A. Rendall, can be seen standing in his own photo (#14).  

 

Historical Notes

The above photo was taken from a section of Bunker Hill called "Poundcake Hill", the future site of the old Los Angeles High School (1873) and later the location of Los Angeles' second County Court House (1891).

It was this time that Los Angeles began growing faster than anywhere in the country. By 1870, the City's population increased to 5,730, a 350% jump from when it was incorporated as a municipality in 1850.  By 1900, LA's population would mushroom to over 100,000 people.^*

 

 

 

 
(1868)^^* - Right panel of a panoramic photograph/sketch of downtown Los Angeles looking east from Bunker Hill with each property annotated and listed at top. The location of the camera was at the top of a hill called ‘Poundcake Hill’ the future site of Los Angeles High School (1873) and the 2nd L.A. County Court House (1891).  

 

Historical Notes

S. A. Rendall, the photographer of the amazing panoramic photo seen above, is mentioned in a 1911 publication titled: OUTPOSTPreserving Historical Data by W. S. Broke.

“Remembering that no city in the United States has had a rate of growth commensurate with that of Los Angeles, the preservation of historical data becomes of pressing importance. Much of the photographic material illustrating the early life of the city has been preserved but as far as can be ascertained little of this immediately available for all comers.

… There does not appear to have been any systematic attempt to preserve photographs of the city prior to the early 80s.  The late S. A. Rendall, whose children now reside in Los Angeles, was a photographer who did much toward preserving the appearance of the early Los Angeles—the city of the ‘60s and ‘70s.  What has become of most of his negatives is not known, although they would be of immense historical value were they now available.  Perhaps the best thing that he left behind is a bird’s eye view of Los Angeles taken in 1868 from the site of the present court house.  This photograph is the property of George W. Hazard, who has it covered by copyright, and who has it on sale.  It is a remarkable photograph in every way.” #**

 

* * * * *

 

Los Angeles High School

 
(1873)* - Old Los Angeles High School, looking east from the hill on North Broadway at Court Street. The Temple block stands to the right of the school. Broadway, first known as Fort Street, was cut through the bushes in the foreground.
 

 

Historical Notes

Construction on Los Angeles' first public high school, (the Jesuit Loyola High School is older) began on July 19, 1872, at the former site of Central School on what was then known as Poundcake Hill, at the southeast corner of Fort Street (later Broadway), which the front of the school faced, and Temple Street, with the back of the school to New High Street (later Spring Street).^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1875)* - View looking northwest from Main and 1st streets. Los Angeles High stands tall on top of "Poundcake Hill" in the distance.  

 

Historical Notes

Los Angeles High School was one of the architectural jewels of the city, and was strategically placed at the summit of a hill, the easier to be pointed to with pride. One of the school's long standing mottos is "Always a hill, always a tower, always a timepiece." ^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1878)^^* - View looking southeast showing Los Angeles High School at Temple and Fort Street on Poundcake Hill. In the haze just to the left of the school building you can just make out the clock tower of the Temple Block.  

 

Historical Notes

The two-story wooden structure was so big and grand, the finest school south of San Francisco at that time, with classic lines and a tower with a clock in it, that people traveled from miles around to see it. The teachers liked the wide corridors, walnut banisters, generous windows and the transoms over the doors.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1870s)* - View showing the first Los Angeles High School on Poundcake Hill. A horse can be seen standing by a fence in the left foreground.  

 

Historical Notes

The schoolhouse was completed at a cost of $20,000, in 1873. Nearby, in succession, was the Court House, the City Hall, the Jones-Lindley Market and the Post Office. The first principal was Rev. Dr. William T. Lucky (1821–1876) and the first graduating class, in 1875, consisted of seven students.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1880)^^* - View of Los Angeles High School from Temple Street sitting on top of 'Poundcake Hill'. A long flight of stairs can be seen going from the bottom of the steep hill to the top.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1886, the decision was made to move the high school building to Sand Street (later California Street, now part of the Hollywood Freeway), just to the west of North Hill Street and below the south side of Fort Moore Hill, in order for the Los Angeles County Courthouse to be built on Poundcake Hill. The contractor, Mr. Hickam, said he could do the job with scaffolding, rollers, horses and workmen. But his bid turned out to be too low. He lost a considerable amount of money because of his elaborate preparations, including the high wooden trestle which carried the building over the intersection of Temple and Fort Street.^*

 

 

 

 
(1886)* - View showing the Los Angeles High School building being moved over to Temple Street as a couple of people look on. A man standing at the corner of Temple and Broadway (formerly Fort Street) watches a double trolley traveling by, and two people can be seen exiting the Clifton House on the left.  

 

Historical Notes

During the process of moving, the contractor managed to get the schoolhouse halfway up Temple Street when he ran out of money and left it right in the middle of the street. It was there for a good while. They jacked it up on scaffolding high enough for the Temple Street street cars to run under it.^*

 

 

 

 
(1886)* - Los Angeles’ first high school moved across the street from Poundcake Hill to clear space for a new county courthouse when it got stuck in the process due to the contracting running out of money. A horse-drawn wagon can be seen in the foreground.  

 

Historical Notes

For a while, the building remained where the contractor crew left it, while a new grander high school was built atop Fort Moore Hill.^#

 

 

 

 
(1886)^^* - Close-up view showing the Old Los Angeles High School building perched high above the street on scaffolding near the intersection of Temple and Broadway. The contractor left the structure in this state after cost overuns caused him to give up.  

 

Historical Notes

Finally, they got the school building moved up to its new location on Sand Street, where Los Angeles High School students and faculty remained until the second high school, bigger and grander than the first, was built a few years later on top of Fort Moore Hill..^*

 

 

 

 
(1890)* - A view showing the newly constructed Los Angeles High School at its new location on Fort Moore Hill.  

 

Historical Notes

Completed in 1891, the new Los Angeles High School replaced the original one that was built in 1872, at the former site of Central School on what was then known as Poundcake Hill, at the southeast corner of Fort Street (later Broadway). ^*

 

 

 
(1890)^*# - Close-up view showing the front of Los Angeles High School shortly after it was completed, located on the conrer of Castelar and Rock streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The new school was built at Castelar and Rock streets (North Hill Street and Fort Moore). The four-story red brick building had 40 rooms for its 400 students. It was the second Los Angeles High School to be built.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1901)* - View of Los Angeles High School, located on north Hill Street between California and Bellevue. Oil derricks, part of the Los Angeles Oil Field++, can be seen in the hills behind the school and to the left.  

 

Historical Notes

The new Los Angeles High School building was enormous, especially for that time period. It was built on part of the site of the abandoned Fort Moore Hill Cemetery, the first Protestant cemetery in Los Angeles, which was spread over the slopes of the hill.^*

++Discovered in 1890, and made famous by Edward Doheny's successful well in 1892, the Los Angeles City Oil Field was once the top producing oil field in California, accounting for more than half of the state's oil in 1895. In its peak year of 1901, approximately 200 separate oil companies were active on the field, which is now entirely built over by dense residential and commercial development.*^

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)^^* – Panoramic view looking northwest from the LA County Courthouse.  Los Angeles High School stands tall in the background on Fort Moore Hill.  The Temperance Temple building is seen in the lower-left located on the northwest corner of Temple and Broadway.  The Broadway Tunnel is out of frame at right-center.  

 

Historical Notes

Early buildings commissioned to house the Los Angeles High School were among the architectural jewels of the city, and were strategically placed at the summit of a hill, the easier to be pointed to with pride. One of the school's long standing mottos is "Always a hill, always a tower, always a timepiece." ^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1910)^^* - View of Los Angeles High School, overgrown with vines. At left, the vines stop on the clock tower just beneath the clock, whose hands are missing. At right, a lone automobile is parked along the sidewalk near a second, three-story building.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1917, Los Angeles High School moved to its current location at 4650 Country Club Drive (now West Olympic Boulevard), which incidentally is not on a hill.^*

 

 

Los Angeles High School (3rd location)

 
(1924)^^* - View showing Los Angeles High School at its third location, built in 1917 and located at 4650 Country Club Drive (now Olympic Boulevard). The main building is three and a half stories, while the wings perpendicular to the street are two and a half stories, and the central tower is five or six stories. The street is empty except for three parked automobiles.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1917, Los Angeles High School moved to its current location at 4650 Country Club Drive (now West Olympic Boulevard).

Olympic Boulevard was originally named 10th Street for most of its length, except for a couple of shorter stretches, one of which was named Country Club Drive.  In 1932, the entire length of the street, from East L.A. to Santa Monica, was renamed Olympic Boulevard for the Summer Olympics being held in Los Angeles that year.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1925)^^* - View of Los Angeles High School with streetcar in front, as seen from what appears to be an empty lot across the street.  The four-story brick building of the high school is shown at a distance in three sections: the main section of the building runs the width of the image and does not extend past four stories. At the center of this, a section of tower houses the main entrance, capped at its four corners by minarets. It adds an extra story. The third section is pictured at the far right and extends perpendicularly from the main building. It is three stories tall.  

 

Historical Notes

To honor the graduates and under-graduates of the school who took part in the World War, in 1922 the students voted to buy the acreage across the street, a plot of ground approximately 315 by 350 feet, to be used as a memorial park.  In 1923, the land was purchased by the student body and alumni association of Los Angeles High School, and deeded to the City of Los Angeles in commemoration of twenty alumni who died in World War I. Six years later, the city gave the Los Angeles Public Library the right to establish a branch on the site.

In 1930, a library opened in the park (LA Public Library - Memorial Branch). The students of Los Angeles High School commissioned a stained glass window with the names of the twenty alumni and an inscription stating hope for peace among nations. The window, designed by the renowned Judson Art Studio, was inspired by those in the Parliament Building. #^^^

 

 

 

 
(1933)^.^ – Rear view of Los Angeles High School looking north.  Photo: by Adelbert Bartlett  

 

 

 

 

 
(1940)^* - South view of Los Angeles High School, with graduating class of 1940 in foreground, 4650 W. Olympic Boulevard.  

 

 

 

 

 

(2006)^* - Los Angeles High School logo.

Team Name: Romans

Colors: Blue and White

 

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

St. Athanasius Episcopal Church

 
(ca. 1874)^^* - View showing Los Angeles High School atop Poundcake Hill and St. Athanasius Episcopal Church (center), widely thought to be the first Protestant house of worship in Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

Built in 1864, St. Athanasius was the first Episcopal church in the City of Los Angeles. It was situated on the northeast corner of Poundcake Hill at Temple and New High Streets.^^*

 

 

 
(1879)* - Exterior view of St. Athanasius Episcopal Church showing several people standing by the front doorway.  

 

Historical Notes

Caption on the photograph reads, "Photograph of Saint Athanasius Episcopal Church the first Protestant house of worship erected in Los Angeles in 1864. On S.W. corner of Temple and New High Streets. Rev. & Mrs. Messenger standing in doorway of the church."

 

 

 

 
(1870s)^## - View looking northeast from the top of Poundcake Hill, where Los Angeles High School was located, showing the Downey Block (center) at Temple and Main streets. The building with the pitched roof in the foreground is St. Athanasius Episcopal Church. Acroos the street is the Temple Street Stables (lower-left). Also seen is the Temple Block at center-right. The Los Angeles River runs horizontally across the top of the photo and the wide street at upper left is Aliso Street where the 101 Freeway runs today.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1883)* - View looking north showing Los Angeles High School on Poundcake Hill, taken from 1st and Spring Streets. Also seen is the profiile of Saint Athanasius Episcopal Church, marked with an X.  

 

Historical Notes

At time of the above photo, St. Athanasius Episcopal Church had been renamed St. Paul's Church (1881).*

 

 

 
(ca. 1884)* - View of an unpaved Temple Street, looking west as seen from the second floor of the Temple Block on Main Street. Horse-drawn carriages and wagons are parked along the street. In the right foreground is the Downey Block, housing the Crystal Palace, wholesale and retail sellers of crockery and china ware. Behind it is the Temple Street Stables. At left-center with ptiched roof and circular window is the St. Athanasius Episcopal Church located at the southwest corner of Temple and New High streets. Poles strung with electric/telephone wires are seen in the foreground.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1884)* - Exterior view of the Los Angeles County Assessor's office, known originally as St. Athanasius Episcopal Church (St. Paul's), located on the southwest corner of Temple and New High Street. Built in 1864, St. Athanasius was the first Episcopal church in Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1883, the church building was sold to Los Angeles County, and a new St. Paul's Church was built where the Biltmore Hotel now stands at Pershing Square.*

 

 

 

 
(1891)^*# - View of the same building (originally the St. Athanasius Episcopal Church) shortly before its demise, with a clockless County Courthouse in the background.  

 

Historical Notes

The original 1860s-era bell from St. Athanasius lives on at the Church of the Epiphany at 2808 Altura Street in Lincoln Heights.^*#

 

* * * * *

 

 

Antonio Maria Lugo Adobe

 
(ca. 1875)* - Early view showing the Antonio Maria Lugo adobe, built in 1820, and located at San Pedro near 2nd Street. The Lugo adobe is indicated by a star (middle right). The large towered building seen in the center distance is the Wallace Woodworth residence.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1810, when Antonio Maria Lugo was 35 years old and a corporal in the Spanish army stationed in Santa Barbara, he requested and was given his first land grant, the grant that included Bell Gardens. Shortly thereafter, he became mayor of Los Angeles.^#*^

 

 

 
(ca. 1885)^^* - Exterior view of the home of Don Antonio Mario Lugo located on San Pedro Street, near Second Street, Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

The Don Antonio Mario Lugo adobe was built in 1820. The single-story house has extended roof supported by beams at about every ten feet. A wooden fence encloses the perimeter to the right of the house. Trees are visible in the background. Picture file card reads: "1st house with wood floor?" ^^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Los Angeles and Independence Railroad Depot

 
(ca. 1875)^## – View of the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad Depot on San Pedro Street near Wolfskill Lane.  There is a train stopped at the depot with several men standing on the platform.  A horse-drawn wagon is also stopped near the train.  

 

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles and Independence Railroad Company was incorporated in January 1875 with Francisco P. Temple, John P. Jones, Robert S. Baker, T. N. Park, James A. Pritchard, J. S. Slauson, and J. U. Crawford, as directors. Col. Crawford was the engineer and general manager.

The 16.67 miles of track between Los Angeles and Santa Monica were privately built without government subsidies or land grants, all in a little over ten months - primarily using 67 Chinese laborers imported for the task. Right-of-way between Los Angeles and Santa Monica was given by local ranchers who were anxious to have access to a railroad. The line opened October 17, 1875, with two trains a day running between Santa Monica and Los Angeles; the fare was fixed at $1.00 per trip, freight at $1.00 per ton.^*

 

 

 
(1875)^^* - View of a steam locomotive in front of the Los Angeles and Independence Rail Road Terminal at Fifth Street and San Pedro Street. Two lavishly decorated brick towers extend from the main building to either side of its entrance.  

 

Historical Notes

The wood Victorian building has two three-story square towers with wrought iron work at their apexes, with dormer windows in the roofs of the towers and small decorative balconies on the second-story windows. A statue of a sphinx stands guard (on the left) next to several doors at the head of a wide set of stairs on the left side of the building (out of view).^^

 

 

 

 
(1876)#^ – View showing Locomotive No. 1 and passenger cars of the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad on train tracks next to the railroad's terminal at Fifth Street and San Pedro Street in Los Angeles. The train is full of passengers and is about to leave for Santa Monica.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1877)^^ – Exterior View of the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad Depot, San Pedro Street and Fourth Street, south of Fifth Street. A group of about six people are gathered on the platform near the end of a rail car (one is on the car) on the right side of the building.  

 

 

 

 
(1888)^^* - View showing the Los Angeles and Independence Rail Road Terminal at Fifth Street and San Pedro Street.  Writing at bottom of photo reads:  “Old Santa Monica Depot”  

 

Historical Notes

The railroad line, which extended to Santa Monica, was taken over by Southern Pacific, and the station was destroyed by fire in November, 1888.^^

The right-of-way was purchased by Los Angeles Metro in 1990 and is now used for the Expo Line light rail line.

 

* * * * *

 

LA's 1st Masonic Lodge

 
(1870s)* - View showing (from L to R): the Pico House, Merced Theater, and the Masonic Lodge. This was the "first business block on Main Street".  

Historical Notes

Los Angeles Lodge No. 42 is the first Masonic Lodge established in Los Angeles, and the second oldest in all of Southern California after San Diego Lodge No. 35.+##

 

 

 
(ca. 1885)^^*– View showing the first Masonic Lodge in Los Angeles, located at 416 ½ North Main Street.  The lodge building is a two-story structure with a second floor balcony. There are three large French doors on the second story that open onto the balcony. The first floor has two doors flanking an awning covered window. Several pedestrians are standing in small groups on the sidewalk in front of the lodge.  

 

Historical Notes

The first Lodge building was completed in 1858, and is where the Mason’s meeting place until 1868.+##

 

 

 
(ca. 2006)+## - View showing the Old Lodge Building on Main Street as it apears today.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

McDonald Block

 
(1876)* - Main Street between 1st and Court, Old McDonald Block, showing Alex McKenzie liquor store. John Temple's old courthouse building can be seen on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

The first organizational meetings of the Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) were held in the law offices of Judson, Gillette, and Gibson on the second floor of the old McDonald Block on Main Street in 1880. James B. Lankershim was the first president of the LAAC. He later became a leading developer of the downtown business district.*#^#

 

 

 
(1880)* - Lithograph of McDonald Block building on Main Street, 1880.  

 

* * * * *

 

Baker Block

 
(1880)^^* - Photograph of a lithograph of the Baker Block on the southeast corner of Main Street and Arcadia Street. The three-story building is a large rectangular building with short towers on the corners and massive domed tower at center.  The building is Victorian style, with large arched windows on all three levels.  

 

Historical Notes

The above lithograph was from Thompson and West's History of Los Angeles County, published in 1880.^^*

 

 

 
(1880)* - Built on the former site of the residence of Abel Stearns, the Baker Block was prominent in Los Angeles. The telegraph office has a sign at the corner of the building.  

 

Historical Notes

The ornate three-story Baker Block was completed in 1878 by Colonel Robert S. Baker. Located at the north end of the 300 Block of N. Main Street, Baker Block was long considered the best thing in town and an early microcosm of city life.  Offices for lawyers, physicians and businessmen were on the second floor and on the top floor were the City's most costly and fashionable apartments.

As a point of interest, Colonel Robert Baker married Abel Stearn’s widow, Arcadia Bandini de Stearns, in 1874 (three years after Stearn’s death in 1871). The Baker Block was built on the same site as the Stearns Adobe four years later.

 

 

 
(ca. 1880)* - View of North Main Street. Baker Block is on the left and the St. Charles Hotel, formerly the Bella Union Hotel, is on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

At the time of its completion, Baker Block was reputedly the largest and most expensive structure to have been built south of San Francisco. Among other achievements, it is also believed to have been Los Angeles’ first steel-framed building, and it's first to have tiled floors. #^*#

 

 

 

 
(n.d.)* - Drawing of North Main Street, showing the location of the businesses in the entire 300 block, starting with the Baker Block on the left. The Baker Block was built in stages starting in the late 1840s through 1875.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1882)* - View looking north on Main Street with buildings annotated. The Farmers and Merchants Bank opened October 29, 1882 in the Hellman Building. First National Bank, formerly Commercial Bank, was in the building on the right. The Baker Block is at the far left and the Ducommun Building can be seen at center-left of photo.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1882)**- One of the first of seven electric street lights installed in the City of Los Angeles at Main Street and Commercial Street in 1882. It stood 150 feet tall. Baker Block is on the left and the Ducommun Building on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

Each of the 150-foot-high masts carried three carbon-arc lamps of three thousand candle-power. All seven lamps and a small power plant to provide the electricity were installed by C. L. Howland in 1882.

In 1883, Howland and others formed the Los Angeles Electric Company.**

Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Street Lights.

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - View looking southeast showing the Baker Block on the corner of North Main and Arcadia streets.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - View showing the Baker Block, located at 342 North Main Street at the corner of Arcadia Street (far left).  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930)^^* - Aerial view as seen from City Hall showing the Baker Block located at the north end of the historic 300 Block of N. Main Street.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930s)* - Looking across N. Main Street (foreground) towards the French Second Empire style Baker Block, on the southeast corner at Arcadia Street (lower left), and the Grand Central Hotel (right). Photo by Herman Schultheis.  

 

Historical Notes

The Baker Block had lost much of its luster by the turn of the century, and by the time it was purchased by Goodwill Industries in 1919, it was all too clear that its days were numbered. As cruel fate would have it, the faded landmark was slated to give way to one of the most mundane projects in the 1930 Civic Center plan: a two-block extension of Aliso Street from Los Angeles Street to Broadway. #^*#

 

 

 
(ca. 1940)* - View looking northeast showing the Baker Building (Block) and other buildings on the 300 Block of N. Main Street shortly before their demoliton.  

 

Historical Notes

Despite plans to relocate the structure for another purpose, the city purchased the Baker Block from Goodwill in 1941 and demolished the building a year later. U.S. Route 101 now runs beneath where these buildings once stood.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930)^^* - View looking northeast from City Hall showing the old part of Los Angeles including the LA Plaza and Chinatown. At left can be seen the ornate Baker Building with its three towers located on the historic 300 block of N. Main Street. Los Angeles Street runs diagonally from lower-right to upper-left. Aliso Street runs from Los Angeles Street at center east and then turns diagonally up. Union Station wasn't completed until 1938 and would be located in the upper right of photo.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1942, Baker Block and all the buildings on the 300 Block of N. Main Street were demolished to extend Aliso Street from Los Angeles Street to Broadway. Several years later the Hollywood Freeway (Route 101) would be constructed over this new Aliso Street extension.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1951)* - Aerial view of Los Angeles near the Plaza after extension of Aliso Street. Union Station is seen at center and the LA Plaza at left-center. The 300 Block of N. Main Street, where the Baker Block once stood, is at lower left. It now consists of mostly parking lots and, of course, the new Aliso Street extension.  

 

Historical Notes

In the early 1950's, the Hollywood Freeway (U.S. Route 101) would be constructed in line with Aliso Street.

 

 

 
(1970s)* - View from City Hall looking down toward the 300 Block of N. Main Street. The Hollywood Freeway (U.S. Route 101) now runs beneath where the Baker Block once stood.  

 

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Freeway through downtown was opened in 1954.

 

 

Then and Now

 
 

 

* * * * *

 

 

Ducommun Building

 
(ca. 1882)* - Hardware Store of C. Ducommun, dry goods store of S. Prager and a furniture store at 204 N. Main Street (after 1890 at 304 N. Main Street) are shown. The 1883-4 edition of the city directory lists C. Ducommun Hardware at this location.  

 

Historical Notes

Charles Louis Ducommun, a watchmaker by training, emigrated to the US from Switzerland in the early 1840s. He started a general store, providing supplies (and credit) to gold prospectors and other pioneers who had settled in the burgeoning pueblo of Los Angeles. Ducommun Street was named for Charles Louis.^*

 

 

 
(1886)* - Facade of the hardware store of C. Ducommun at 204 N. Main Street (after 1890 at 304 N. Main Street).  

 

 

 

 
(1898)#*^* - View looking north on Main Street showing the Baker Block in the background. Pedestrians are seen crossing the streetcar tracks on Main Street in front of the Ducommun Building. One of the City's original 150-ft electric streetlights stands at center of photo. Click HERE to see more in Early L.A. Streetlights.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930)* – View of the west side of North Main Street. Security First National Bank now occupies part of the Ducommun Building on the northeast corner of Main and Commercial streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The Security First National Bank of Los Angeles became the Security Pacific National Bank and is now Bank of America. The Farmers and Merchants Bank was the oldest bank in Southern California from 1871 until 1956 when it was merged into the Security First National Bank of Los Angeles.*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Charles Davis Residence

 
(ca. 1880)* - Panoramic view of the home and grounds once belonging to Charles W. Davis. The house and its groves are identified as being on Boyle Ave. near Stephenson. Charles Davis was one of Los Angeles' earliest well known architects.  

 

* * * * *

 

First Presbyterian Church

 
(ca. 1880)^^* – View showing the First Presbyterian Church on the southeast corner of Second Street and Fort Street (later Broadway). A horse-drawn coach stands parked in the street to the right of the Gothic 1st Presbyterian Church and its impressively tall spire. A man stands in the unpaved street farther to the right. A wrought-iron fence enclosed a garden of topiary across the street to the left. The city's first Jewish Synagogue, B'nai B'rith Temple, can be seen behind the church to the right. To the right of the synagogue is the future home of LA's 3rd City Hall (1888-1928).  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1882)^^* -  View looking north on Fort Street (later Broadway) from Third Street. The spire of the First Presbyterian Church can be seen above the trees at right.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1884)^^* -  View looking southeast showing the intersection of Second Street and Fort Street (later Broadway) where the First Presbyterian Church, with its impressively tall spire, stands on the southeast corner.  In the distance, on the east side of Main Street just south of Second Street, is St. Vibiana's Cathedral.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1885)+#+ – View looking east on 2nd Street from Olive Street showing the First Presbyterian Church in the distance on the S/E corner of 2nd and Fort (later Broadway). In the center of photo can see two cable cars of LA's first cable car system - The Second Street Cable Railway.  

 

Historical Notes

The Second Street Cable Railway was the first cable car system to open in Los Angeles. Opened in 1885, it ran from Second and Spring Streets to First Street and Belmont Avenue. The completed railway was 6,940 feet long, just over a mile and a quarter, with a power house constructed in the middle, at Boylston Street. It was a single track system, with sidings where a down-hill car could coast past an up-hill car.^*

 

 

 

 
(1890)* - Churches and small business are interspersed with homes in this view of Second Street between Fort and Spring Streets. Fort Street later became Broadway (1890). The church in the center with the tall spire is the First Presbyterian Church at Fort and 2nd. To the church's right is Congregation B'nai B'rith, built in 1872. It was the first synagogue in Los Angeles. St. Vibiana's Cathedral is in the background and the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church South is on the far left at 1st and Spring.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1893)^^* - Panoramic view looking southeast from First Street and Hill Street toward Broadway. First Presbyterian Church stands at center with its tall spire.  City Hall (built in 1888) is at right and is now the tallest building in the area.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1893)^^* – View looking south on Broadway showing the First Presbyterian Church on the southeast corner of Second Street and Broadway (left) with City Hall several lots behind it. The California Bank Building stands on the southwest corner.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^## - View looking north on Broadway from Third Street. Identifiable buildings from right to left include: City Hall (1888-1928), B'nai B'rith Temple (1872-1896), First Presbyterian Church ( - 1897), and the LA County Courthouse (1891-1932). Horse-drawn carriages and a streetcar share the road.  

 

Historical Notes

The First Presbyterian Church was sold in 1897, and presumed demolished soon thereafter.^^*

 

* * * * *

 

Spring Street School (First LA Public School)

 
(n.d.)^^* - Aerial view looking down at a model of Old Los Angeles showing the location of the first American public school in Los Angeles, located at the northwest corner of Spring and 2nd streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Constructed in 1855, the school was located at Second and Spring streets, where the Los Angeles Times building now stands.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1860s)+^ - Panoramic view looking south showing Spring Street School. It is the 2-story building with three second-floor windows seen in the upper center-right.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1873 the original Spring Street School housed a hundred pupils and one teacher; in the five schools in Los Angeles there were 14 teachers and 835 pupils, or 60 children per teacher. Two years later it was noted that the school was "running a double set of scholars, one class filling the rooms in the morning, and the other class receiving instruction in the afternoon." ^*

In 1884, Spring Street Elementary School vacated its original site (northwest corner of 2nd and Spring) to make way for a new City Hall and governemnt building. The school's new location woud be on Spring Street between 5th and 6th streets.

 

Spring Street School (2nd location)

 
(ca. 1884)#^ – Stereoscopic view showing the Spring Street Elementary School on the 500 block of South Spring Street between Fifth and Sixth streets in downtown Los Angeles, with a picket fence and sign on the building reading "Public School 1884."  

 

Historical Notes

In 1883, the school board purchased a parcel of land fronting on both Broadway and Spring Street, midblock between Fifth and Sixth streets (the present site of the Broadway-Spring Arcade), for $12,500, and a new Spring Street School was built there.  The more commodious structure hosted gatherings of educators  and parents, it had an auditorium used by the public and it was the home of special education for "deaf-and-dumb" children, with the "oral method or lip-reading system" as the method of instruction.^*

 

 

 

 
(1884)* – View showing Spring Street School at its new home on the 500 block of S. Spring Street. It was relocated from Spring and 2nd streets to make room for a new City Hall.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1886)* - Exterior view of Spring Street School at its new location on the 500 block of S. Spring Street. Three children are on the sidewalk in front of a picket fence. To the left is the First Baptist Church.  

 

 

 

 
(1890)* - Group portrait of the students at Spring Street School in 1890. The school's location is the present site of the Mercantile Arcade Building.  

 

Historical Notes

By 1904 the Broadway-Spring real estate had become so valuable that the school board decided to put the land up for lease but to retain the material in the old brick schoolhouse, which by then was noted to be a "landmark." As a result, in that year work began on Mercantile Place—what was planned to be "something entirely new in Los Angeles development"—a private shopping street under the aegis of C. Westley Roberts, who secured a ten-year lease from the Los Angeles School Board and bought the material of the old brick school building, which was to be demolished.

As the ten-year anniversary of the lease approached in 1913, school board members realized that the value of the property had increased from $400,000 to $1 million, which meant that the rental charged to the Mercantile Place lessee was amounting to only 2.5% a year on the valuation. A move was begun to sell the property instead of renewing the lease, and in February 1914 the board signed a renewable lease with the Mercantile Improvement Association for $3,500 a month "in order that the property may not be empty pending the sale of the property or the erection of a building thereon."  The next month a special referendum election was held to ask voters what they wanted to do with the property, and in a lightly attended response 2,003 votes were cast for "lease for fifty years," 1,478 for "sell" and 931 for "neither sell nor lease for fifty years."

The school board sold the property for $1.155 million in 1919 to Adolph Ramish, president of the Hippodrome Theater Company.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Round House Adobe

 
(1880)* - Close-up view of the Round House main entrance with sign above reading: "Garden of Paradise".  

 

Historical Notes

This adobe, known as the Round House as well as the "Garden of Paradise", was built in 1854 by Ramón Alexander as a gift to his Spanish bride María Valdéz, daughter of Basílio Valdéz, who came to Los Angeles from Spain in 1830.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)^^* - Exterior view of the Round House which was once a popular beer garden and later became LA's first kindergarten, located on Main Street between 3rd and 4th streets.  

 

Historical Notes

In the late 1850s, the Round House was sold to German immigrant George Lehman, better known as "Round House George", and it long housed his famous beer garden known as the Garden of Paradise, which eventually became a famous landmark and a very popular pleasure resort at the time.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)#*** - View showing the Round House, located from Main to Spring streets, between 3rd and 4th. It later became a kindergarten.  

 

Historical Notes

After the famous beer garden closed, the city's first kindergarten was opened here, with Kate Douglas Wiggin as teacher. Sadly, it was torn down in or about 1887.*

 

 

 
(1880s)* -  View looking north on Main Street near 3rd Street showing a large Cactus tree in front of the Round House, with a kindergarten sign seen on the left. In the distance, on the right, can be seen St. Vibiana's Cathedral.  

 

Historical Notes

Today, the Ronald Reagan State Building stands where the Round House Adobe once stood.

 

* * * * *

 

Isaac Van Nuys Residence

 
(ca. 1880)* - Exterior view of the residence and carriage house of Isaac Newton Van Nuys. It was located at Spring and 7th Street, on the southwest corner. A horse and buggy stands in the driveway.  

 

Historical Notes

Isaac Newton Van Nuys was a businessman, real estate developer, banker, and agricultural entrepreneur. He founded the community of Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley in 1911. As a major figure in regional history and development, there are schools, streets, libraries, and a Liberty Ship with the name of Van Nuys.^*

Click HERE to read more in Early Views of the San Fernando Valley.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1902)^^* - View of  man driving on Spring Street in front of the Van Nuys family residence.  The man, dressed in a dark suit and candystriped hat, steers the topless carriage with a rod-and-stirrup device. In the background, the Victorian architecture of the I.N. Van Nuys residence can be seen, with its gingerbread roof, molded window frames and clapboard veneer. A wrought-iron fence marks the perimeter of the lawn. A woman is partially visible in the background from behind the vine-grown porch of the residence, over which hangs a sign reading "Rose Lawn Villa". Tree foliage obscures the left side of the residence.   

 

Historical Notes

A thrid floor was added to the orgiinal 2-story house since the time of the previous photo.

 

 

 
(1904)^^* - View of Spring Street looking north from Seventh Street featuring the I.N. Van Nuys residence, May 24, 1904. Several early automobiles drive towards the camera along the unpaved street in which trollycar tracks are visible. Only the wrought-iron fence and the top of the Victorian architecture of the Van Nuys residence is visible from behind the lush treecover surrounding it. Telephone poles are visible, as well as large signs attached to building in the background which read "Furniture and Carpets" and "Angelus Flour".   

 

* * * * *

 

Los Angeles' 1st Synagogue (B'nai B'rith Temple)

 
(1874)+^ – View looking south on Spring Street from near the Temple Block. The large building in the distance is Los Angeles' first synagogue (B'nai B'rith), built in 1873.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1862, a small community of Los Angeles Jews received its charter from the state to found Congregation B’nai B’rith. Worship was led by a layman, Joseph Newmark, until Abraham Wolf Edelman was hired as the first rabbi.
Long overshadowed by the more prosperous San Francisco Jewish community, L.A.'s Jews managed to erect the congregation's first building, an impressive brick Gothic Revival style synagogue built in 1873 on the 200 block of Fort Street (later Broadway) in downtown Los Angeles. It was described by the Los Angeles Star as “the most superior church edifice in Southern California.” *^

A study of the 1870 Federal Census in Los Angeles revealed that of the city's 5,728 citizens, 330 individuals, or 5.76 per cent were Jewish. By comparison, the Jewish residents of New York City at that time numbered slightly over five per cent of the general population. *+

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1880)* - View showing the original B'nai B'rith Temple, located on the east side of Fort Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Fort Street later became Broadway (1890). LA's 3rd City Hall (1888-1928) would be built on the second lot to the right (south) of the temple.  

 

Historical Notes

Isaias W. Hellman was president of B'nai B'rith in 1872 when the congregation built the city's first temple. Hellman was a German-born American banker and philanthropist, and a founding father of the University of Southern California.

By 1885 much of the congregation was pushing to move away from Orthodox practice, and Rabbi Edelman eventually resigned. Ephraim Schreiber was hired as rabbi in 1885 and adopted some reforms, but soon left. Abraham Blum was hired in 1889, but was forced out in 1895 and replaced by Moses G. Solomon.*^

 

 

 
(1890)* - Churches and small business are interspersed with homes in this view of Second Street between Fort and Spring Streets. Fort Street later became Broadway (1890). The church in the center with the tall spire is the First Presbyterian Church at Fort and 2nd. To the church's right is Congregation B'nai B'rith and to the right of the synagogue stands City Hall (out of view). St. Vibiana's Cathedral is in the background (Second and Main) and the Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church South is on the far left (1st and Spring).  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^## – View of several horse-drawn carriages parked on an unpaved Broadway in front of Los Angeles City Hall (1888-1928). The building north of City Hall is the first B'nai B'rith Temple (1873-1896).  

 

Historical Notes

In 1896, Congregation B'nai B'rith moved into a new building located on the corner of 9th and Hope streets.*

Click HERE to see the 2nd B'nai B'rith Temple location.

 

* * * * *

 

U.S. Hotel

 
(ca. 1880)* - View of the United States Hotel on the corner of Requeña Street (later renamed Market Street) and North Main Street. A horse-drawn carriage is seen parked in front of the hotel.  

 

Historical Notes

The U.S. Hotel was built around 1863 at 170 North Main by Louis Mesmer, then remodeled and expanded in 1886. The hotel attracted a swanky crowd and served the “best two-bit meal in Southern California” in its dining room, according to advertisements and articles published in the Los Angeles Times. By the early 1930s, it was still owned by the Mesmer family and lodged only men, many on public assistance.*#*

Requeña Street was named after Manuel Requeña, who was the first Mexican-American mayor of Los Angeles (only 11 days). The street was later renamed Market Street.*

 

 

 
(1935)* - Exterior view of the old United States Hotel on March 16, 1935, once the center of the city's social life. For 80 years it stood on the southeast corner of Market and North Main Streets. The hotel was owned by the Mesmer family from 1862 until 1939 when the building was demolished.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1937)^^* - View of Main Street looking north.  Two three-story Victorian-style buildings are pictured at center wedged between commercial shop fronts. The U.S. Hotel is closest to the foreground, while the Amestoy Building can be seen farther back. Both buildings feature a tower of sorts, the hotel's sprouting from the flat roof, the Amestoy Building's extending from a column of windows at its corner. The New Palace Cafe and a sign that reads "Shoe Store. Shoes for the whole family" can be seen at right. A sign to the left reads "Victor's". Cars are parked along the sidewalk. Street car cables are attached to the top of a streetlamp visible in the left foreground.  

 

Historical Notes

The U.S. Hotel would be domolished two years after this photo was taken.

 

 

Amestoy Block

 
(ca. 1890)^## - View looking West on Requena Street (later Market Street) toward North Main Street. The U.S. Hotel is on the left and the Amestoy Block on the right. The newl built County Courthouse can be seen in the background. A large sign on the side of the building reads: "Los Angeles Transorial Parlor - BATHS". The two-story building on the right with the horse-drawn wagon parked in front is the H. Newmark & Co. Building.  

 

Historical Notes

Built in 1887 by Domingo Amestoy, the structure on the northeast corner of Main and Requena (later Market) was Los Angeles' first brick office building and the first to have an elevator.^#*^

Note: The Nadeau Hotel also claims to have had the first elevator (built in 1882).

 

 

 

 
(1939)^^* - View looking East from across North Main at Market Street showing both the Amestoy Building (left) and the U.S. Hotel (right). This photo was taken shortly before the U.S. Hotel was razed.  

 

Historical Notes

Domingo Amestoy came to California by way of Argentina in 1851. Amestoy started a modest sheep business and within a few years he parlayed it into a fortune. He was one of the largest wool producers in Southern California during the 1860s. In 1871, he bought $500,000 worth of shares in the newly established Farmers and Merchants Bank in Los Angeles. In 1874 he went back to France and married. In 1875 Amestoy moved his family to 650 acres of the "Rosecrans Rancho" in what is now Gardena. By 1880, he had over 30,000 head of sheep, most of which were fine-wooled Spanish merinos.

In 1889 he acquired all 4,500 acres of Rancho Los Encinos in the San Fernando Valley. After Domingo Amestoy died on January 11, 1892, his sons, John and Peter Amestoy, assumed ranch operations and changed the name to Amestoy ranch. Like other ranches in the San Fernando Valley at the time, the Amestoys cultivated wheat and barley. The Amestoy family held title to rancho for fifty-five years. In 1915, subdivision of the rancho began later developing into the communities of Sherman Oaks and Encino. The Amestoys held on to 100 acres, which included the old adobe until selling the property in 1944.^*

 

 

 

 
(1952)* - View of the Amestoy Block on the northeast corner of Main and Market Streets. Fagan's Cafeteria and Fountain is on the first floor.   

 

 

 

 

 
(1954)^ - Amestoy Block along Market Street viewed from the 100 block of North Los Angeles Street. Hall of Justice Building, 310 North Broadway, at left background and Federal Building , 312 North Spring Street, in center background.   

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1954)* - Amestoy Block along Market Street viewed from the 100 block of North Los Angeles Street with the Federal Building seen in the background.   

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1954)* - Close-up detail view of the Amestoy Block.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1955)^#*^ - View of the Amestoy Building just before it was torn down. City Hall East now sits at this location. Note that the photo also shows a lounge called the Stake Out. This was a favorite hangout for police officers as it was across from headquarters, which was then located in City Hall.  

 

Historical Notes

On May 28, 1958, Times columnist Jack Smith wrote a column on the Amestoy Building:

“It was built by Domingo Amestoy in 1887 and it still stands at the northeast corner of Main and Market, across from City Hall.

It is alone now among the white concrete monoliths that have shouldered up around it, making it seem to grow smaller, like a very old man.

It has been condemned.  It will give way to the magnificent civic master plan.  Its doors are padlocked now and its bay windows have that blind look of windows in abandoned buildings.

It stands three stories high, not counting the cupola.  It is built of dark-red brick ornamented by elegant cornices and stone scrolls.

Its plump bay windows, like bustles, look obsolete and unnecessary, but beguiling.
It is a splendid example of the vogue of 1887, and once it has gone, its like may not be seen on earth again.

But Los Angeles is a city that forever renews itself.  The past is simply bulldozed away…” ^#*^

 

* * * * *

 

 

Melrose and Richelieu Hotels

 
(ca. 1881)* - A full view of the Hotel Melrose, left, and the Richelieu Hotel, Grand Avenue and Second Streets. Photograph names M. W. Connor as proprietor.  

 

Historical Notes

During this period it was trendy to transform private residences into hotels. Two well-known examples are the Melrose and Richelieu.

The Hotel Melrose started as a Victorian mansion in 1881. Decorated with overlapping shingles, cupolas, and domes, it eventually became a hotel apartment. When built, the hotel proper was attached to the mansion which became its annex.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1894)* - 18 guests of the Hotel Melrose are gathered on the steps and porch of the hotel's verandah. Located at 138 S. Grand Ave. on Bunker Hill, it started as a Victorian mansion in 1881 and eventually became a hotel apartment.  

 

Historical Notes

If still standing today, the view from the above porch would be that of Disney Hall, located directly across the street, on the other side of Grand Ave.

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)^*^# - View of the Hotel Melrose showing the new 4-story addiition to the left, located at 120-30 South Grand Avenue.  

 

Historical Notes

In the 1920s famous Socialist Party mayoral candidate and labor lawyer Job Harriman and his wife moved into the Melrose Hotel.

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^^* - View of a stagecoach in front of the Melrose Hotel and the Hotel Richelieu on Grand Avenue between First Street and Second Street, ca.1895. The half-tone photograph shows the Richelieu at right. It is a large Victorian mansion with a wrap-around porch and a tall conical tower. At center and left are the two buildings of the Melrose Hotel. The one at center is another Victorian mansion with a tall, bell-shaped tower topped by a cupola. At left is a four-story rectangular building with triangular attachments on the roof and a sign that reads "Melrose". A stagecoach pulled by a team of six horses is in the street at left, and several people are waving at it from the porches of the Victorian buildings.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1928)^^+ - View showing cars parked at the curb in front of the Melrose Hotel with 2 pedestrians seen walking on the sidewalk.  The Melrose Annex is on the left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930s)* - View from across the street on Bunker Hill of two Victorian style hotels on the 100 block of S. Grand Ave., the Richelieu (at 142) on the right and the Hotel Melrose (at 130) on the left. New dual-lamp electric streetlights now appear in front of the buildings. Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Streetlights.  

 

Historical Notes

Hotel Richelieu was built in late 19th century. It was the home of Richard A. Larkin. In 1893, Mrs. Helen Larkin sold it to Chicago businessman Charles S. Hord who pledged to refurbish the building into a first-class hotel. The Richelieu was razed shortly before the Melrose in 1957.*#*

 

 

 

 
(1946)^^* – View of the Melrose Hotel and the Hotel Richelieu on Grand Avenue between First Street and Second Street.  

 

Historical Notes

Hotel Richelieu is at right and is a large, light-colored Victorian mansion with a conical tower, two covered balconies and a covered porch. At center is part of the Melrose Hotel. It is also a large Victorian house, but it has a curved balcony and rounded domes top its elaborately decorated walls. A cupola is on top of a tall tower at center. The other half of the Melrose Hotel is at left and is a large, four story rectangular building with large triangular sections attached to the roof. A sign with the name of the hotel is attached above the façade. Two automobiles are parked on the street in front of the hotels. An assortment of plants occupies the yards in front of the buildings.^^*

 

 

 

 
(1957)^*# – View looking at the Richelieu and Melrose Hotels from the corner of 2nd Street and Grand Avenue. Both hotels were razed shortly after this photo was taken.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1957)* - One of the last photos taken of the former Bunker Hill hotels on S. Grand Avenue; from left to right, the Melrose Hotel "Annex" (at 120), the original Melrose (at 130), and a glimpse of the Richelieu Hotel (at 142).  

 

Historical Notes

For nearly seventy years the pair of Queen Anne Victorian buildings were two of the most stunning structures on the Hill, but the Richelieu always stood in the shadow of its counterpart. The Melrose once played host to President McKinley, was memorialized by artists like Leo Politi, and was covered by local press when the wrecking crews came. The Richelieu on the other hand, was far less celebrated but no less important, making its small mark on the history of a neighborhood that no longer exists.^

 

 

 

 
(1957)^^* – Long shot of Melrose Hotel to be torn down after 75 years with City Hall tower in background. View is from the future home of the Disney Hall. Photo Date: April 8, 1957.  

 

 

 

 

 
(2014)#^** – Google Street View looking toward where the Melrose Hotel once stood.  

 

 

 

Before and After

   
   

 

 

 

 

Then and Now

 
 
(1957 vs. 2021) - Looking toward the east side of Grand Avenue between 1st and 2nd streets, where two of the most stunning Queen Anne Victorian buildings once stood, the Melrose and Richelieu Hotels.  

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

Los Angeles' 1st City Hall & Jail (Rocha Adobe)

 
(n.d.)^^* - Los Angeles' first city hall and jail appears at center-left of this photograph of a model of old Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

Los Angeles' first City Hall and Jail was located on the northwest corner of Spring and Jail St, (which later became Franklin St.). This building was established in 1850 and located directly opposite of where City Hall stands today. It was originally built as a residence by Antous Jose Rocha, who had come to L.A. from Portugal in 1815. Los Angeles, an extremely violent city in 1853, reported one death a day from fights or assassinations. Law enforcement was practically non-existent as they were often the victims of the violence. +^#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1869)+^ - Composite panoramic view looking southeast showing Los Angeles’ first city hall and jail at center-right. City Hall is in the adobe building facing Spring Street and the jail is the large brick building behind the adobe in the courtyard. John Temple's 1858-built Clocktower Market/Courthouse building is on the left.  

Historical Notes

The yard behind the jail is where gallows were erected to hang condemned prisoners.  Some prisoners were lynched by vigilantes from the gateway at the rear of the jail yard (and elsewhere).  The 10-foot-high fence around the jail yard was built to keep vigilantes out, not to keep prisoners in. +^

 

 

 
(1874)+^ – View looking south on Spring Street as seen from the top of the Clocktower Market/Courthouse building.  To the right of center is a building with a steep roof and a sign that says “Mercantile Law Collection Books.”  The building immediately south of that, on the northwest corner of Spring and Franklin Streets, is the first Los Angeles City Hall and jail, a building the city and county shared.  The taller building in the distance, near the top center of the photo, is the City's 1st Synagogue, built in 1873.  

Historical Notes

In August 1853, an adobe home that had been built in the 1820s at the northwest corner of Spring and Franklin Streets – a site now under the current city hall – was sold by John Temple to the city and to Los Angeles County for a city hall and courthouse.  The city owned a one-quarter interest in the property, and the county owned a three-quarters interest.  A brick jail used by both the city and county was constructed behind the adobe in 1853-54, the first (non-adobe) brick building built in Los Angeles. +^

 

 

 
(ca. 1880)^^* – View showing the first Los Angeles jail and city hall, west side of Spring Street on the corner of Franklin Street. About a dozen men stand in and around the doors under the roof overhang of the 1-story building. A horse-drawn wagon moves by going to the left. The address above is 31 and 33 Spring Street.  

 

Historical Notes

Originally built in the 1820s as a residence by Antonio Jose Rocha and deeded to the city in 1855 by Rocha, Buenaventura Lopez, his wife, Jose Jorge Rocha, Guadalupe Valez, and his wife. Later used as a railroad ticket office and real estate office.^^*

The businesses advertised are "Ben. E. Ward, real estate and insurance", "Pryke & Co., railroad tickets bought, sold and exchanged, cut rates to all points", "Potts and Covarrubias, real estate agent, general auctioneer" and "J. D. Dunlap, general commission, lands & houses for sale or rent". Mr. Dunlap was also a Deputy Marshall. *

The following historical timeline lists the buildings used by City Council, also known as City Hall, since 1850, when Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality:

◆ 1850 - 1853 - used rented hotel and other buildings for City meetings

◆ 1853 - rented adobe house (aka Rocha Adobe) on Spring Street - across from current City Hall (now parking lot for Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center). The buliding was shared with the County who used it as a Court House.

◆ 1861 - moved into John Temple's Clocktower Market Building, but only stayed for less than a year before the County Court House moved-in

◆ 1861 - 1884 - relocated back to the Rocha Adobe and stayed for over 20 years

◆ 1884 - 1888 - moved to new City Hall Building at South Spring Street and West 2nd Street (site of current Los Angeles Times Building)

◆ 1888 - 1928 - moved to new Romanesque Revival Building on 226-238 South Broadway between 2nd Street and 3rd Street; demolished in 1928 and now site of parking lot between LA Times Parking structure and 240 Broadway.

◆ 1928 - moved to current City Hall Building^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Foster Block

 
(1882)* - Foster Block building was located on Main Street near First Street. A sign on the face of the building reads: "SADDLES & HARNESS".  

 

* * * * *

 

 

L.A. Conservatory of Music and Arts

 
(1883)* - The L. A. Conservatory of Music and Arts in 1883 located at 406 South Main Street. The building would have been at 506 South Main Street after the change in street addresses in 1890.  

 

Historical Notes

The L. A. Conservatory of Music and Arts was founded in 1883 and was still in existence 75 years later. The 1890 City Directory lists the president as Emily J. Valentine.*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Ozro Childs Residence

 
(ca. 1880s)* - View of Ozro W. Childs’ house located at 1111 S. Main Street. The photo shows the exterior front of the house, with a horse-drawn carriage next to a tree, as well as a child wearing a white dress and hat to the left of the picture.  

 

Historical Notes

Ozro W. Childs obtained the contract to build an extension of the Zanja Madre, a canal system to bring water to the fields south of the pueblo. He was paid in land in that area – all now within present day Downtown Los Angeles - from Sixth to Ninth, and Main to Figueroa Street. Click HERE to see more in Zanja Madre - LA's Original Aqueduct.

This property was the foundation of his fortune. He built a substantial house at 10th and Main, then a half-mile from town center, and on his property took up planting. In his day, Ozro Childs was Los Angeles’s most prominent plantsman, with a Plant nursery.^*

 

 

 

 
(1868)* - View of Ozro Childs' orange orchard in 1868 at the corner of Main and 12th Streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Ozro Childs was also involved in philanthropic work. When Judge Robert Maclay Widney set out to create a university in Los Angeles in the 1870s, he received assistance from donors including Childs. In 1879, Childs contributed a considerable amount of land to the founding of the University of Southern California, which opened in 1880.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

 
(1880s)* - Retail stores in the 2600 block of Central Avenue, Los Angeles.  

 

* * * * *

 

Hollenbeck Residence (Villa de Paredon Blanco)

 
(ca. 1880)* - Engraving of the "Villa de Paredon Blanco," residence of J. E. Hollenbeck, in Boyle Heights, 1-1/4 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles. Note: Boyle Heights was once called Paredon Blanco (White Bluff) when California was part of Mexico.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1874, John Edward Hollenbeck and his wife visited Los Angeles. The community was growing rapidly, and businesses were investing heavily in anticipation of the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad. While visiting California, Hollenbeck, who made his wealth in Nicaragua, purchased several parcels of real estate and deposited funds in Temple and Workman Bank. Hollenbeck soon closed out his Nicaraguan businesses and made his final move to the United States.

Arriving in Los Angeles early in the spring of 1876, Hollenbeck purchased land on the east side of the Los Angeles River, and built a large residence with broad verandas and a tower on extensive grounds on Boyle Avenue. He made twenty-seven acquisitions of property by 1880; spending $108,875 for a total of 6,738 acres. The real estate holdings included 600 acres south of the city limits, much of which was planted in vineyards. In the San Gabriel Valley, he owned orchards of oranges, lemons, and grapes; and invested in 3,500 acres of Rancho La Puente — a grain and stock ranch. In 1884 he purchased and developed an urban business district, known as the Hollenbeck Block, within Los Angeles.

Hollenbeck was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council, the governing body of the city, on December 3, 1877, for a term ending on December 6, 1878.

In 1878 Hollenbeck became a stockholder in the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles, and was elected its president. In 1881, he and other investors organized and established the First National Bank.*^

 

 

 

 
(ca.1890s)* – View showing the original J.E. Hollenbeck residence at upper left and the Hollenbeck Home for the Aged as viewed across part of Hollenbeck Park.  

 

Historical Notes

Because of health problems stemming from his years in tropical Central America, Hollenbeck died in his fifties in 1885. In addition to donating some land for a park (Hollenbeck Park), Elizabeth Hollenbeck willed the couple's home and surrounding grounds across Boyle Avenue for a senior citizens' home, dedicated in 1896 and now known as Hollenbeck Palms.**^^

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)^*# – View showing a woman (Elizabeth Hollenbeck?) standing in a garden in front of the Hollenbeck Residence located at 573 S. Boyle Avenue.  The Hollenbeck Retirement Home is the building with the two turrets at the right.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

Dodson Residence (San Pedro)

 
(1880s)^^** - Home of merchant/postmaster James H. Dodson and his wife, Rudecinda Sepulveda. She is possibly the woman standing on the second floor balcony.  

 

Historical Notes

The Victorian architecture style house was built in 1881 by the Sepulveda family as a wedding present for their daughter Rudecinda and her husband, James Dodson. It was originally located at the corner of 7th and Beacon Streets, San Pedro.^*

 

 

 

 
(1890)* - A partial view of J. W. Dodson's residence can be seen above the small trees.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1976, the James H. Dodson Residence was dedicated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 147 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

The house is now located at 859 W. 13th St., San Pedro.  It is a private residence and is not open to the public.^*

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

Macy Street School

 
(ca. 1880s)#*** - View of the Macy Street School located on the corner of Macy and Bridget streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The Macy Street School was built in 1881 on the corner of Macy and Bridget Streets. It was not named until 1887. It was considered one of the more beautiful schools in the District. #***

 

 

* * * * *

 

State Normal School

 
(ca. 1882)* - Front view of the State Normal School, located at Grand and 5th Street close to the time it opened.  

 

Historical Notes

In March 1881, after heavy lobbying by Los Angeles residents, the California State Legislature authorized the creation of a southern branch of the California State Normal School (which later became San Jose State University) in downtown Los Angeles to train teachers for the growing population of Southern California. The State Normal School at Los Angeles opened on August 29, 1882, on what is now the site of the Central Library of the Los Angeles Public Library system.^*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)* - View of the State Normal School looking southwest. The scarce landscaping on the property and young saplings suggests that the school was fairly new at the time the image was taken, although a new wing had been added (extreme right tower).  

 

Historical Notes

Through the years, the State Normal School was expanded and several new wings were added; the "new and improved" facility would eventually include an elementary school where the teachers-in-training could practice their teaching technique on real children.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1893)* - Southwest corner view of the State Normal School, located at Grand and 5th Street. A long and winding driveway is located on the left side of the entrance, and a long flight of stairs (barely visible) is on the right; the school sits impressively on the last knoll of Bunker Hill, aptly dubbed "Normal Hill".  

 

Historical Notes

After the demolition of this structure (1922), 5th Street was straightened and the remainder of the site was eventually occupied by the L.A. Public Library.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Southwest corner view of the State Normal School, located at Grand and 5th Street. A long and winding driveway is located on the left side of the entrance (not visible in this shot), and a long flight of stairs is on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1914, the Los Angeles State Normal School  moved to a new campus on Vermont Avenue (now the site of Los Angeles City College) in East Hollywood.

On May 23, 1919, Governor William D. Stephens signed Assembly Bill 626 into law, which merged the Los Angeles Normal School with the University of California as the Southern Branch of the University of California. The same legislation added its general undergraduate program, the College of Letters and Science.^*

 

 

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Normal School and of UCLA.

 

* * * * *

 

 

St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral

 
(ca. 1883)^^* - View looking southeast from the State Normal School (current location of Central Library) showing St. Paul's Catherdral (lower-right) with Los Angeles Park (now Pershing Square) across the street.  

 

Historical Notes

The St. Paul's Church was built in 1883 on Olive Street at the site now occupied by the Biltmore Hotel..

St. Athanasius (built in 1864) was the first Episcopal church in Los Angeles, located on the northeast corner of Poundcake Hill at Temple and New High Streets. In 1881, the church was renamed St. Paul's. Two years later, the original church building was sold to Los Angeles County, and a new St. Paul's Church was built at the location seen above.^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1883)^^* - Closer view of St. Paul's Cathedral, in the foreground, with Los Angeles Park (now Pershing Square) across the street, as seen from the State Normal School. The multi-story building on the right is St. Vincent's College located on Hill Street between 6th and 7th Streets.  

 

 

 

 
(1886)* - View of Sixth Street Park (later Pershing Square) circa 1886, looking northwest toward St. Paul's Episcopal Church on Olive Street and the State Normal School, on the southwest corner of Grand and Fifth Street (Click HERE to see more views of the State Normal School). The slopes of Bunker Hill are on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

The following is a chronology of name changes the park has seen before becoming Pershing Square:

◆ 1866 – La Plaza Abaja or "The Lower Plaza"

◆ 1867 – St. Vincent Park

◆ 1870 – Los Angeles Park

◆ 1886 – 6th Street Park

◆ 1890s- Central Park

◆ 1918 – Pershing Square

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)^^* - View of two women walking along a walkway in 6th Street Park (formerly known as St. Vincent's Park). Today, this is the site of Pershing Square.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1890)* – Ground view of St. Paul’s Cathedral as seen from 6th Street Park (today, Pershing Square).  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1913)^^* - View looking southeast showing St. Paul's Episcopal Church in the foreground, Pershing Square, and part of the city skyline.  

 

 

 

Before and After

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* – View of the Episcopal St. Paul's Cathedral, located at 523 S. Olive Street.  

 

Historical Notes

This building for St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral was razed for the construction of the Biltmore Hotel. Its replacement was a 1,200-seat church at 615 South Figueroa Street, designed by Reginald Johnson, Roland Coate, Gordon Kaufman, and Carleton Winslow. That structure was dedicated on July 13, 1924 and razed in 1980.

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

San Fernando Mission

 
(1883)* - Founded by father Fermín Lasuén on September 8, 1797 in Mission Hills, Mission San Fernando Rey de España (originally La Misión del Señor Fernando, Rey de España) is located on the former settlement of Encino Rancho.  

 

Historical Notes

The San Fernando Mission was the seventeenth mission built in Alto California. It was built in a quadrangle, similar to other missions, in which the church makes up one corner. The Convento stands apart from the quadrangle; it took 13 years to construct and was completed in 1822. Most noted for its 21 Roman arches, it is the largest two-story adobe structure in California. Now, the second floor is used for storage.*

 

 

 

 
(1886)^^* - View from the corridor of Mission San Fernando Rey de Espana showing its external surroundings and a fountain, Mission Hills, California, 1886. The tall corridor is constructed of wooden beams supporting the roof structure, large arches made of adobe bricks, and stucco to cover the adobe bricks.  

 

Historical Notes

The Convento Building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988 - Building #88002147. And in 1999, the entire Mission San Fernando Rey de España was added to the National Register of Historic Places as well - Building #71001076. It also was dedicated as California Historic Landmark No.157 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

 

 

 
(1898)^^* - Exterior view of the San Fernando Mission cloister. The long, one-story building of the cloister is pictured at center, showing its broad side. A colonnade is effected along the side by the situation of evenly spaced arches, which coincide with what appear to be the doors to the monks' quarters on the main building just inside the colonnade. Three tall, weed-like plants stand in the foreground in a large swath of sedgegrass. The picture file card identifies them as "Sunflowers".  

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Mission

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1884)^^* - Exterior view of the Lindenfeld & Co. Liquor Store on the southwest corner of Main Street and Third Street. Men and horse-drawn carriages are gathered in front of the two-story Romanesque building, in front of which a streetlamp stands. The New York Brewery building is visible farther down the street to the left. The sign on the Lindenfeld & Co. building reads "Dealers in Fine Wines, Liquors and Cigars. Sonoma Wines a Specialty". A second sign is posted on the side, reading "Wine Room".  

 

Historical Notes

The building was erected in the late 1870's and later torn down in 1905 in lieu of the City National Bank Building. The Henne Building was later constructed where the New York Brewery is pictured. ^^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Los Angeles Soap Company

 
(ca. 1884)^^* - View of the Los Angeles Soap Company Building on 1st Street. Sign on front of building reads: FORTHMANN & BERGIN  

 

Historical Notes

John Forthmann was a 17-year-old immigrant from Hamburg, Germany, when he arrived in California in 1860. He briefly lived in San Francisco, then came south and opened a small grocery store at Sixth and Olive streets before starting the Los Angeles Soap Co. at First and Alameda streets that same year.

In 1870, he and William D. Bergin became partners and they erected a factory amongst the orange trees and grape vines in the downtown area. The company grew to include about 25 buildings, some as high as five stories, on 16 acres from First Street on the south to Banning Street on the north.

The Los Angeles Soap Co. is best known for making White King Detergent and for sponsoring the show 'Queen for a Day'.^##^

 

* * * * *

 

St. Vibiana's Cathedral

 
(ca. 1880)^^* – View of St. Vibiana's Cathedral soon after its completion, located on the east side of Main Street south of 2nd Street. Built between 1871 and 1876, the arabesque cathedral stands at center, a rose window positioned above the main entrance with a religious statue affixed at either side. It is surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. The cathedral's bell tower can be seen extending from the back of the building. To the left, two men stand and talk in front of the Union Rescue Mission's own picket fence.  

 

Historical Notes

Plans for a cathedral dated back to 1859; and land for the facility was donated by Amiel Cavalier. The complex, on the southeast corner of Main and Second Street in downtown Los Angeles, was dedicated in 1876 and cost $80,000 to build. The Cathedral's architect, Ezra F. Kysor, also designed the landmark Pico House.^*

 

 

 

 
(1884)* - Main Street looking north toward 2nd Street, showing the Cathedral of St. Vibiana on the right side. Horse-drawn streetcar can be seen heading South on Main Street.  

 

Historical Notes

The Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, often called St. Vibiana's, was a cathedral church building and parish of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles. The building opened in 1876 as the cathedral for what was then known as the Diocese of Monterey-Los Angeles, and remained the official cathedral of the Los Angeles for over 100 years.^*

 

 

 

 
(1885)^^* - Exterior view of St. Vibiana's Cathedral located at 200-248 S. Main Street. A man stands near a horse-drawn carriage that is parked on the dirt road in front of the church.  

 

Historical Notes

Pope Pius IX chose the Cathedral's name, choosing third-century Roman martyr Saint Vibiana. Cathedrals traditionally contained the relics of a saint, so the remains of St. Vibiana were removed from the Catacombs of Rome and moved to a gilt and plate glass sarcophagus located in a niche above the high altar.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)^^* – View showing the Cathedral of Saint Vibiana, located near the southeast corner of Main Street and Second Street. The large, neo-Classical cathedral is shown at center, with other, commercial buildings at its left. Several statues protrude from the church's roof, along with two spired steeples. The façade shown has two unadorned pediments, a rose window, and a balustraded railing along the lower roofline. Pedestrians and horse-drawn buggies stand on the sidewalk and street in front of the cathedral.  

 

Historical Notes

The Baroque-inspired Italianate structure was a landmark in the early days of Los Angeles. When first opened, it held one-tenth of the young town's population. The interior was remodeled around 1895, using onyx and marble; the exterior facade was changed in 1922-24 to give it its present look, said to be based on a Roman design.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Exterior view of the Cathedral of St. Vibiana as it appeared in the late 19th century. Horse-drawn wagons are parked at the curb. Note that the corner building is now a paint store.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930)^^* – View of Saint Vibiana's Cathedral (Saint Mary's Church), showing pedestrians in front. At center, the two-story Greek Revival-style building is pictured, it's leftmost of three doors open. In front, pedestrians stand by the open door or walk by on the sidewalk. At right, a two-story commercial or tenement building features advertisement on its side wall, reading: "California Jewelry & Loan Co", "[...]ican Store" and "Money To Loan".  

 

 

 

 
(1954)^^* – View showing a Mass at St. Vibiana’s Cathedral as seen from the balcony.  

 

 

 

 
(1960s)^^* - Exterior view of St. Vibiana's Cathedral showing a parking lot on the left side of the cathedral and the Union Rescue Mission on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1963, St. Vibiana's Cathedral was dedicated as Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 17 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

The facility was outgrown by the region's rapidly expanding population, and the Archdiocese decided that it needed a larger main facility; however, preservationists pressured them not to destroy the historic landmark.

The City of Los Angeles agreed to swap land with the Archdiocese, giving the Church a much larger plot next to the 101 Freeway.  There,  the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was constructed and consecrated as the new mother church cathedral parish of the Archdiocese (2002). Some items from St. Vibiana's Cathedral were used in the new Cathedral. The stained glass and sarcophagus were placed in the new Cathedral's crypt mausoleum. Pipes from the 1980 Austin pipe organ have been incorporated into the organ at the new Cathedral.^*

 

 

 
(2006)^* – View showing the St. Vibiana complex, before the cupola was returned in 2007.  

 

Historical Notes

The former cathedral building is now a performing arts complex and event venue called "Vibiana". The Little Tokyo branch of the Los Angeles Public Library is also located on the site.^*

 

 

 

 
(2015)#^** - View looking north on Main Street showing the old St. Vibiana's Cathedral building with City Hall in the background.  

 

 

 

 

 
(2018)^.^ - Close-up view of St Vibiana Church as it appears today.  

 

Historical Notes

The late-1800s cathedral structure is one of the last remaining buildings from the early period of Los Angeles history.

 

* * * * *

 

Old Plaza Firehouse

 
(ca. 1884)* - Photograph showing Los Angeles' first fire station, near the Los Angeles Plaza, with a horse and buggy firefighting team (The First Volunteer Company), located at 26 Plaza Street.  

 

Historical Notes

The Old Plaza Firehouse is the oldest firehouse in Los Angeles. Built in 1884, it operated as a firehouse until 1897. The building was thereafter used as a saloon, cigar store, poolroom, "seedy hotel", Chinese market, "flop house", and drugstore. The building was restored in the 1950s and opened as a firefighting museum in 1960.^*

 

 

 

 
(1894)**#^ - Firetruck, men and horses in front of the Plaza Firehouse.  

 

Historical Notes

For the first two years of its existence the station housed 38's Engine Company No.1 (comprised of 38 volunteers, a horse cart and 3 horses). The volunteer fire companies also used the area to stage the parades, holiday fireworks displays, monthly inspections and periodic musters which helped to stimulate civic pride. This and the fact that the volunteers continually bickered amongst themselves and some of the companies acted in too independent a fashion, led to the establishment, in December 1885, of the city's first paid Fire Department. The council appointed Walter S. Moore as Fire Chief and the new Board of Fire Commissioners installed another steam engine company (Walter S. Moore Company No. 4) at the Plaza Firehouse with a seven man crew while the Volunteer 38's moved elsewhere or disbanded.**^

 

 

 

 
(1920s)**#^ - View of the Old Plaza Firehouse with three men standing at the corner, when it was the Cosmopolitan Saloon.  The sign over the corner doorway reads: Locatuen Cigar Store.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920s)**#^ - Chinese New Year procession in front of the Old Plaza Firehouse/Cosmopolitan Saloon.  

 

 

 

 
(1947)**#^ - Firehouse as a Chinese store with City Hall and the Federal Courthouse in background.  

 

 

 

 
(1954)**#^ - View of the San Antonio Cafe (Old Firehouse #1) with City Hall and the Federal Courthouse in the background.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1950s.)* - Exterior of the old Plaza Fire House which houses "Firetruck No. 1". To the left is the restored Garnier Building. City Hall and the Federal Courthouse are seen in the background.
 

 

Historical Notes

The Old Firehouse building was restored in the 1950s and opened as a firefighting museum in 1960.^*

 

 

 
(2013)^* -  View of the Old Plaza Firehouse with Los Angeles City Hall and Federal Courthouse in the background.  

 

Historical Notes

The Old Plaza Firehouse is the oldest fire station in the city of Los Angeles. It was dedicated as California Historical Landmark No. 730 (Click HERE to see complete listing of California Historical Landmarks in L.A.).

The plaque reads: "Dedicated to the firemen of the Los Angeles Fire Department--past, present and future--who since 1871, by their courage and faithful devotion to duty, have protected the lives and property of the citizens of Los Angeles from the ravages of fire."

 

* * * * *

 

Temple Block to City Hall

 
(ca. 1885)^^* - View looking south with a good view of Main Street (left) and Spring (right). Temple Street runs to the right (out of view) from the intersection. The old County Courthouse with its cupola and clock can be seen in the center of Temple Block. A large sign reading 'Jacoby Bros' hangs above the first floor of the Italianate-style Temple Block building seen on the cornrer.  

 

Historical Notes

The old County Courthouse was originally built by John Temple in 1858 as a marketplace and theater. Its first floor was used for that purpose for a number of years, and the second floor was the first theater in Los Angeles.

Between 1860s-1884, Los Angeles City Hall shared space with the County Courthouse in the Temple Block.*^

 

 

 
(ca. 1885)* - The junction of Main, Spring and Temple Streets, showing Jacoby Brothers clothing store and the Los Angeles County Bank in the Temple Block. The Downey Block on the right was on the northwest corner of Main and Temple.  

 

Historical Notes

The Italianate Temple block was built in 1871 by Francis Pliny Fisk Temple on the site of the old Temple Block, inherited from his older brother John in 1866. It was commonly known as the Lawyer's Block as so many attorneys had offices there. The old Clocktower Couthouse, at that time, was situated immediately to the south. As there was very little waiting room at the courthouse, attorneys went back to their offices until their cases came up. They were summoned by a court clerk hollering their names out the second-story windows of the court.^***

 

 

 
(n.d.)^^* - Temple Square (Temple Block) appears at the bottom-center of this photograph of a model of old Los Angeles. This would become the future site of the current City Hall.  

 

Historical Notes

Spring Street was realigned when construction of the new City Hall began in early 1927. Spring now runs parallel to Main, and intersects with Temple where the current 28-story City Hall building is now located.

 

 

 
(ca. 1885)^*# - Close-up view of the Temple Block showing its extraordinary building details.  

 

Historical Notes

Francis Temple formed a bank with his English-born father-in-law, William Workman, The Temple & Workman Bank. The bank was in the space occupied by the Los Angeles County Bank in the photo above. The bank closed during the panic of 1875, brought on by the failure of the Bank of California in San Francisco. Temple managed to secure a loan to reopen the bank from the ruthless "Lucky" Baldwin, a San Francisco financier who had become interested in investing in Southern California. The terms of the loan were extremely harsh, Temple and Workman pledged everything they had, including their homes, ranches, downtown commercial property and Temple Block itself. However, the bank failed for a second time in 1876. Baldwin, refusing to renegotiate the loan, quickly closed in. Temple and Workman were ruined. Workman, then 76 and a former Mayor of Los Angeles, killed himself. Temple, under extreme stress following his losses, had a stroke, finally dying in 1880. He left his wife and seven children.

The Temple & Workman family fortunes were restored in 1914 when Temple's nine-year-old grandson (Workman's great-grandson), Thomas Workman Temple II, discovered a natural gas deposit while playing on land his father owned. The families developed Montebello Oil Field there in 1917. With their renewed funds the families were able to recover their ranch, La Puente (City of Industry) including their private family cemetery, El Campo Santo. Temple and Workman are buried there along with their families and their friend, Pio Pico and his wife.^***

 

 

 
(1887)^^* - View looking south from Temple toward Temple Block.  Main Street is on the left and Spring Street on the right. Note the fountain in front of Temple Block.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1882, the fountain in front of Temple Block was donated by Harris Newmark of Newmark & Co. and the water was provided free by the LA Water Company.  The Newmark Fountain was a minor landmark in downtown Los Angeles between  1882 and 1892. The female figure atop it was nude, which made it an object of some interest at the time. Unfortunately, the fountain met a premature end when a team of runaway horses hit it in 1892.^#*^

Harris Newmark was a successful businessman in early Los Angeles.  He made many contributions to the economy and culture of Los Angeles, and gave his time and his money to causes he felt were worthy. He was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Public Library, was a charter member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and was one of the organizers of the Board of Trade, which helped bring railroad service to California. He was the president of Congregation B'nai B'rith in 1887 and a founder of the Jewish Orphans Home. Newmark was also instrumental in the establishment of the Southwest Museum, which is now part of the Autry National Center. He and other Newmarks were leaders of the local Odd Fellows and were Masons.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)^*# - View of Temple Block with its distinctive building design. Large awnings overhang the display windows of the Jacoby Bros. Store.  

 

Historical Notes

The Jacoby family came from Loebau, Poland, a territory at the time controlled by Prussia. They arrived in the United States at different times during the 1870s.

The five Jacoby brothers started business in Los Angeles in the 1870's by joining with Leopold Harris and buying out Herman W. Hellman’s store. Hellman left after 5 years and the firm became The Jacoby Brothers and flourished well into the first third of the 20th Century.^^*#

 

 

 

 
(1896)* - Jacoby Bros. dry goods store in Temple Block on Spring St. during La Fiesta Week. The employees pose in front of the entrance and on the balcony above. On the back of the photo is the inscription "To Leo Jacoby, from Pauline Kemling, Earl R. Lovarice, employees of 1896."  

 

Historical Notes

Jacoby Bros. kept growing until it was one of the largest retail and wholesale companies in Los Angeles. In the mid-1920's it sold out to David May of the May Company of St. Louis. This occurred about the same time as when the Hamburgers Department Store was also sold to the May Co.^^*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)^^* - View of Temple Block from the Spring Street side. The ornate design of the building facade made this structure a stand-out for years to come.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1891)^## - Corner of Spring and Temple looking west. The Temple Block is on the left behind the two men leaning on their bicycles. The LA County Courthouse can be seen in the background.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1890s)### – Panoramic view looking east from the LA County Courthouse.  The Temple Block (site of today’s City Hall) stands in the foreground.   

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - View looking south on Main Street. At left is the southeast corner of commercial Main Street; street car tracks bend at right, to Temple Street. The building at left is the former home of the Farmers and Merchants Bank. At upper-right can be seen one of LA's most historic blocks, Temple Block. This would become the location of today's City Hall.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1926)* - Temple Block as it appeared just one year before construction of today's City Hall.  

 

 

 

 

   
(1927)* - The last stand of the historic Temple Block. As the steel frame of the new City Hall neared completion the proud building, once dominant in the business and professional life of the city, was razed.    

 

 

Click HERE to see more of Construction of Today's City Hall

 

* * * * *

 

Los Angeles Athletic Club

 
(1885)^^* - The first Los Angeles Athletic Club located on the west side of Spring Street between 29th & 31st Streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Athletic Club was founded on September 8, 1880 and used several locations before settling into its own twelve-story building in downtown Los Angeles in 1912. The LAAC building was notable at the time for being the first building in Southern California to have a swimming pool on an upper floor.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Bellevue Terrace Hotel

 
(ca. 1880s)* - View looking southwest towards Bellevue Terrace and Pearl Streets. Bellevue Terrace Hotel and Foy house is in center of photo.  

 

Historical Notes

Pearl Street became Figueroa Street, and Bellevue Terrace 6th Street.*#*

 

 

 

 
(1880s)* - View of Pearl Street (Figueroa) near Bellevue Terrace (6th Street) with horse carriages and the Bellevue Terrace Hotel at the far left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)* - The Bellevue Terrace Hotel, now the site of the Jonathan Club. The trees are only tall enough to hide a little of the lower floors. The sidewalk is paved only across the front of the block. Up the left side is still a dirt street and low hitching posts.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1885)* - Photo of an early lithograph showing Figueroa Street south from 6th Street. The Bellevue Terrace Hotel is on the right (northwest corner of Figueroa and 6th).   

 

Historical Notes

Photo caption reads: "View on Pearl Street, south from Bellevue Terrace, showing banana and palm plants, and cypress hedges." Pearl Street became Figueroa Street, and Bellevue Terrace 6th Street.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - View of the Bellevue Terrace Hotel at Figueroa & 6th. Two horse-drawn carriages wait my the curbside. Today it is the site of the Jonathan Club.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1892, Edward Doheny and his family stayed at this Victorian building. Doheny later said that he got the idea of digging for oil while watching wagons laden with fuel and tar pass by.*#*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - View of the Bellevue Terrace Hotel taken from a different angle and shows more of the main building in the block.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

Belmont Hotel

 
(1886)* - Photograph of the exterior view of the Belmont Hotel and its yard, Belmont Avenue & 2nd Street. The three-story hotel featured shingled walls, triangular shaped dormer windows, triangular gables, inclined roof, a balcony, and a square tower.  

 

Historical Notes

The Belmont Hotel on Crown Hill opened in July 1886 at the terminus of the Second Street Cable Railway that was completed a year earlier. The easy access to the line, the graceful architecture, beautiful landscaping, fresh air, and stunning views were attractions for visitors and wealthy Los Angelenos who held a number of social events there. The Belmont’s owner, Rev. John W. Ellis, was also the proprietor and director of another Crown Hill establishment, Ellis Villa College, a finishing school for young ladies.*#*

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - Photograph of the Belmont Hotel on fire at the corner of Belmont Street and First Street,  December 16, 1887. While firemen hose down the hotel, people are shown milling around on the lawn which is covered with assorted sheets, furniture, etc. The Hotel was a great tourist resort at that time and was later the site of Belmont High School.  

 

Historical Notes

This is the earliest photograph of a major fire in Los Angeles and possibly the earliest photo of the newly formed Los Angeles Fire Department in action.**^

In December of 1887 the Belmont Hotel burned down just a little over a year from the time it was built. Several years later the private Belmont School for Girls was built on the same site. After the school was destroyed by yet another fire, the grounds were left vacant, except for five oil wells and a pumping plant for the Los Angeles Oil Field. On February 28, 1921, the Los Angeles Board of Education purchased the site for $100,000, for the purpose of constructing Belmont High School.

Belmont High School opened its doors on September 11, 1923, to about 500 students, all sophomores, and 28 faculty members.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Garvanza Hotel

 
(ca. 1886)* - Exterior view of the newly constructed Queen Anne revival style Garvanza Hotel. Opened in 1886, the hotel was located at South Avenue 63 and York Boulevard in Garvanza, a former section of Highland Park.  

 

Historical Notes

One of the oldest settled areas of Los Angeles, Highland Park is also one of the most scenic due to its location along the Arroyo Seco, between the Mt. Washington hills, the San Rafael hills and the Monterey Hills.*^

Garvanza is considered a sub-district of Highland Park.  The area was named for the garbanzo beans that once flourished there. In 1899, Garvanza was annexed by the City of Los Angeles.*^

 

* * * * *

 

 

Raymond Hotel

 
(ca. 1886)* - A panoramic view facing the eastern facade of the Raymond Hotel. The surrounding land is still rural with scattered houses and small buildings close to a dirt road that passes over a bridge covering a small wash.  

 

Historical Notes

The Raymond Hotel was the first major resort hotel of the San Gabriel Valley and was only opened from December to April. It was built by Mr. Walter Raymond of Raymond & Whitcomb Travel Agency of Boston, Mass. and sat atop Bacon Hill which lies between Pasadena and South Pasadena. Bacon Hill was renamed Raymond Hill with the opening of the hotel in 1886.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1886)* - A closer view of the Raymond Hotel. Landscaping covers the embankment to the right of the stairs.  

 

Historical Notes

The Raymond Hotel was opened in 1886 but burned down in 1895. It was replaced by a second Raymond Hotel in 1903.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - A group of people sit under a hanging light fixture in the luxurious and spacious lobby of the Raymond Hotel. The beamed ceiling is decorated with painted motifs. An elevator is directly behind the seated group and large staircases behind the elevator and on both sides lead to the upper floors. The reception desk is to the left of the front doors. The floor is carpeted and spittoons stand close to several chairs.  

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Pasadena.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Arcadia Hotel

 
(ca. 1887)* - View of Santa Monica beach looking south from Santa Monica Canyon rim. The wharf and newly constructed Arcadia Hotel can be seen in the background. House-tents are seen along the beach.  

 

Historical Notes

The Arcadia Hotel opened for business in 1887 and was located on Ocean Avenue between Railroad Avenue (later known as Colorado Avenue) and Front (later known as Pico Boulevard). The Arcadia was the largest structure in Santa Monica at the time of its construction. The 125-room hotel was owned by J.W. Scott, the proprietor of the city's first hotel, the Santa Monica Hotel. The hotel was named for Arcadia Bandini de Baker, the wife of Santa Monica cofounder Colonel R. S. Baker.^**#

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - Exterior view of the east front of the Arcadia Hotel in Santa Monica soon after its construction. It opened in March 1887. It was located on Ocean Avenue immediately south of the bridge over the gulch that was later occupied by Roosevelt Highway.  

 

Historical Notes

Being located on a bluff, all 125 rooms in the 5-story building boasted unobstructed views. It featured a grand ballroom, upscale dining room and its own roller coaster. A bathhouse was located on the beach directly below the hotel, offering guests hot saltwater baths.*^*^

The pinnacle of the hotel was an observation tower, offering breathtaking views in every direction a dizzying 136 feet above the beach level.*^**

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)*^** - View of the 'Switchback Rollercoaster' at the Arcadia Hotel.  

 

Historical Notes

A special delight for guests was a two-track gravity switchback rollercoaster, which in a one minute journey, could whisk guests either to or from the hotel and back again, all for the price of a nickel.*^**

Click HERE to see more in Early Southern California Amusement Parks.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - View from the pier showing the Arcadia Hotel on Santa Monica South Beach behind the Arcadia Bath House.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1890s)* - View looking south of the Arcadia Hotel and the Arcadia Bath House. The Southern Pacific Railroad tunnel is seen at center. At right are the '55 steps' that enabled visitors to have quick access to the beach below.  

 

Historical Notes

In the 1890s, the Southern Pacific Railroad built a tunnel under Ocean Avenue. The tunnel was eventually enlarged to accommodate the Pacific Coast Highway**^*

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Santa Monica.

 

 

 

Ralphs Bros. Grocers

 
(1886)* - Exterior view of Ralphs Bros. Grocers, located on the southwest corner of 6th and Spring Streets in 1886. A horse-and-carriage is parked in the unpaved street.  

 

Historical Notes

This was known as "Georgetown Corner." The photo was taken shortly after this two-story brick building was built. Next door on Spring Street is the New York Bakery. George A. Ralphs is leaning on a stack of boxes, and Walter B. Ralphs is in shirt sleeves (He died in 1954 at age 99).

The original address of Ralphs was 501-503 South Spring, with New York Bakery at 505. Under the new street numbering system adopted about 1890, the address for Ralphs changed to 601-603, and for the Bakery 605 South Spring. Later the Hayward Hotel was built in this location.*

 

* * * * *

 

Bellevue Terrace Hotel

 
(ca. 1890)* - View of the Bellevue Terrace Hotel located at the northwest corner of Figueroa & 6th streets. Two horse-drawn carriages wait my the curbside. Today it is the site of the Jonathan Club.  

Historical Notes

In 1892, Edward Doheny and his family stayed at this Victorian building. Doheny later said that he got the idea of digging for oil while watching wagons laden with fuel and tar pass by.^#^

Click HERE to see more in 1890s Oil Boom.

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)* - View looking southwest towards Bellevue Terrace and Pearl Streets (6th & Figueroa), with the Bellevue Terrace Hotel seen at center-left.  

 

Historical Notes

Pearl Street became Figueroa Street, and Bellevue Terrace 6th Street.

 

 

 

 
(1885)* - Photo of an early lithograph showing Figueroa Street looking south from the Bellevue Terrace Hotel on the N/W corner of Figueroa and 6th streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Photo caption reads: "View on Pearl Street, south from Bellevue Terrace, showing banana and palm plants, and cypress hedges." Pearl Street became Figueroa Street, and Bellevue Terrace 6th Street.

 

 

 

 
(1880s)* - View of Pearl Street (Figueroa) near Bellevue Terrace (6th Street) with horse carriages and the Bellevue Terrace Hotel (N/W corner) at the far right. Two stylish Victorian homes are seen on the left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^^* – Close-up street view of the grand Bellevue Terrace Hotel, Figueroa Street and Sixth Street, looking southwest.  The three-story Victorian wood structure has a covered porch and two balconies in front, a balcony running along one side of the 2nd floor, and an octagonal tower with turret. Six gabled windows poke out of the roof visible in this perspective. The groomed lawn is separated from the front sidewalk by a low retaining wall. A utility pole stands at the corner. A picket fence leads off to the right. An adjacent building is visible at left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1910)*^# – View looking north on Figueroa Street from the corner of Sixth Street. That hulking silhouette behind the palm trees at left is the Bellevue Terrace Hotel.  Two young boys are seen in the street as an early model electric car drives by.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1916)^^* – Panoramic view looking northwest on Figueroa Street from near Sixth Street. The Bellevue Terrace Hotel stands at lower-left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1916)^^* – Closer view of the Bellevue Terrace Hotel with Sixth Street seen at lower left.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1924, the Jonathan Club would be built on the NW corner of Figueroa and Sixth streets, where the Bellevue Terrace Hotel stood since circa 1890.

 

* * * * *

 

Boston Dry Goods Store

 
(1880s)* - View of the front of the Boston Dry Goods Store. Three women are window-shopping in front of the large display window. The Boston Store was first started at Spring and Temple Street in 1883 by J.W. Robinson.  

 

Historical Notes

The “Boston Dry Goods Store” began business in February of 1883 at the corner of N. Spring and Temple Streets. Joseph Winchester Robinson  advertised that his establishment was characterized by “fine stocks and refined ‘Boston’ service.” The arrival of railroads spurred the enormous and long-lived growth of Southern California, and Robinson’s store brought eastern goods and their attendant sophistication to a willing (and growing) public; in 1887 the store was forced to move to larger quarters at 69-73 N. Spring Street. After returning from a trip back east in 1891, Robinson became ill and passed away in his home at the age of 45. His father, H.W. Robinson came to Los Angeles for the funeral and to look after the business founded by his late son.

Remaining under family control, the store was renamed J.W. Robinson Co. (but continued to trade as the “Boston Dry Goods Store” until after the turn of the century) and moved in 1896 to 239 S. Broadway, “opposite City Hall.” In the early days of the twentieth century, the Los Angeles area grew and grew, especially with the arrival of the film industry.  The store, which “catered to the most exclusive trade” according to the Los Angeles Times in 1911, expanded into adjacent properties, but it became apparent to management that the South Broadway location could not handle the store’s growth into the future.  Accordingly, land was acquired along Seventh Street between Grand and Hope streets where a new store was built in 1915.^#*

 

* * * * *

 

H. Newmark & Co. Building

 
(1886)* - People, horses and buggies lined up in front of H. Newmark & Co. in the Amestoy Block in 1886.  

 

Historical Notes

Harris Newmark emigrated to the United States in 1853 from Löbau in Province of Saxony (now Saxony, in eastern Germany) and settled in Los Angeles. After working in partnership with his brother, he eventually established his own wholesale grocery business, H. Newmark and Company, in 1865, with headquarters on Spring Street. He went on to invest in real estate, holding large tracts in the San Gabriel Valley. In 1875 he sold eight thousand acres of what was then the Santa Anita Rancho to rancher E.J. “Lucky” Baldwin.

In May 1899, Newmark subdivided the tract (approx. 15,000 acres) owned by himself and his nephew, after contracting with William Mulholland to design and construct a suitable water system for the new settlement. A piece of this tract adjacent to the tracks of the San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt Lake Railroad was developed into a town site called Newmark. The remaining land was subdivided into 5-acre lots suitable for small-scale agriculture. The entire settlement, including the Newmark town site, was given the name Montebello. When the town incorporated in 1920, Montebello replaced Newmark as the new city's name.

Newmark was one of the founders of the Los Angeles Public Library, was a charter member of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, and was one of the organizers of the Board of Trade, which helped bring railroad service to California. He was the president of Congregation B'nai B'rith in 1887 (he inherited the title from his uncle and father-in-law Joseph Newmark) and a founder of the Jewish Orphans Home. Newmark was also instrumental in the establishment of the Southwest Museum, which is now part of the Autry National Center. He and other Newmarks were leaders of the local Odd Fellows and were Masons.^*

 

* * * * *

 

Nadeau Hotel

 
(1884)^^* - Panoramic view looking east on First Street from Hill Street, showing the 4-story Nadeau Hotel located on the southwest corner of First and Spring streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Remi Nadeau was a French Canadian pioneer who arrived in Los Angeles in 1861 driving a team of oxen. During the silver-mining excitement in the Cerro Gordo region of Inyo County his teamster operation brought tons of silver to Southern California and hauled back food and supplies to the miners. By 1873 he operated 80 such teams.

In 1882, Remi Nadeau built the Nadeau Hotel on the corner of 1st and Spring streets. It was Los Angeles's first four-story structure and the first building with an elevator. The hotel was designed by Morgan & Walls.**##

 

 

 

 
(1886)* - View of the Nadeau Hotel on the southwest corner of Spring and 1st streets. A row of horses & carriages is lined up on the street in front. A tall narrow church spire can be seen in the background on the far left.  

 

Historical Notes

Remi Nadeau opened the hotel in 1882 with a grand ball attended by the Southland's elite. He bought the site in 1872 for the 'un-heard' of sum of $20,000. The Nadeau boasted of the first electric elevator to be installed in Los Angeles. Some of the guests at the hotel have included: Anna Held, General Nelson A. Miles, Lillian Russell, and John L. Sullivan (one-time heavyweight champion.^^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)^^* -  View showing the Nadeau Hotel on the southwest corner of Spring Street and First Street. The four-story hotel features arched windows all throughout the building on the second floor and up. In the center of the building facing the street on the left are small decorative pediments above each floor from the second floor and up. At the top, above all the other small pediments, is a larger and wider pediment. Further above it is yet another pediment where underneath it displays "Nadeau 1883." The first floor consists mostly of shops. Some stores have striped cloth awnings covering their window fronts.  At the corner of the hotel, on top of the roof, is a corner sign that reads "Hotel Nadeua."  

 

 

 

 
(1889)* - View looking south on Spring Street at 1st. Pacific Railway Company’s new streetcars are now seen on the road. The 4-story Nadeau Hotel stands on the southwest corner of Spring and 1st behind the streetcar.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1897)* - The Hotel Nadeau, showing the entire corner at 1st and Spring Streets, the present site of the Los Angeles Times. The hotel was built in 1882 as the first 4-story building in L.A. A paved street now visible. Horses, carriages, cars and trolleys, along with people are now visible. A sign giving the name of the hotel sets on the corner of the roof. The hotel advertises that it is heated by F.E. Brown's hot air furnace, and testimonials are available. Architects, Morgan & Walls.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1904)^^* - Intersection of Spring Street and First Street looking south. The Nadeau Hotel is visible at right behind the large circular sign that reads: "Up to date bargains, Crandall Aylsworth Company".  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)* - View of Spring Street at 1st, looking south. The Nadeau Hotel appears on the right on the southwest corner of Spring and 1st streets. Spring St. was then the center of the city's financial activities. Electric cable cars share the street with horse-drawn wagons.  

 

Historical Notes

The Nadeau Hotel stood on the southwest corner of 1st and Spring Streets until 1932, when it was demolished to make room for the current Los Angeles Times Building.*

 

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Central Saloon

 
(1886)* - An early picture of the southeast corner of Spring and 5th St. when the building was occupied by Central Saloon.  

 

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(ca. 1886)* - Family in front of home circa 1886. Note the two styles of bicycles used by the children.
 

 

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LA Times Building (1st building)

 
(ca. 1881-1886)* - Exterior view of the first building of the Los Angeles Daily Times and Weekly Mirror, which was located at Temple and New High Streets from 1881 to 1886. Signs on the building indicate "Mirror Printing Office" and "Mirror Book Bindery."  

 

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Times was first published on December 4, 1881, under the name of the Los Angeles Daily Times. When the original founders ran into financial problems the following year, the fledgling paper was inherited by its printer, the Mirror Printing Office and Book Bindery. The company hired as editor former military officer Harrison Gray Otis, who quickly turned the paper into a financial success.

Otis and a partner purchased the entire Times and Mirror properties in 1884 and incorporated them as the Times-Mirror Company. Two years later, Otis purchased his partner's interest in the company.  In October 1886, the word "Daily" was removed from the title and the newspaper became the Los Angeles Times.^*

 

LA Times Building (2nd location)

 
(ca. 1887)* - Exterior view of the Los Angeles Times Building (built in 1886) on the northeast corner of 1st and Broadway. The building next door, to the right, was occupied by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce from February 1889 until March 1890.
 

 

Historical Notes

Harrison Gray Otis was known for his conservative political views, which were reflected in the paper. His home was one of three buildings that were targeted in the 1910 Los Angeles Times bombing. During his time as publisher of the Times Otis is known for coining the phrase "You are either with me, or against me."

His support for his adopted city was instrumental in the growth of the city. He was a member of a group of investors who bought land in the San Fernando Valley based on inside knowledge that the Los Angeles Aqueduct would soon irrigate it.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)* - Panoramic view looking east on an unpaved 1st Street from near Hill Street. The LA Times Building can be seen at center of photo on northeast corner of 1st and Broadway.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - Carriers of the Los Angeles Times assembled in the street outside the old building on 1st and Broadway.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1890s)* - View of the Times Building on the northeast corner of 1st and Broadway, decorated with stars, American flags, and other items. A large group of people is assembled by the front entrance.  Horse-drawn wagons and a streetcar can also be seen.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)^ - View looking at the north side of 1st Street showing the three-story stone Los Angeles Times Building (built in 1886), N/E corner of First Street and Broadway. Next door is a rooming house above store fronts. About fifteen pedestrians are on the sidewalk. Two horse-drawn carriages are in the street. Legible signs include: "The Times", "Furnished Rooms", "Sells Everything - The Ark, 231", "The American Café”.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)* - Located on 1st and Broadway since 1886, this is how the second Times Building looked prior to the 1910 dynamiting. The Times was originally located on Temple and New High Streets.  

 

 

 

 
(1910)* - Bombed-out building of the Los Angeles Times at First Street and Broadway.  

 

Historical Notes

On October 1, 1910 at 1:07 am, a bomb exploded in an alley adjacent to the LA Times building known as "Ink Alley". The south wall facing Broadway Street collapsed, the blast weakened the second floor, which also collapsed under the weight of its machines, onto the first floor, in turn, falling into the basement. A fire resulted due to the natural gas lines that were located beneath the bombing site, and barrels of ink ignited. The explosion and subsequent fire destroyed the building, trapping and killing 20 employees who were working the night shift printing that day's edition, and many more were seriously injured. Charged in the crime were two brothers, James B. ("J.B.") and John J. ("J.J.") McNamara, members of the Iron Workers Union; they were arrested in April 1911. A third man, Ortie McManigal, was also implicated and would later agree to testify against the McNamara brothers.*

 

 

 

 
(1910)^*# - Panoramic view showing the aftermath of the Times Building bombing.  

 

Historical Notes

Noted attorney Clarence Darrow was hired by the American Federation of Labor to defend the two brothers charged in the Times Building bombing; their trial was set to begin October 11, 1911. Darrow initially believed the McNamaras to be innocent, but upon learning of their guilt arranged a plea bargain to spare them the death penalty. James McNamara got a life sentence, and John received a sentence of 15 years. Following their trial, they were sent to San Quentin State Prison. James B. was transferred to Folsom State Prison for a time, and then sent back to San Quentin for medical reasons, where he soon died of cancer on March 9, 1941. His brother John J. died in Butte, Montana two months later, on May 8, 1941.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1911)* - Cleared site at the N/E corner of First Street and Broadway after the October 1, 1910 bombing of the Los Angeles Times Building.  

 

 

LA Times Building (3rd building)

 
(ca. 1912)* - View of the new Times Building shortly after it was rebuilt. Note the new castle-like clock tower.  

 

Historical Notes

The third Los Angeles Times building opened on Oct. 1, 1912 — on the second anniversary of the bombing of the second Times building. It was used until the new Times Building (current location) was opened in 1935. The building was torn down in early 1938.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1912)^*# – View showing the newly constructed LA Times Building adorned with decorative lighting.  

 

 

 

 
(1915)#^ – Night view showing the illuminated clock tower of the LA Times Building. Photo Date: April 16, 1915  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1925)* - Panoramic view of the Civic Center in the 1920s, looking north from First and Broadway, with the old Los Angeles Times building in the foreground and the Hall of Records, the old County Courthouse, and the Broadway Tunnel beyond.  

 

 

 

 
(1920s)* - View looking north showing a parade on Broadway rounding the corner at 1st Street and then heading east. The LA Times building stands on the northeast corner. In view is the Broadway Tunnel and the Hall of Records.  

 

 

 

 
(1926)* - View looking toward the LA Times Building on 1st and Broadway. Cars, streetcars and pedestrians are seen at the busy intersection.  

 

 

LA Times Building (4th building)

 
(1934)* - Scaffolding covers portions of the emerging L.A. Times Buildings as cranes clamp to the top like stick insects. The construction fence advertises "New Home of Los Angeles Times - largest newspaper in the West". A truck delivering construction material is parked by the curb and a ladder extends from the truck to the top of the fence. Next to the Times is the Bryson Building, left. A pharmacy is across the street.  

 

 

 

 
(1934)^*# - View looking south on Broadway at 1st Street. The old Times Building (3rd Times Bldg.) with its ornate castle-like tower stands guard while the new Times Building on First and Spring is still under construction. The new building was completed in 1935.  

 

 

 

 

(1937)^#*^ - The current Times Building rises behind a worker demolishing the paper's previous home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the current Times Building

 

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Fire Station

 
(1887)* - Horse-drawn fire engine and cart in front of Los Angeles fire station house at southwest corner of 9th and Spring streets. Notice all the men above are in street clothes. The firehouses were staffed by volunteers until the end of 1887.
 

 

Historical Notes

In December 1885, the City Council considered the merits of a fully paid Department and moved to finance and control the first fully paid, official Los Angeles Fire Department (LAFD). In February 1886, the LAFD officially went into service with four fire stations.

It took until 1887 for the City’s LAFD to establish its own fire station, Engine Company No. 1, the Old Plaza Firehouse.**^

Click HERE to see more on the Old Plaza Firehouse in Early Plaza of Los Angeles.

 

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H. D. Alfonso & Co. Grocery

 
(1887)* - Exterior view of H. D. Alfonso & Co. grocery and feed store at the corner of Temple and Main. The unattached one-story wooden frame building has steps leading to the entrance. A sign at the door indicates that the premise is authorized to be a post office station. A man and boy pose on the steps and a man in a horse and buggy are in front. On the side of the building is painted: "Groceries, Hay and Grain for sale". A house is being constructed in the background.  

 

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Burbank Block

 
(1887)^*^^ - View of the Burbank Villa Hotel looking north on Olive Avenue. It was built by Dr. David Burbank and his son-in-law John W. Griffin. Behind it and to the right is the Burbank Block.  

 

Historical Notes

At the time the American Civil War broke out Dr. David Burbank established his profession as a dentist in Pueblo de Los Angeles. In 1867, he purchased Rancho La Providencia from David W. Alexander and Francis Mellus, and he purchased the western portion of the Rancho San Rafael (4,603 acres) from Jonathan R. Scott. Dr. Burbank's property reached nearly 9,200 acres at a cost of $9,000. He eventually became known as one of the largest and most successful sheep raisers in southern California, resulting in him stopping his practice of dentistry and investing heavily in real estate in Los Angeles.^*

The Burbank Villa Hotel cost $30,000 to build and was later renamed the Santa Rosa Hotel which was a popular place for weddings and galas. The hotel was remodeled into apartments in the 1920's and by 1927 was torn down and later replaced by the Downtown Burbank Station (Bob Hope) Post Office.^*^^

 

 

 

 
(1895)* - Exterior view of the Burbank Block (Brick Block), the first brick building in town located at San Fernando Road and Olive Avenue. Horse-drawn carriages are parked alongside of the building.  

 

 

 

 
(1889)* - Group photo of several men sitting in front of the Burbank Block. The Burbank Block was the first brick building in town, located on San Fernando Road (now Golden Mall) and Olive Avenue in Burbank. The Brick Block was erected during 1887 by the Provedencia Land & Water Co. for the newly planted town of Burbank.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1911)^.^ – Four men pose for the camera in front of the Burbank Post Office located in the Brick Block Building.  Sign over the doorway also reads “Real Estate”.  Note the early model car has the steering wheel on the right..  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1915)^.^ - View looking north on Olive Avenue from San Fernando Road towards the Verdugo Mountains with the Brick Block Building seen on the left.  

 

 

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Early Compton

 
(1887)* - This business block in Compton includes a hardware and grocer. A horse-drawn cart can be seen at right. Shop owners are standing in front of the brick building housing various businesses, posing for the camera.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1867, Griffith Dickenson Compton led a group of thirty pioneers to the area. These families had traveled by wagon train south from Stockton, California in search of ways to earn a living other than in the rapid exhaustion of gold fields. Originally named Gibsonville, after one of the tract owners, it was later called Comptonville. However, to avoid confusion with the Comptonville located in Yuba County, the name was shortened to Compton.

Griffith D. Compton donated his land to incorporate and create the city of Compton in 1889, but he did stipulate that a certain acreage be zoned solely for agriculture and named Richland Farms.  In January 1888, a petition supporting the incorporation of Compton was forwarded to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, who in turn forwarded the petition to the State Legislature. On May 11, 1888 the city of Compton was incorporated, it had a total population of 500 people. The first City Council meeting was held on May 14, 1888.^*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Compton.

 

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Wolfskill Ranch

 
(ca. 1880)^ - Full frame lithograph photo of the orange and lemon groves on the Wolfskill Ranch, residence of  William Wolfskill. The Los Angeles and Independence Railroad Station can be seen in the background. The Southern Pacific Arcade Station would be built on the Wolfskill Ranch in 1888.  

 

Historical Notes

William Wolfskill, a native of Kentucky, came to California in 1831 and settled in Los Angeles in 1836, where he soon met and married Magdalena Lugo, daughter of Jose Ygnacio Lugo. In March 1838, Wolfskill purchased a 100-acre lot bounded by 3rd to 9th streets and San Pedro to Alameda streets, which he named Wolfskill Ranch, and built a large adobe (known as "Wolfskill Adobe") located at 239 Alameda, between 3rd and 4th streets.

In 1839 Wolfskill became a major grape producer when he planted the first vineyard of table grapes in California. Two years later, in 1841, he planted his first 2-acre plot of citrus behind his adobe, between 4th and 6th streets east of Alameda. In a short period of time, Wolfskill's farm had increased to 28-acres of planted citrus with over 2,500 orange trees. By 1862 he owned 3/4 of all the orange trees in California and was the biggest orange grower in the United States - for which he is considered the father of early California citrus industry.

In 1865, Wolfskill purchased Rancho Santa Anita, where he planted eucalyptus seeds that he had imported from Australia. The eucalyptus trees, which still stand today, were the first of their kind in California.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)* - Exterior view of the William Wolfskill adobe (simply known as the "Wolfskill Adobe") located at 239 Alameda, between 3rd and 4th streets. It shows one side of the white L-shaped adobe behind several palms and trees. A gentleman can be seen leaning against a low post - possibly used to tie horses, as a pile of manure is visible near his feet.  

 

Historical Notes

William Wolfskill died in 1866 at the age of 68, but the property remained in the family, with his son Louis Wolfskill taking over the operation of the ranch. Eventually, all but seven acres of the Wolfskill Ranch would either be sold or subdivided.*

John Wolfskill, William's younger brother, owned the Wolfskill Ranch on land that would later become Westwood and UCLA. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of UCLA.

 

 

 

 
(1887)* - Front view of the Wolfskill Adobe showing a low hedge separating the house from a dirt pathway, possibly a driveway. A few trees can be seen in the surrounding area and another house or building is visible in the background on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1887, the still-standing Wolfskill Adobe would be razed to make way for the old Southern Pacific Railroad's Arcade Station, which was located at Fifth and Alameda. This, too, would be demolished in 1914 and replaced with a larger and more modern railroad passenger depot - the Central Station. In 1916, the Ice & Cold Storage Plant was built on a portion of the land, and was located on 3rd and Central avenues. By 1958, the Ice & Cold Storage Plant had become Young's Market Company, located at 500 S. Central Avenue.*

 

 

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Arcade Depot (also, the Arcade Depot Palm)

 
(1889)^^*  - View of a palm tree being moved to the front of the recently completed Arcade Depot on Fourth Street and Alameda on land that was once occupied by the Wolfskill Adobe. Amazingly, the original Arcade Depot palm seen above is still alive. It was replanted at a location in front of the Los Angeles Coliseum where it stands today. It along with the Longstreet Palms are considered to be the oldest trees in the City of Los Angeles (see more below).  

 

Historical Notes

In 1888, the Arcade Station opened at Fourth and Alameda. Built on the former site of William Wolfskill's pioneering orange groves, the depot was flanked by gardens and landscaping meant to showcase Southern California's salubrious climate. A fully-grown Washington fan palm, moved from a site nearby, stood outside the station's entrance, symbolically welcoming newcomers to a supposed subtropical paradise.^

 

 

 

 
(1891)* - Southern Pacific steam engine no. 1364 heads the train at the Arcade Station at Alameda between 4th and 5th St.  

 

Historical Notes

The Arcade Station was the second station built by Southern Pacific in Los Angeles (and first one built primarily for passenger service). Built in 1889 and used until 1914 when it was replaced by larger SP Central Station. It was demolished shortly thereafter.

 

 

 

 
(n.d.)^ – Postcard view of the Southern Pacific Arcade Depot looking towards the southeast. A passenger car is visible at the building's entrance. Four palm and fruit trees, a rose bush and flower beds are visible in the park in the foreground.  

 

Historical Notes

The Southern Pacific Arcade Depot was one of three railroad depots that served the Los Angeles area before the construction of Union Station in 1939. The Arcade Depot was originally constructed in 1888 at 5th Street and Central Avenue, on acreage originally owned by William Wolfskill and used for cultivating the first commercial orange grove in Southern California. In 1914, the station was rebuilt on an adjoining site, and renamed Central Station. Central Station also became the site of the Union Pacific Railroad's downtown Los Angeles passenger terminal in 1924 when its original passenger depot was destroyed by fire. The Central Station, along with the "La Grande" Santa Fe Railroad Passenger Depot, was replaced in 1939 by Union Station and later demolished.

 

 

 

 
(n.d.)* - Interior view of an empty Arcade Depot. The trains appear to be sitting outside the building.  

 

Historical Notes

The depot itself was a massive, wooden Victorian structure reminiscent of European train stations. Five hundred feet long, the depot's rail shed featured skylights and an arched roof that soared 90 feet above the platforms below. Upon its opening, the Los Angeles Times praised the Arcade Station as "second to none on the Pacific Slope” .^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^## - View showing over a dozen horse-drawn wagons waiting for the next train to arrive at the Southern Pacific Arcade Depot.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1896)^## – Close-up view of the large palm tree standing in front of the Arcade Depot.  Horse-drawn wagons are parked in front of the station.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1908)^^* - Close-up view of the Arcade Depot with it's now-famous palm tree standing tall in front of the main entrance. Horse-drawn carriages can be seen waiting for the arrival of passengers.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1908)* - Horse and buggies are parked outside the Arcade Station on the east side of Central Avenue at the end 5th Street. The singular Arcade palm tree can be seen in front of the station, the same tree seen being planted in the earlier 1889 photo.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)* -  View showing the first streetcar on the L.A. Consolidated Electric R.R. in front of Southern Pacific's Arcade Station.  

 

Historical Notes

On October 14, 1890 'General' Moses Sherman founded the Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway in Downtown Los Angeles. He received a 50-year franchise from the city and sold stock to help build his street car railroad. In January, 1891 Sherman made is brother-in-law, Eli P. Clark, vice-president and manager of the Los Angeles Consolidated Electric Railway, the predecessor of the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad. The company built 47 miles of track radiating out around from Arcade Depot at 6th and Central Streets in downtown Los Angeles.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1914)^^* - View looking east on Fifth Street as it ends at the Southern Pacific Railroad Arcade Depot.  Two streetcars are parked in front of the railroad building on tracks that intersect with more tracks in the foreground. Several horse-drawn vehicles are visible, as well as many pedestrians making their way along the sidewalks that border the streets. The ‘Arcade Depot Palm’ is seen standing near the center of the building.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1914, the Southern Pacific Railroad replaced the Arcade Station with the Central Station, a larger and more modern railroad passenger depot. The Union Pacific Railroad moved its Downtown Los Angeles passenger terminal to Central Station in 1924 after its original passenger depot just south of First Street on the east side of the Los Angeles River was destroyed by fire.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)*#*# – View showing two Pacific Electric Railway cars parked in front of the Arcade Depot.  Sign above the two streetcars read Brooklyn Ave and Westlake Station, respectively.  

 

Historical Notes

Amazingly, the original Arcade Depot palm seen above is still alive. It was replanted at a location in front of the Los Angeles Coliseum where it stands today. It along with the Longstreet Palms are considered to be the oldest trees in the City of Los Angeles.^*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930s)* - A painting by Chris Siemer of the Los Angeles Coliseum in Exposition Park around the 1930s, created for a display for the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce. The horse created by the card section indicates that a USC football game is in progress. On the lower right side, at the Figueroa St. entrance to Exposition Park, stands the Arcade Palm.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1938)** - Sketch of the Arcade Depot Palm with the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the background.  Note the plaque in front of the palm tree.  Sketch by Charles Owens  

 

 

 

 

 
(1932)^*# - View looking east at the LA Coliseum scoreboard during a USC - Nortre Dame game. The Arcade Depot Palm is seen through the arch of the colonnade.  

 

Historical Notes

Final score: USC 13 - Notre Dame 0: USC shut out Notre Dame on its way to a second consecutive consensus national title, matching Notre Dame's feat in 1929 and 1930. From 1928-1932, USC and Notre Dame combined to win the national title five straight years, with USC winning in 1928, 1931 and 1932, and Notre Dame winning in 1929 and 1930. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of USC.

 

 

 

 
(2018)^.^ - View looking west toward the LA Memorial Coliseum in front of the Arcade Depot Palm and commemorative plaque. Click HERE for another contemporary view.  

 

 

 

 

 
(n.d.)#*#* - Plaque commemorating the Arcade Depot Palm as the "Mute witness to the growth of Los Angeles". Both plaque and Arcade Palm are situated in front of the LA Memorial Coliseum.  

 

Historical Notes

The plaque sits in front of the Exposition Park entrance leading to the coliseum. It reads:

“This historic palm tree stood for more than twenty-five years at the entrance of the Southern Pacific Station.  At this railroad portal of the City it became a familiar landmark to many thousands of Los Angeles and Southern California citizens and visitors from elsewhere, and was a mute witness to the growth of Los Angeles from a community of Pueblo days to a great world metropolis of today.  When construction of a new Southern Pacific Station necessitated removal, under the auspices of the Los Angeles Examiner it was presented to te City of Los Angeles by the Southern Pacific Company.  On September 5, 1914, it was placed here, where it and its sentimental associations will be prmanently preserved.”

 

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Banning Residence - Fort Moore Hill

 
(ca. 1887)* - View of Fort Moore Hill, showing the home (upper center) of Mary Hollister Banning, widow of General Phineas Banning. The structure was built by Jacob Philippi as a beer hall, but Banning purchased and transformed it into a home. Part of the trenches of old Fort Moore, built in 1846-1847, are visible in the upper left.  

 

Historical Notes

Fort Moore was an historic U.S. Military Fort during the Mexican–American War. Its approximate location was at what is now the Hollywood Freeway near the intersection of North Hill Street and West Cesar Chavez Avenue, downtown.^*

The building seen above was originally built by Jacob Philippi when he opened shop as a barkeep on Fort Moore Hill in about 1870-75. Being difficult to reach, particularly after a rain, the saloon attracted a rough crowd and after a few years of fist-,gun- and knife fights Philippi called it quits and retreated back down the hill simply boarding it up and leaving.*#*#

 

 

 
(1888)* - Horses and buggies at the Los Angeles Plaza in 1888. The Banning Residence can be seen in the background on top of Fort Moore Hill overlooking the LA Plaza. The LA Plaza Church is to the left. Click HERE to see more in Early Plaza of L.A.  

 

Historical Notes

Following Phineas Banning's death in 1885, his widow, Mary Hollister Banning relocated from Wilmington and chose to purchase and refurbish the structure on top of Fort Moore Hill as a rather unusual home. With two strong-willed daughters in tow, particularly Lucy the younger girl whose life of misbegotten decision-making could fill a book, Mary appreciated the relative isolation as well as the view and frequent breeze the brow of the hill afforded.*#*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1915)^^* -  View looking west from the LA Plaza showing the Old Plaza Church with the Banning House in the background on top of Fort Moore Hill.  

 

 

 

 
(1927)* - View of the old Banning Residence on Fort Moore Hill, seen here as a boarding house. The structure was built by Jacob Philippi as a beer hall, but later Mary Hollister Banning, widow of General Phineas Banning, transformed it into a home.  

 

Historical Notes

At 535 N. Broadway, here, well past its prime, now serving as a boarding house, it overlooked the north portal of the Broadway Tunnel. Interestingly, Mary's step-son Hancock Banning built his own house on Fort Moore Hill at 416 N. Broadway. It overlooked the south portal of the Broadway tunnel.*#*#

 

 

 
(ca. 1937)* – View of the former home of Mary Hollister Banning on Fort Moore Hill.  Photo by Herman Schultheis.  

 

Historical Notes

Most of Fort Moore Hill was removed in 1949 for construction of the Hollywood Freeway. The hill was located one block north of Temple Street and a short distance south of present day Cesar Chavez Avenue, between the Los Angeles Civic Center and Chinatown. A small portion of the hill was not bulldozed and remains on the west side of Hill Street on the north side of the freeway where the fort is now memorialized by the Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial.^*

 

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Los Feliz School (Cahuenga Valley - later Hollywood)

 
(ca. 1887)^^* - Head of Vermont Avenue - Photograph of an exterior view of the old Los Feliz school in Cahuenga Valley, later Hollywood.  The building is a two-story wood building with a large tower at center. The top level of the tower is an open deck, and the roof of the tower is onion-shaped. A tall flagpole stands on the roof at left and a large flag flies from it. The main entrance to the school is at left and consists of a stairway leading up to a covered porch. The windows of the school are tall and rectangular, and they are very close together at right. There is a hill in the background, and a low wooden fence is in the foreground.  

 

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Maclay School of Theology

 
(ca. 1887)* - Exterior view of Maclay School of Theology, a Methodist seminary founded by Charles Maclay, a Methodist minister, in 1885 in San Fernando.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1874, Charles Maclay bought 56,000 acres of the Rancho Ex-Mission San Fernando land grant including the northern half of the San Fernando Valley. In 1882, cousins George K. Porter and Benjamin F. Porter, owner of future Porter Ranch, each received one-third of the total land.

In 1885, Maclay founded the Maclay School of Theology, a Methodist seminary in his newly founded town of San Fernando, California. After his death it became an affiliate and moved to the campus of the University of Southern California before becoming the Claremont School of Theology in 1957.^*

Click HERE to see Early Views of the San Fernando Valley or HERE to see Early Views of U.S.C.

 

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St. Vincent's College (2nd location)

 
(1866)* - View of St. Vincent's College at its second location. This would evolve to become today's Loyola Marymount University (LMU).  

 

Historical Notes

This was St. Vincent's College second location. It first started across from the LA Plaza in a building donated by Vincent Lugo.

Click HERE to see St. Vincent's College original location (Vincent Lugo Adobe).

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1868)* - View of St. Vincent's College, located at Hill and Broadway, between 6th and 7th streets. Numerous students, including what appears to be a band, can be seen on the grounds, which are landscaped with several trees.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1865, the Vincentian Fathers were commissioned to found St. Vincent's College for boys in Los Angeles, and appointed John Asmuth, C.M. as its first President Rector. The college was originally located in the Lugo Adobe House at the southeast corner of Alameda and Los Angeles streets. The building was one of the few two-story complexes in the city at that time and had been donated by Vicente Lugo. Although the building no longer stands, its original site was across Alameda Street from the current Union Station on the Plaza near the southeast end of the city's historic Olvera Street. After two years, the school moved several blocks over. The campus encompassed Broadway, 6th, Hill, and 7th streets, the entire block being used for athletic fields, etc.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1884)^ - Panoramic view of St. Vincent Park (later Pershing Square) and surrounding area looking southeast. In the foreground is St. Paul's Pro-Cathedral. St. Vincent's College is seen in the upper-right.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1867, St. Vincent's College, present day Loyola Marymount University, was located across the street, and the park informally became called St. Vincent's Park. In 1870, it was officially renamed Los Angeles Park. In 1886 it was renamed 6th Street Park, and redesigned with an "official park plan" by Frederick Eaton, later the mayor. In the early 1890s it was renamed Central Park, which it was called for decades until after World War I when it was finally named Pershing Square.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - View of St. Vincent's College located at Hill and Broadway, between 6th and 7th streets, showing dirt road in front of the campus.  

 

Historical Notes

St. Vincent's College, which covered an entire block, was bounded by 6th, 7th, Fort and Hill streets. A small lane, St. Vincent's Place, ran north into campus from 7th Street.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - View of St. Vincent's College, located at Hill and Broadway, between 6th and 7th streets. It is believed that the left portion of building was erected for St. Vincent's College, and later, was the headquarters to General Miles of the U.S. Military Dept. of Arizona.  

 

Historical Notes

St. Vincent’s Place, the site of Saint Vincent's College from 1868 to 1887 has been designated as California Historical Landmark No. 567.  The college, now Loyola University, was the first institution of higher learning in Southern California.

Click HERE to see more California Historical Landmarks in LA.

 

 

 

 
(1889)* - Southwest headquarters of the United States Army, formly the site of Saint Vincent's College, Sixth Street and Broadway.  

 

Historical Notes

Today, the site is in the heart of Los Angeles's Jewelry District and is known as St. Vincent Court. A decade later, the school moved to a location at Grand Avenue and Washington Boulevard where it remained until being folded into the newly founded Los Angeles College in 1911.^*

 

 

 

 
(1905)* - Front view of St. Vincent's College (now Loyola Marymount University) on South Grand Avenue, between W. 18th Street and W. Washington Boulevard.  This was the third campus location.  

 

Historical Notes

Rapid growth of St. Vincent College enrollment prompted the Jesuits to seek a new campus on Venice Boulevard in 1917. In 1918, the name was changed to Loyola College of Los Angeles. The school relocated once again to the present Westchester campus in 1929, and achieved university status in 1930, becoming Loyola University of Los Angeles. In 1973, Loyola University and Marymount College merged to form Loyola Marymount University (also known as LMU).*

 

 

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Los Angeles Infirmary

 
(1881)* - Photograph of the Los Angeles Infirmary, as it looked in 1881. This was the second building to house the city's finest hospital, located on Naud Street, opposite the Southern Pacific Railroad Depot. This was a three-story American Mansard-style structure with a wrap-around balcony on the second floor, and numerous windows and doors. Two young girls stand next to a large shrub at the front of the hospital, and several adults stand on the balcony.  

 

Historical Notes

The Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul established the first hospital in Los Angeles - the Los Angeles Infirmary, in 1856. It was located in the Sonora Town adobe owned by then-Mayor of Los Angeles, Don Cristóbal Aguilar. Four years later, in 1860, the hospital relocated to 1416 Naud Street, between Ann (named for Sister Ann) and Sotillo Street (though other data indicates the location was 1414 Naud Street, between N. Main and San Fernando Road). In 1869, Daughters incorporated the Los Angeles Infirmary under their own ownership, the first women in the region to do so.*

 

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St. Vincent's Hospital

 
(ca. 1887)* - Photograph of St. Vincent's Hospital (formerly Sisters Hospital) as seen from across a sparse field. Several trees can be seen to the right of the grand hospital, which boasts of numerous windows, dormers, an irregular roof, a cupola or tower, and several chimneys.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1883 the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul purchased six and a half acres of land at Beaudry Park at a cost of $10,000, and a new hospital building was erected a year later at Beaudry and Sunset, on a hillside overlooking Sonora Town. By 1898, Los Angeles Infirmary had come to be known as Sisters Hospital, but both names were used interchangeably in reference to the same hospital.*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - Photograph of St. Vincent's Hospital (formerly Sisters Hospital) as seen from across the lawn. Several trees, most of them palms, are planted in front of the grand hospital that shows numerous windows, dormers, an irregular roof, a cupola or tower, and several chimneys. Six nuns can be seen walking and/or sitting around the front lawn.
 

 

Historical Notes

The hospital building was located on six and a half acres in Beaudry Park, atop a hillside that overlooked Sonora Town.*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - View of Sisters Hospital (later to be named St. Vincent's Hospital) as seen from behind a cluster of banana trees located on the grounds; a nun can be seen standing in the foreground. More trees hide the rest of the grand hospital, which boasts of numerous windows, dormers, an irregular roof, a cupola or tower, and several chimneys.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1910)^^* - View of the Los Angeles Infirmary at it's new location at Sunset and Beaudry. A seven-story octagonal tower topped with a dome rises on the corner of the four-story Mission-revival building. A cross is on top of the dome.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1884, a new Los Angeles Infirmary Hospital was built at Sunset and Beaudry.

In 1913, Los Angeles Infirmary became the first hospital in California accredited by the American College of Surgeons. #^#^

 

 

 

 

 
(1908)^^* -  Interior view of the Los Angeles Infirmary (later, Saint Vincent's Hospital), Sunset and Beaudry.  A group of six nurses and doctors surround a patient on an operating table.   

 

Historical Notes

In 1918, the name changed from Los Angeles Infirmary to St. Vincent’s Hospital.

In 1924, a new building was erected on 3rd and Alvarado, which was built by John C. Austin and Frederick M. Ashley. #^#^

 

 

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Los Angeles College for Young Ladies (later Abbotsford Inn)

 
(ca. 1887)* - View of Los Angeles College, located on the southwest corner of Eighth and Hope streets. Photograph shows a three-story wooden building with jutting towers on each corner, narrow fire-escapes on the second and third floors along the right side of the building, and numerous windows throughout the entire structure. A low fence and hedge surrounds the college.  

 

Historical Notes

Rev. D.W. Hanna, one of the pioneer educators of Los Angeles, opened the Los Angeles College for Young Ladies, better known as Hanna College, on September 2, 1885. At the time, it was the only institution in the city that provided exclusively for the higher education of young women. The school was originally located in a couple of buildings on the corner of Fifth and Olive streets.

By 1887, having formed a stock company, Hanna erected a new, larger school structure on the southwest corner of Eighth and Hope streets. With 350 students enrolled at that time, the college prospered and was a popular girls' boarding school, where many of the most exclusive families sent their daughters to be educated.

Sadly, Hanna's own daughter died in 1892, and he never fully recovered from the loss; he gave up his teaching work and went into retirement due to poor health, and shortly after, the institution failed. A few years later, Abbot Kinney purchased the still standing building.*

 

 

Abbotsford Inn

 
(ca. 1903)^^* - View showing the Abbotsford Inn, previously the Los Angeles College for Young Ladies, located on the southwest corner of Eighth Street and South Hope Street.  People are posed along the porch to the left of the inn, in front of a horse-drawn carriage parked along the sidewalk. The street shows streetcar rails embedded in it.  

 

Historical Notes

Circa 1900, Abbot Kinney, best known as the developer of Venice, purchased the Los Angeles College for Young Ladies after it failed and operated it as the 100-room Abbotsford Inn. In 1914, First Methodist Church purchased the property; in 1921 the structure was demolished to make way for a new church building.*

 

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Los Angeles National Bank Building

 
(ca. 1887)^^* - View of the Los Angeles National Bank building on the northeast corner of 1st and Spring Street where City Hall is today.  

 

Historical Notes

Completed in 1887, the building was designed by Kysor & Morgan in the "Modern Gothic" style, includes a basement and cost $65,000 to build. The building materials were granite, iron and pressed brick. The bank was organized in 1883 and later merged, along with Southwestern National Bank, with First National in 1905.*

The Masonic Temple was located upstairs and the Shriners had their first meeting hall here in 1888.^^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)*  - View of the Los Angeles National Bank at the northeast corner of First and Spring streets, in downtown Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1906, the seven-story Equitable Savings Bank replaced the Los Angeles National Bank building on the northeast corner of First and Spring streets.^ 

 

 

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Equitable Savings Bank

 
(1906)* -  View of the construction of Equitable Savings Bank, a seven-story structure that replaced the Los Angeles National Bank building at the northeast corner of 1st and Spring.  

 

 

 

 
(1920)s* - Exterior view of Security Trust and Savings Bank at First and Spring Streets, in the Equitable Building.  

 

Historical Notes

The Equitable Savings Bank Building did not last too long, being demolished in the late 1920s. The site today is the corner of the park next to City Hall.^

 

 

 
(2014)#^** – View looking at the northeast corner of Spring and First Streets where the Equitable Bank Building once stood, now a park next to City Hall.  

 

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O'Melveny Residence

 
(ca. 1880s)* - The southwest corner of Broadway and 2nd St., showing the house built in 1870 for Judge O'Melveny.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1887 the house was moved around to make way for the American National Bank. In 1911 the California Building was erected on the spot.*

 

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Brunson Mansion

 
(ca. 1880s)* - Exterior view of the Brunson Mansion, located at 347 S. Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill.   

 

Historical Notes

The home was built in the early 1880s by Judge Anson Brunson who resided on the bench of the Los Angeles County Superior Court before stepping down to serve as a lawyer for the lucrative Santa Fe Rail Road.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1880s)* - Front view of the Brunson Mansion on Bunker Hill. Note the man standing on the lawn in front of the house.  

 

Historical Notes

The Brunson Mansion at the corner of Fourth Street and Grand Avenue was an imposing structure that seemed destined to stand indefinitely. Instead it would last less than four decades and become an early victim of the City's obsession with the automobile.

According to the L.A. Times, the residence was “a dark red house, large, compact, dignified, in the center of sloping lawns walled up above the level of three streets.” The house was so large it had a Bunker Hill Avenue and a Grand Avenue address, before settling on 347 South Grand as its official label.^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^^* – View looking west toward Bunker Hill showing the impressive Brunson Mansion at center-right with the Rose Mansion at far left.  Note the 150-ft tall streetlight at center-left. Click HERE to see more Early Views of LA Streetlights.  

 

Historical Notes

At the turn of the century, the 18 room property became the Hotel Brunson and would remain a boarding house for thirteen years.

By 1917, the automobile had come to Bunker Hill and the owners of the property at 347 South Grand decided that a two story brick garage would be more lucrative than a hotel. In April of that year, the furnishings of the Brunson Hotel were auctioned off, and the stately structure which was once a “show place of the city” was demolished and replaced by an auto mechanic.^

 

 

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Crocker Mansion

 
(1886)* - View of Bunker Hill from Hill and 3rd looking northwest. The Crocker Mansion, located at 3rd and Olive, can clearly be seen at the top of the hill.  

 

Historical Notes

At the turn of the 20th Century, no building dominated Bunker Hill like the Crocker Mansion. Perched high at the corner of Third and Olive, the imposing 3-story Victorian structure overlooked the emerging metropolis for more than 22 years.^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1886)* - View of Edwin B. Crocker's residence located at 300 S. Olive near 3rd Street. The mansion can be easily seen sitting majestically atop Bunker Hill, despite numerous tall trees that surround it.    

 

Historical Notes

Designed by architect John Hall and erected in 1886, the ornate residence was built at a cost of $45,000 for Mrs. Margaret E. Crocker. Margaret was the widow of Edwin Bryant Crocker, a California Supreme Court Justice, who with his brother, Charles, amassed a fortune in the railroad industry.*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - The Crocker Mansion, located on the south east corner of 3rd and Olive street. This photo shows the back entrance of the mansion, as well as a horse-drawn carriage with three women and a child taking in the spectacular views of Downtown Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1891, the home was known as the Crocker Mansion Rooming House. It later became the site of the Elks Club, and finally the Moose Lodge.*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)* - Looking across an unpaved Olive Street, just south of 3rd Street, towards the Crocker Mansion on Bunker Hill.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^^* - Partial view of the Crocker Mansion looing northeast showing its brick foundation, porch and balcony.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - Rear view of the Crocker Mansion showing the full extent of its wide balconies where you could get a great view of the emerging metropolis of Los Angeles.  

 

 

 

 
(1895)*#*# – View looking west at 3rd and Hill Streets with the Crocker Mansion seen at the top of Bunker Hill.  The southwest corner of 3rd and Hill (lower-right) would become the lower station terminal of Angels Flight.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1898)^^* - Panorama view from 3rd and Spring streets showing the Crocker Mansion and neighbors on Bunker Hill.  

 

Historical Notes

Construction on the Third Street Tunnel began in 1900, and Mrs. Crocker filed a petition claiming that the mansion was endangered by the street tunnel which was “unsafe, improperly constructed and a veritable death trap.” According to the Los Angeles Times, “the walls of her house are settling, the foundations giving way and the plaster is falling off…Unless something is done, the building is liable to topple into a hole.” The house never did topple and was alive and well in 1902 when Angels Flight began operating and dropping riders off practically on the Crocker doorstep.^

 

 

 

 

 
(1901)* - 3rd Street, looking west, with a close-up view of a streetcar near the recently completed 3rd Street Tunnel in Bunker Hill. The Crocker Mansion stands tall at the top of Bunker Hill.
 

 

Historical Notes

On July 3, 1893, residents and taxpayers presented a petition to the Los Angeles City Council asking that a tunnel be created to connect those who lived in the Crown Hill neighborhood with the business district located on this side of Bunker Hill. Their plans called for a tunnel 1080 feet long, with a twenty-six foot roadway and eight foot sidewalks. Nothing happened for five years.

In 1898 the City Council ordered the City Attorney to draw up an ordinance putting tunnel bonds in front of the public via a special election. That election was held on July 6, 1898, and funds were approved for both the Third Street and Broadway tunnels.

On January 21, 1900, a serious disaster struck. Thirteen men were "entombed" in the tunnel dig after a massive cave-in on the western end. Several were killed in the collapse, but others were trapped inside with only the air in the tunnel. Frantic efforts were made to dig into their position. Ten men were rescued, while three perished.

In March of 1901 the tunnel was opened to the public. It was unpaved and unlit. Gutters weren’t installed until 1902.^*##

Angel's Flight would open within a year of completion of the 3rd Street Tunnel.

 

 

 

 
(1901)^*# - Photo of Angels Flight at the grand opening of the railway, December 31st, 1901. An observation tower was also constructed on top of the hill adjacent to the Crocker Mansion.  

 

Historical Notes

Built in 1901 with financing from Colonel J.W. Eddy, as the Los Angeles Incline Railway, Angels Flight began at the west corner of Hill Street at Third and ran for two blocks uphill (northwestward) to its Olive Street terminus.^*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Angels Flight.

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^^* - Panoramic view of downtown Los Angeles from the Crocker Mansion (partially visible at left) looking east on Third Street from the intersection of Olive Street on Bunker Hill. Flags are flying on several buildings, including the Bradbury Building (Third Street and Broadway). The Los Angeles City Hall, with its distinguished tall tower, is seen just to the right of the mansion.  

 

Historical Notes

The Victorian building was razed in June 1908 and the cornerstone for the Elk’s Annex was laid the following September.^

 

 

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Rose Mansion

 
(1888)*##^ - Exterior front corner view of the Leonard John Rose Victorian home at 400 South Grand Avenue.  

 

Historical Notes

Sunny Slope was the name of the renowned ranch Rose acquired shortly after arriving in Southern California in 1860. Located in what is now the eastern end of Pasadena, the 1,900 acre property contained countless lemon, orange and olive trees, but became famous for its vineyards. Vines were imported from Spain, Italy and Peru, and the wine and brandy generated from Sunny Slope made L.J. Rose a household name and a very wealthy man. He also found success as a breeder with a horse ranch named Rosemead (where the city of the same name now stands), and eventually became a State Senator.^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - Exterior of the mansion owned by businessman Leonard John Rose, located on the southeast corner of Grand Avenue and 4th Street on Bunker Hill.  

 

Historical Notes

The lavish home, completed in 1888, was designed by Curlett & Eisen and cost approximately $50,000 to build.*

 

 

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Larronde Mansion

 
(ca. 1888)* - Exterior front corner view of the three-story Victorian style home of Pierre Larronde at 237 N. Hope Street, Bunker Hill.  

 

Historical Notes

At one time, the name Larronde was a fairly well known one in the City of Angels. Pierre Larronde was a native Frenchman who landed in San Francisco in 1847 and made a killing in the gold mines. When he relocated to Los Angeles in 1851, he amassed a further fortune by successfully raising sheep on one of the Ranchos. Always the astute businessman, Larronde cashed out his sheep empire in the late 1880s and focused his energies on real estate. His holdings included prime land at the corner of First and Spring, and a parcel on North Hope Street near Temple where he built the family home.

The Sanborn Fire Insurance maps show the house on Hope Street as being under construction in 1888. The Larronde Bunch moved in shortly thereafter and held gatherings on a regular basis that made the society pages. Unlike many residences of Bunker Hill, the Larronde home suffered no scandals or controversies. Pierre the pioneer died in 1896, around the age of 70, and Juana resided on Hope Street until her death in 1920 at the ripe old age of 84.^

 

 

 
(1954)* - Exterior of the Queen Anne Revival style home, located at 237 N. Hope Street. It was demolished in 1957.  

 

Historical Notes

Pierre Larronde had a great deal in common with a fellow Los Angeles pioneer named Jean Etchemendy. Both men hailed from a south western region in France called the Basses-Pyrenees, both briefly lived in South America before cashing in early on the Gold Rush, and both successfully settled in Los Angles as sheep ranchers. Last but not least, both men married a gal named Juana Egurrola. Juana was born in Marquina, Spain but moved to California with her family at a very young age. She married Etchemendy in 1865 and gave birth to daughters Mariana, Madeleine and Carolina. Jean Etchemendy died in 1872 and Juana mourned for a couple of years before hooking up with the other French sheep-man in town. Juana’s 1874 union with Pierre Larronde produced three children, Pedro Domingo, John and Antoinette.

For nearly eighty years, one family resided in the house at 237 North Hope Street. By the end of the 1960s, all traces of the Larronde/Etchemendy clan were erased from Bunker Hill.^

 

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Hazard's Pavilion

 
(ca. 1887)* - Exterior view of Hazard's Pavilion. Erected in early-mid 1880; demolished around 1905, it is the present site of the Philharmonic Auditorium.  

 

Historical Notes

Hazard's Pavilion was a large auditorium located at the intersection of Fifth and Olive Streets. Showman George "Roundhouse" Lehman had planned to construct a large theatre center on the land he purchased at this location, but he went broke and the property was sold to the City Attorney (and soon to be Mayor), Henry T. Hazard. The venue was built in 1887 at a cost of $25,000, a large amount for the time, and seated up to 4,000 people (some sources say that seating could be up to 8,000; the building was divided into two galleries, and perhaps each accommodated 4,000). The building was constructed of wood with a clap-board exterior, and the front was framed by two towers.^*

 

 

 

 
(1903)* - A public reception being held inside the Hazard's Pavilion in May 4, 1903. The pavilion was erected in 1887 and demolished around 1905. The Philharmonic Auditorium was built in its place.  

 

Historical Notes

As the largest building of its type in Los Angeles at the time, Hazard's Pavilion was a venue for conventions, political meetings, lectures, fairs, religious meetings, concerts, operas, balls, and sports events. It opened in April, 1887 with a modest civic flower festival, but a month later it hosted the National Opera Company with 300 singers, ballet dancers, and musicians. The Pavilion hosted regular religious meetings, including a series in 1888 where famed evangelist Dwight L. Moody spoke. In attendance at one of these meetings was Harry A. Ironside, which led him to becoming a world-famous preacher in his own right. Booker T. Washington, William Jennings Bryan and Carrie Nation were among the famous people who spoke to crowds gathered at Hazard's Pavilion. The great Italian operatic singer, Enrico Caruso, performed there.^*

 

 

 

 
(1895)* - Hazard's Pavilion as seen from across the street. Location: Intersection of 5th and Olive Streets.  

 

Historical Notes

From 1901 to 1904, the first great Los Angeles boxing promoter, Uncle Tom McCarey, staged his first boxing shows at the pavilion. It would be McCarey who put the Los Angeles area on the map as a major boxing venue. Many famous boxers fought at the Pavilion.The future World Heavyweight Champion, Jim Jeffries, had only one fully recorded bout in Los Angeles, his hometown, when he fought Joe Goddard there in 1898. The man who would go on to be the first World Heavyweight Champion, Jack Johnson, fought in eight main events on cards staged by Tom McCarey at the pavilion during a period from 1902 to 1904.

In 1906, Hazard's Pavilion was demolished to make way for a new Temple Auditorium. This was the largest reinforced concrete structure with the only cantilevered balcony in the world. It had the largest stage west of New York when it was completed, and it seated 2,600 people. An eight story office block and retail shops were part of the complex. For a number of years during the 1910s, Billy Clune presented silent films in the auditorium, then called, "Clune's Auditorium." The landmark film, Birth of a Nation, had its world premiere at Clune's Auditorium on its way to becoming a massive success.^*

 

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Panorama Rotunda

 
(ca. 1887)* – View of the Panorama Rotunda showing the Battle of Paris. The large round building is seen from the rear and sits in the middle of the block bounded by 3rd, 4th, Main, and Los Angeles streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The Panorama is an art form which encircles the spectator with an illusion of continuous space, often in a painted 360º format. Patented by Englishman Robert Barker in 1787, this spectacular visual entertainment flourished throughout the 19th century, mostly in Europe and the United States.

Downtown Los Angeles debuted a panoramic exhibit in late 1887 at Main Street between Third and Fourth Streets, displaying the last battle between the French resistance and Prussian 'besiegers' after which Paris fell in January of 1871.^*#*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^^* - View of Main Street south from 3rd Street. showing the Panorama Building. The Panorama Rotunda is conected to this building and stands to the rear, out of view. The Westminster Hotel, located on the northeast corner of 4th and Main streets, is seen at far right.  

 

Historical Notes

Within a year of its construction, the brick storefront on Main Street through which panorama visitors entered, called ''Panorama Building,' was home to many business ventures, its owners quickly capitalizing on the prestige of the art work and its instantly recognizable address. Not only was it home to the painted battle scene, but also served as a warehouse for the Bancroft Piano Company; a rehearsal hall for the vocal section of the Philharmonic Society; the meeting space for the Young Man's Prohibition Club as well as the Harrison and Morton Club, a Republican party group; and Miss B.M. Tobin's millinery, directly adjacent to the offices of W.O. Merithew, architect. The Evening Express newspaper had its offices in the building, and the Olmstead and Wales Panorama Bookstore was also an early tenant.^*#*

 

 

 
(1906)^*# - Sanborn map showing the location of the Panorama Building and the large rotunda, now called the Panorama Skating Rink. The Westminster Hotel is at lower-left (N/E corner of 4th and Main).  

 

Historical Notes

As the city continued to grow and change, the painting was removed, and the rotunda began to take on an array of ventures.  Throughout the 1890s and early 1900s, the rotunda housed Empire Stables, also seen in the previous image. In 1906 it was configured into a grand state-of-the-art roller skating rink.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long as a skating venue; in 1907, the owner of the property, a Mr. Adolph Ramish, demolished the building and made plans to construct the Adolphus Theatre on the site, later to be called the Hippodrome.^*#*

 

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Pacific Railway Powerhouse

 
(ca. 1888)* - Two separate cable cars arrive at the same location (7th and Grand) from different directions. The southwest corner building is the main power station for the Pacific Railway Company (formerly Los Angeles Railway).  

 

Historical Notes

In September 1888, the Los Angeles Cable Railway Company sold their controlling interest to C. B. Holmes, and associates, of Chicago, Ill. They organized a new company, known as the Pacific Railway Company, capitalized at $5,000,000.00 and finished the construction of the cable lines, which when completed covered many of the LA streets with double tracks.^

 

 

 

 
(1890s)* - View of a flooded intersection at 7th Street and Grand Avenue. On the right, two men stay on high ground trying to avoid the rising water. To the left, a cable car appears to be stalled in the middle of the intersection.  

 

Historical Notes

The principal power station for the Pacific Railway Company was located on the southwest corner of Seventh Street and Grand Avenue. Between 1904-1910, this building was used as a Post Office. Later, J. W. Robinson’s Dry Goods would build their first store at this corner.^

 

 

 
(1890s)* - Interior view of the Pacific Railway Company power house, located at 7th and Grand, where huge wheels controlled the lines pulling the cable cars.  

 

 

 

 
(1906)^^* - Several people are seen crossing the street at the interscetion of 7th Street and Grand Avenue. The old Pacific Railway power house as been converted into a Post Office. The Romanesque architecture of the one-story building sports six visible arched windows to the right wall, while showing fourteen rectangular one-over-one sash windows to the left.  

 

Historical Notes

The Post Office was moved here to Seventh and Grand in November 1904 and later moved away again in the September of 1910 to the corner of Main Street and Winston Street. The site, which was once the former cable power house, later became site of the J.W. Robinson Co. Department Store.^^*

 

 

 
(1907)* - View of the unpaved intersection of 7th Street and Grand Avenue, where a post office building sits on the southwest corner. This site later became the location of the large J.W. Robinson's store.  

 

 

 

LA's First Electric Light Power Plant

 
(1888)* - View of Banning Street electric plant located on the corner of Alameda and Banning Streets. Photograph marked 1888 shows a brick building with men and a horse and buggy in front of it.  

 

Historical Notes

The first electric light plant in Los Angeles was built in 1882 by C. L. Howland on the corner of Alameda and Banning Streets. One year later, Howland formed the Los Angeles Electric Company.*

Click HERE to read the story behind LA's first electric power plant in Early Power Generation.

 

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Mission Hotel (Porter Hotel)

 
(ca. 1888)^^* - Exterior view of the Mission Hotel in San Fernando, ca.1888. The three and a half-story, Victorian-style hotel is shown at center, with people posing on its porch and balcony. On the second floor a man can be seen leaning against one of the beams which support the overhang near the hotel's entrance. A dog is visible near him at the top of the front steps that lead to the second floor and the subsequent entrance. On the second floor to the left, a two-story tower extends from the hotel, decorated in gingerbread clapboard.  

 

Historical Notes

In the late 1800s the City of San Fernando, as well as the entire San Fernando Valley, saw a significant land boom A major hotel was built near the modern intersections of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and South Brand Street. Called the Mission Hotel, the building was built by the Porter Land and Water Company during 1887.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - Exterior view of the Porter Hotel (also called the Mission Hotel). Building was built in 1887, on a knoll about a mile from the center of San Fernando. It served as a hotel for about a year, and later, as a summer residence for the Porter family, 1890.  

 

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Hotel Cecil

 
(1888)^*^^ – View of the Hotel Cecil in Lankershim (North Hollywood).  It was one of the first hotels in the San Fernando Valley. Pictured in the center is the owner, Mrs. Cecil Wilcox, with a dog by her side.  A dozen men surround her, all posing for the photographer.  

 

Historical Notes

Cecil Wilcox was the husband and his wife's given name was Clara. They appear in the censuses. He owned a furniture/book store and was apparently the publisher of a San Fernando Valley newspaper "The Lankershim Laconic." While it is not mentioned in the censuses, a newspaper article in the early 1950's promoting a "pioneer picnic" in Toluca/Lankershim, lists her as a widow who was the owner of the hotel. The photo date more than likely should be 1898 since Cecil was born in 1876. Clara (Hoegerman) and Cecil were married in 1897 in Los Angeles County. Cecil had died in 1933. Clara died in 1958. Ancestry.com has a picture of Clara and her sister Rose.^*#

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Valley

 

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Wilson Block

 
(ca. 1886)* - Sketch showing the corner of First and Spring streets, looking southeast at the Wilson Block with its distinct copula, built in 1886.  

 

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Herald has an extensive article about the Wilson Block in the 8 August 1886 edition. The first paragraph says:

"In the Wilson Block, West First street, near the corner of Spring and between Main and Spring streets, Los Angeles has had another handsome addition to the needed accommodations for her rapidly growing business. The location is in ths heart of the city and of course one of the most desirable for business purposes. The lot has long been owned by Mrs. C. Wilson, and it is greatly to her credit that she has put up a structure which is not only an ornament to the city but one which will long be of substantial benefit. With the Wilson and Bryson Blocks rapidly approaching completion, the junction of First and Spring streets presents a lively spectacle. Both will doubtless soon be occupied from top to bottom."

The full article can be found at the California Digital Newspaper Collection. ^*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1910)* - View of the Wilson Block located on the southeast corner of First Street and Spring Street. Sign over the corner store reads: WESTERN UNION TELEGRAPH. Note the ornate streetlights on the corners. Click HERE to see more in Early L.A. Streetlights.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1918)* - View of the Wilson Building, also known as Wilson Block, on corner of First Street and Spring Street. Sign over the corner store reads: Civic Center Pharmacy  

 

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YMCA

 
(ca. 1888)* - Sketch showing the first permanent home of the Los Angeles Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) was this structure at 212 West 2nd Street, which the organization leased in 1886. It was used by the Y until about 1889.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1899)^^* - View of the first building designed and constructed as a YMCA structure in Los Angeles.  It was located at 207 Fort Street (now Broadway). Completed in 1889, it had the first gymnasium in Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

The YMCA's most influential period since its conception (London in 1844) could be between the 1870s and 1930s. It is during this time that they most successfully promoted "evangelical Christianity in weekday and Sunday services, while promoting good sportsmanship in athletic contests in gyms (where basketball and volleyball were invented) and swimming pools."  Later in this period, and continuing on through the 20th century, the YMCA had "become interdenominational and more concerned with promoting morality and good citizenship than a distinctive interpretation of Christianity.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - YMCA building at 209 South Broadway, used from 1889 to 1903.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)^^*- Photograph of an artist's rendering of a portion of a block on the west side of Broadway, between Second and Third Streets, showing commerical buildings and pedestrian traffic.  The YMCA Building is the second building from the right.  On the southwest corner of Broadway and 2nd Street, next to the YMCA, stands the California Bank Building. On the other side of Broadway are: City Hall , B'nai B'rith Temple, and the First Presbyterian Church.  

 

Historical Notes

A block of commercial buildings, designed in the Second Empire style of architecture, is depicted in detail, with the row of buildings crossing the center of the image. Each building is four stories tall and its front contains many windows; the building at the right edge of the picture is more ornate, with gabled windows and a turret at its outer edge. The bulidings are fronted by a paved sidewalk, which is occupied by pedestrian traffic. The edge of another block can be seen at the rightmost edge of the image, while horse-drawn carriages line Broadway.

Legible signs, from left to right, include: "Los Angeles Furniture Co", "Dr. Fuller Eye, Ear, Throat & Lungs", "Ville de Paris", "Jno.S Chapman. Atty. At Law", "T. Frank McGrath Wallpaper", "C.E. Decamp Builders Indemnity Co", "Lynn Helm Atty. At Law", "Pacific Coast Home Supply Association", "City of London Lace Curtains, Draperies", "Green & Willis Embroideries Laces Etc. Infant Goods. Modes", "Young Mens Christian Assn", "W.M.Gar & Co. Real Estate", "George S. Hupp Atty At Law", "Otto C. Sens Merchant Tailor", "Cal-Bank Building", "Gordon & Conrey Atty At Law", "Union Central Life Ins. Co", "Mutual Reserve Fund Life Assn of New York", and "Bank".^^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1887)* - Exterior view of the California Bank building, located on southwest corner of Second and Broadway. Note the adjacent bulding is still under construction.  

 

Historical Notes

Of the buildings seen in the previous artist rendering of 200 block of Broadway, the 1887 built California Bank Building appears to be the first building constructed.

 

 

 
(ca. 1889)^^* - View of the California Bank, the YMCA and the Fort Street Methodist Episcopal Church on Broadway and Second Street, looking south.  

 

 

 

 
(1889)#^ – View looking south on Broadway at 2nd Street showing the California Bank Building on the southwest corner. City Hall (built in 1888) is across Broadway out of view on the left.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

Turnverein Building

 
(1888)* - Exterior view of the new Turnverein building in 1888, located at 321 So. Main Street. It has a group posing in front. This was a club of German Americans.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

St. Francis Apartments

 
(ca. 1890)^^* – View of the St. Francis Apartments on Tenth Street (Olympic Blvd. today) near Broadway. The three-story apartment building’s main entrance is on a covered porch with two balconies directly above. The bottom floor of is made of brick, while the upper floors are made of wood and decorated with façade columns. Each floor consists of large windows, designed in different sizes and shapes.  

 

Historical Notes

Olympic Boulevard was originally named 10th Street for most of its length, except for a couple of shorter stretches. In 1932, the entire length of the street, from East L.A. to Santa Monica, was renamed Olympic Boulevard for the Summer Olympics being held in Los Angeles that year.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)^^* - Exterior view of a three-story Romanesque apartment building located at 1133 South Figueroa Street.  Four tall columns hold up an overhanging section of the roof in the front of the building. Balconies can be seen on the second and third stories, while arched windows can be seen flanking the arched front door at center.  

 

Historical Notes

Today, the Staples Center is located where this beautifully designed apartment building once stood, 1133 S. Figueroa Sreet.

 

* * * * *

 

Princess Apartment-Hotel (aka 'Queen')

 
(ca. 1940)* - Street view of a large residential building known as the Princess Apartment-Hotel, located at 529 California Street. A sign indicates that there are "outside double apartments with private baths and steam heat" for $5.00 a week and up. The Classical Revival structure, which was demolished when the 101 Freeway was constructed, was named as the Queen by oil baroness Emma Summers, a onetime owner of the home. Photo by Ansel Adams  

 

Historical Notes

In 1892, "Miss" Emma Summers (1858-1941) was listed in the directory as "Piano Teacher", giving lessons at her residence at 517 Sand Street (soon to become California), where she and carpenter husband A.C. rented a small place. With her 1879 degree from the New England Conservatory of Music, she was in strong demand to teach many children the black and white of pianos, and in fact had multiple pianos in the house. But in April 1893 all that was about to change, as two down-on-their-luck miners (Doheny and Canfield), using a 60 foot Eucalyptus tree trunk as a drill bit, struck oil a few blocks away at Court and Patton. It was the first oil well in downtown Los Angeles.

Emma had the business head in the family--she had saved $700 from her child tutelage, and she used the money to go in half on a new well in the neighborhood. She ended up following the initial amount with an additional $1800, and the well hit. In fact it was still producing after 10 years. Wells popped up everywhere in the area. The neighborhood by the late 1890's looked like the below, with houses interspersed between well derricks.

Emma continued to invest in oil wells, still teaching piano at night, followed by then balancing the books of the business. In the beginning she was in debt up to $10,000 and thought that she might quit when the debt was paid off, But she continued and by 1901 she was being called the "Oil Queen", and with her many dealings in oil, she controlled the Los Angeles market.  By 1904 she dealt in 50,000 barrels per month, having moved her office from her home on California St. to the Mason Opera House building downtown.

Down the block from her early California Street residence Emma had built the Queen Apartments, which by 1940 had been "downgraded" to the Princess Apartment-Hotel. At that time Ansel Adams came by to take a shot of the apartment building as part of an article for the L.A. Examiner.  It is said that Emma lived in the apartment building for awhile. The building survived until the early 1950's when the downtown freeway destroyed the whole block.^

 

* * * * *

 

Lima Apartments Hotel

 
(ca. 1955)* - Looking southwest across the intersection of W. First (running from left to right in the foreground) and S. Hope streets, showing the Lima Apartments, also known as the Lima Apartments Hotel, located at 700-702 W. First Street.  

 

Historical Notes

This structure, with some Classical Revival style elements, had previously been known as both the Majestic Apartments and the Rossmore Apartments; it was later demolished.*

The Lima apartments, an example of the residential ‘hotels’ of the early 20th century in Bunker Hill, formerly desirable apartment buildings before the area’s decline.

 

 

 
(ca. 1964)* - Exterior of the Lima Apartments, also known as the Lima Apartments Hotel, located on the southwest corner of 1st and Hope streets.  On the far left is a glimpse of the Dome Hotel Apartments, located at 2nd and Olive streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Today, this corner is the part of the Bunker Hill complex. Disney Hall, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and the DWP Building sit on the other three corners of the intersection (1st and Hope).

 

* * * * *

 

 

Downey Estate

 
(ca. 1888)* - Exterior view of the Governor John Gately Downey estate, located at 345 S. Main Street.  

 

Historical Notes

In addition to serving as governor for two years, Downey was the founder and first president of Farmers and Merchants National Bank. The city of Downey was named in his honor after he subdivided his land holdings there and converted them into farms.*

 

* * * * *

 

Bryson-Bonebrake Block

 
(ca. 1888)* - Drawing of the west side of Spring Street, including the Bryson-Bonebrake Block on the left, between 1st and 2nd Streets as it appeared circa 1888.  

 

Historical Notes

Designed by architects Joseph Cather Newsom and Samuel Newsom,  the Bryson-Bonebrake Block was completed in 1888. The 126-room bank and office building cost $224,000, a staggering sum at the time. Bonebrake was one of the richest men in the city at the time, and he could afford making such an investment. He located the main headquarters of his bank in the Bryson-Bonebrake Block.*##*

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)* - View of the Bryson-Bonebrake Block located on the northwest corner of Spring and Second streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The Bryson-Bonebrake Block was one of the more important office buildings built during the 1880s building boom in Los Angeles. It had six stories, with a typical Queen Anne Style variety of shapes, materials and ornamentation for which architect Joseph Cather Newsom was famous.*##*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - Spring Street looking north from the roof of the Stowell Building at 2nd Street, circa 1890. The Hollenbeck Block/Hotel is the first building on the left, next the Bryson-Bonebrake Block (n/w corner of 2nd and Spring) center the County Courthouse, roof of Phillips Block, Temple Market Block and Baker Block.
 

 

Historical Notes

Two highly influential figures in 1880s Los Angeles, John Bryson, Sr., the 19th mayor, of LA and Major George H. Bonebrake, President of the Los Angeles National Bank and the State Loan and Trust Company, commissioned Joseph Cather Newsom to erect this 126-room bank and office building. It's cost was projected to be $224,000, a staggering sum at the time. Bonebrake was one of the richest men in the city at the time, and he could afford making such an investment. He located the main headquarters of his bank in the Bryson-Bonebrake Block.*##*

 

 

 

 
(1890)^## - View of Spring at 2nd Street looking north. The Hollenbeck Hotel is seen on the left and the Bryson-Bonebrake Building is on the right. Horse-drawn carriages are parked in front of the hotel.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1892)* - A Columbus Day parade on October 26, 1892, on Spring and 2nd Streets. The Bryson-Bonebrake Building is on the right and the Hollenbeck Block on the left.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - View of the Bryson-Bonebrake Building located at the northwest corner of 2nd and Spring. Note how the roofline has been shaved off, including towers, domes, and chimneys, to make room for two additional stories (see previous photos).  

 

 

 

 
(1905)^^* - Photograph of the Bryson-Bonebrake Block on the corner of Second Street and Spring Street. The eight-story building towers above the streets and other buildings nearby. The first two floors are constructed of stone masonry, while the top two floors are constructed of brick. The building has a circular, tower-like corner. A street banner announces, "Pasadena floral parade and chariot races, first prize $1000.00." The street is busy with pedestrian, bicycle, horse-drawn carriage, early model car and streetcar traffic.  

 

 

 

 
(1934)^^* - Only 46 years after its construction, demolition of the Bryson Block is underway.  

 

* * * * *

 

Hollenbeck Hotel (aka Hollenbeck Block)

 
(1886)^^* - View of the southwest corner of Spring and Second streets showing the B.F. Coulters store on the ground floor of the Hollenbeck Hotel. A streetcar is stopped along Second Street. A series of utility poles are visible looking up Spring Street in front of the store. Horse-drawn wagons, carriages, and pedestrians are on the dirt street and sidewalk. Legible signs include: "101, 103 & 105, B.F. Coulter, proprieter"; "Coulters Store in the Baker Block is to be closed Feb. 1 and all business of the firm will hereafter be done in the Hollenbeck block, corner Spring & Second Streets" -- 10 January 1886.  

 

Historical Notes

The Hollenbeck Hotel was constructed in 1884 at Spring and Second streets.  The hotel was named for its owner, John Hollenbeck, a prominent investor, banker, and owner of large landholdings in the Boyle Heights area.  A leading hotel in its day, it was designed by Robert Young, an architect responsible for several early downtown hotels, including the Lankershim, the Lexington, and the Westminster. #^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)* - View of the Hollenbeck Block shortly after it was enlarged to include a 3rd and 4th floor (see previous photo). The Hollenbeck Hotel entrance is to the left, and Coulter's Dry Goods store occupies a portion of the first floor. Several horse-drawn wagons are seen parked in front.  

 

Historical Notes

B. F. Coulter was one of the earliest merchants in Los Angeles. The Coulter's Dry Goods business dates from 1878 and later was called Coulter's. Coulter was an ordained minister and founded the Broadway Christian Church. The business was continued by B.F. Coulter's son-in-law, R. P. McReynolds, and his son, James McReynolds.^^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - The Hollenbeck Hotel sits on the southwest corner of Spring and Second behind trolley lines extending up and down the streets on both sides. On the street are people, a trolley, horses and buggies. A portion of the Bryson-Bonebrake Building can be seen on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

John Edward Hollenbeck (June 5, 1829 - September 2, 1885) was an American businessman and investor who was involved in the 19th century development of Nicaragua and the city of Los Angeles, California.

Arriving in Los Angeles a wealthy man from his investments in Nicaragua in 1876, Hollenbeck purchased land on the east side of the Los Angeles River, and built a large residence with broad verandas and a tower on extensive grounds on Boyle Avenue. He made twenty-seven acquisitions of property by 1880. In 1884 he purchased and developed an urban business district, known as the Hollenbeck Block, within Los Angeles.

In 1878 Hollenbeck became a stockholder in the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles, and was elected its president. In 1881, he and other investors organized and established the First National Bank. In 1880, Hollenbeck, with former California Governor John G. Downey, horticulturalist Ozro W. Childs and other associates, persuaded the State of California to purchase 160 acres in Los Angeles to foster agriculture in the southland. The property, then known as Agriculture Park, is now known as Exposition Park, home to the Los Angeles Coliseum and the Los Angeles County Museums.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - The intersection of Spring and 2nd Street, showing the Hollenbeck Block on the southwest corner. . An electric trolley car heading to the Salt Lake Station is seen. A woman appears to walking in toward the trolley.  

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)^^* - Exterior view of the Hollenbeck Hotel at the intersection of Second Street and Spring Street.  Streetcars are pictured making their way down either side of the three-story Romanesque hotel, which is pictured on the southwest corner at center. Pedestrians, including a man riding a strange, bicycle-like contraption can be seen navigating the sidewalks. The column of a larger building is visible in the right foreground. The signs on the streetcars read "Hollywood", "Griffin Ave.", "Redondo", and "2nd & Spring Streets".  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - The Hollenbeck is seen standing regally behind some trolley lines crossing in front and extending down the streets. Cars can be seen in the street and some people. A drug store now occupies the street level corner of the building.  

 

 

 

 
(1926)*##^ - The Hollenbeck Hotel and the Bryson Building, 2nd and Spring Streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The Hollenbeck will be gone by late 1931 (in favor of a parking lot) and the Bryson in 1934 (with the coming of the Times building).*##^

 

* * * * *

 

 

City Hall (1884 - 1888)

 
(1880s)* - View looking west on 2nd Street from Spring Street. The building to the right was Los Angeles City Hall between 1884-1888 (site of current Los Angeles Times Building). The tall spire in the background is the First Presbyterian Church located on the southeast corner of 2nd and Fort Street (later Broadway).  

 

Historical Notes

The following historical timeline lists the buildings used by City Council, also known as City Hall, since 1850, when Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality:

◆ 1850 - 1853 - used rented hotel and other buildings for City meetings

◆ 1853 - rented adobe house (aka Rocha Adobe) on Spring Street - across from current City Hall (now parking lot for Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center). The buliding was shared with the County who used it as a Court House.

◆ 1861 - moved into John Temple's Clocktower Market Building, but only stayed for less than a year before the County Court House moved-in

◆ 1861 - 1884 - relocated back to the Rocha Adobe and stayed for over 20 years

◆ 1884 - 1888 - moved to new City Hall Building at South Spring Street and West 2nd Street (site of current Los Angeles Times Building)

◆ 1888 - 1928 - moved to new Romanesque Revival Building on 226-238 South Broadway between 2nd Street and 3rd Street; demolished in 1928 and now site of parking lot between LA Times Parking structure and 240 Broadway.

◆ 1928 - moved to current City Hall Building^*

 

 

 
(1886)+^ - On the right behind the cable car is the Second Street City Hall. This is apparently the best available photo of the building when it was owned by the city.  The two-story Hollenbeck Block (expanded to four stories in the second half of 1887) and the spire of the First Presbyterian Church are on the left in the photo, which looks west on Second from Spring.  Construction of the California Bank Building on the southeast corner of Second and Fort (renamed Broadway in February 1890) has just begun.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)^ - View looking at the northwest corner of 2nd and Spring streets showing the newly built Bryson-Bonebrake Block. On the left is the Hollenbeck Block shortly after it was enlarged to include a 3rd and 4th floor. Just to the left of the Bryson-Bonebrake Block can be seen part of the short-lived City Hall Building (1884 - 1888).  

 

Historical Notes

The Bryson-Bonebrake Block was one of the more important office buildings built during the 1880s building boom in Los Angeles. It had six stories, with a typical Queen Anne Style variety of shapes, materials and ornamentation for which architect Joseph Cather Newsom was famous.

Click HERE to see more early views of the Bryson-Bonebrake Block.

 

City Hall (1888 - 1928)

 
(ca. 1889)* - Exterior view of the Old City Hall, located at 226 Broadway. It stood from 1888 until 1928. This was Los Angeles' third City Hall. The building to the left is the B'nai B'rith Temple (First Jewish Synagogue in Los Angeles).  

 

Historical Notes

Built in 1888, this grand Romanesque edifice of marble and red sandstone building located at 226-238 South Broadway stood for 40 years until 1928 when the present day City Hall was completed.

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^*# – View of City Hall as seen from the front yard of a home across the street.  Two horse-drawn wagons are parked by the curb.  

 

Historical Notes

Architectural plans for this building were submitted by Caukin & Hass and formally accepted by City of Los Angeles officials on July 7, 1887; the cost of the entire structure had to come within the limits of $150,000.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^*# – Closer view showing several horse-drawn carriages parked on an unpaved Broadway in front of City Hall. The building north of City Hall is the B'nai B'rith Temple, built in 1873.  

 

Historical Notes

Designed and built in 1888 in a graceful Romanesque style and constructed of brick, sandstone and terra cotta, City Hall included a buttressed skyscraper tower atop a square colonnade base, a wide three-arched porch accessed by a broad flight of stone steps, numerous large windows throughout, and a gabled roof.*

 

 

 

 
(1895)* - Exterior view of the 1888-built City Hall, adorned with banners. Horse-drawn wagons are parked in front.  

 

Historical Notes

The following historical timeline lists the buildings used by City Council, also known as City Hall, since 1850, when Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality:

◆ 1850 - 1853 - used rented hotel and other buildings for City meetings

◆ 1853 - rented adobe house (aka Rocha Adobe) on Spring Street - across from current City Hall (now parking lot for Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center). The buliding was shared with the County who used it as a Court House.

◆ 1861 - moved into John Temple's Clocktower Market Building, but only stayed for less than a year before the County Court House moved-in

◆ 1861 - 1884 - relocated back to the Rocha Adobe and stayed for over 20 years

◆ 1884 - 1888 - moved to new City Hall Building at South Spring Street and West 2nd Street (site of current Los Angeles Times Building)

◆ 1888 - 1928 - moved to new Romanesque Revival Building on 226-238 South Broadway between 2nd Street and 3rd Street; demolished in 1928 and now site of parking lot between LA Times Parking structure and 240 Broadway.

◆ 1928 - moved to current City Hall Building^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^## – Street view looking across Broadway toward City Hall.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^## - View of Broadway looking north from Third Street. Horse-drawn carriages and a streetcar share the road.  

 

Historical Notes

City Hall (1888-1928) dominates the right of the picture. Several other landmarks of the day can also be seen here. The tower of Los Angeles High School is partially visible to the left of the power poles. The clock tower in the distance is that of the LA County Courthouse. The tall spire next to that belongs to the First Presbyterian Church at the SE corner of Broadway and Second Street. And, the gothic structure just barely visible between City Hall and the Crocker Building (with the two bay windows) is Los Angeles' first Jewish synagogue, the B'nai B'rith Temple.*^^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)* - View looking southeast toward the Old City Hall at 226 Broadway. Horse-drawn carriages can be seen parked in front of the building.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1894)^^* - Panoramic view of downtown Los Angeles, looking east on Third Street from the balcony of the Crocker Mansion.   There is a clear view of the intersection of Broadway and Third Street where the Bradbury Building is seen on the southeast corner. On the northwest corner can be seen the excavation for the Irvine Building. City Hall is at upper-left of photo with the cupola of St. Vibiana's Cathedral behind it in the distance.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)#*^^ - View looking north on Broadway from near 3rd Street showing streetcars, horse-drawn wagons, bicycles and pedesrians all sharing the roadway. City Hall stands tall on the east side of Broadway. The LA County Courthouse, built in 1891, stands in the background.  

 

Historical Notes

Municipal departments, as well as the offices for: Clerk and Council, Tax Collector, Treasurer, Chief of Fire Department, Zanjero, Building Inspector, Board of Education, Board of Health, Health Officer, Board of Public Works, Mayor's office, Council Chambers, City Attorney, Superintendent of Streets, Assessor, Public Library, and City Surveyor, among others were housed here from 1888 until 1928; a courtroom and several private offices were also located here.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1902)^## - Street view looking south on Broadway from near the conrner of 2nd Street. Horse-drawn carriages are seen on both sides of the street. A bicycle is moving north toward the photographer as it passes 2nd Street. The group of buildings opposite City Hall, on the west side of Broadway, includes California Bank Building (S/W corner).  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1904)* - A view of Broadway looking south from 1st Street. A trolley marked "Boyle Heights” takes the center of the street while horses and carriages fill the sides in front of the businesses along the street. Down the street on the left can be seen the tower of the City Hall building.  

 

 

 

 
(1925)* - Exterior view of L.A.'s third City Hall, located at Broadway, between 2nd and 3rd streets. Within three years of this photo, the building would be torn down.  

 

Historical Notes

On January 10, 1928 an auction of the furnishings and other items inside the structure was conducted on the front steps before the building was torn down later that same year. A new, larger City Hall had been built (in 1927) to replace this one.*

 

 

 
(1928)* - View of the demolition of the old City Hall building which stood at 226 S. Broadway between 1888 and 1928. The governmental offices moved into the new City Hall, seen in the background, earlier in the year.  

 

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more on the current Los Angeles City Hall (completed in 1928).

 

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Temple Block

 
(1889)* - People standing outside the County Courthouse in 1889. This was LA's original County Courhouse, located on Temple Block. Between 1860s-1884 City Hall also occupied this building.  

 

Historical Notes

The old County Courthouse, originally built by John Temple in 1861 as a marketplace and theater. Its first floor was used for that purpose for a number of years, and the second floor was the first theater in Los Angeles. The County purchased it for $25,000 in 1870 and occupied it as a court from 1861 to 1891.*

In 1891 the LA County Courthouse moved to it's newly constructed building located at the old site of Los Angeles High School where it would stay until 1932.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Weil Building

 
(1889)* - Exterior view of the Weil Building, owned by Mrs. Jacob (Yetta) Weil, Maurice Hellman's aunt.
 

 

Historical Notes

The Weil Building housed the Security Savings Bank and Trust Co., a predecessor of the contemporary Security Pacific National Bank, which opened in this building on Main Street, on February 11, 1889. The name was changed to Security Trust Savings Bank in 1912 and to Security First National Bank in 1929. Also sharing this building was the Los Angeles Business College and the Orange Belt Paint Co.*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Grand Opera House (1st Home of the Orpheum Circuit)

 
(ca. 1889)* – View of Main Street looking north from 2nd Street showing various businesses, horse-drawn street-cars, and Childs’ “Los Angeles Opera House” (center-right). This would become the Orpheum Theatre in 1894. The Opera Restaurant is seen across the street on the left.  

 

Historical Notes

Opened on May 24, 1884 as Child's Opera House, but also known as the Grand Opera House. The theatre at the time was the largest yet built in the growing city of Los Angeles. It was built by local entrepreneur and real estate man Ozro W. Childs, one of the city’s most successful developers. #^#*

Starting in December 1894 this became the Orpheum -- the first home for Orpheum Circuit vaudeville in Los Angeles.  Orpheum moved in 1903 to the Los Angeles Theatre, later known as the Lyceum Theatre.

There were four Orpheum theatres in downtown Los Angeles:

◆ 110 S. Main St. -- Grand Opera House was the home of Orpheum vaudeville from 1894 to 1903.

◆ 227 S. Spring St. -- The Los Angeles Theatre, later called The Lyceum, was known as the Orpheum from 1903 to 1911.

◆ 630 S. Broadway -- Now the Palace Theatre -- this was the Orpheum between 1911 and 1926.

◆ 842 S. Broadway -- Orpheum Theatre from 1926 to Today

 

 

 
(n.d.)* – Exterior view of the Childs' Grand Opera House, featuring "Uncle Tom's Cabin."  

 

Historical Notes

The theatre was designed by architects Ezra F. Kysor and Octavius Morgan, whose firm later became Morgan and Walls (Arcade Theatre) and later Morgan, Walls and Clements (Mayan, Belasco and many others).  Kysor had earlier designed the Merced Theatre.**#

Childs' Grand Opera House was the home of Orpheum vaudeville from 1894 to 1903.

 

 

 
(1898)* - The Los Angeles Orpheum's Audience at the "Dewey Matinee" on Wednesday, August 9, 1898.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - Exterior view of the Grand Opera House (also known as Childs' Opera House). Two young people are seen on a motorcycle parked by the curb.  

 

Historical Notes

As the theater district of Los Angeles shifted south and west, and larger, more modern theaters such as the Burbank, the Hippodrome and, in 1905, the new Mason Opera House on Broadway opened, the fortunes of the Grand Theater declined. By 1910, it had become a movie house, and by 1920, second run movies were being shown for an admission price of ten cents. #^#*

 

 

 
(ca. 1920s)* – View of the Grand Theatre (first Orpheum in Los Angeles) located on Main Street near 1st Street.  

 

 

 

 
(1929)* – View of the Los Angeles Grand Opera House after it became a 10 cents movie house; it originally opened on May 27, 1884.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1912 the theatre was known as Clune's Grand. With increased competition from newer theatres, the Grand became a showplace for Mexican stage shows and movies in the 20's as Teatro Mexico.*##

 

 

 
(1936)* – Last days of Childs’ Grand Opera House (now known as El Teatro Mexico), located at 110 S. Main Street.  

 

Historical Notes

Photo Caption Reads:  "That treasure house of the gaiety and culture in old Los Angeles, Childs Grand Opera House on Main Street just south of First Street, is no more. The curtains went down for the final time and the old show house was being torn down. Photo shows the old opera house when its light were dimmed for the last time. It was built in 1884 by Ozro W. Childs as the last word in theaters. In the past decade it has been known as El Teatro Mexico." *

Closed April 5, 1936, the theatre was soon demolished for a parking lot. It is now the site of the California Department of Transportation building.*##

 

* * * * *

 

 

Los Angeles Cable Railway Co. Barn

 
(1889)* - Before being run by electric lines, the cable cars were pulled by horses. Shown here is the horse barn at 12th and Olive Streets which ran the "red line", running from Broadway out E. 1st St. to Boyle Heights, Broadway to 7th, west on 7th to Westlake Park. The sign on the barn reads "Los Angeles Cable Railway Co."  

 

 

* * * * *

 

Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block

 
(1889)***^ - View of the Boyle Hotel-Cummings Block on the northwest corner of 1st and Bolye Ave. A horse-drawn carriage is parked at the curb while a group of men stand behind it on the sidewalk. A horse-drawn streetcar is in the lower right. Also, several men can be seen on the building roof balcony and parapet.  

 

Historical Notes

Located at the corner of Boyle Avenue and E. First Street in Boyle Heights, the Boyle Hotel, also known as the Cummings Block, is one of the oldest remaining commercial structures in Los Angeles and is significant for its many layers of history. Designed by architect W. R. Norton and built in 1889 for community leaders George Cummings and his wife Maria del Sacramento Lopez, this Victorian-era hotel became a social and political center for the community and encouraged the residential and commercial development of Boyle Heights.

The building features decorative patterned brickwork, cast iron storefront columns, and a corner turret with an open belvedere. #*^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^## - View looking west on 1st Street at Boyle Avenue. An electric streetcar passes by the Boyle Hotel located on the northwest corner.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1858, Irish-born Andrew A. Boyle (1818–1871) came to Los Angeles from San Francisco (having also previously lived in New Orleans and Texas after his 1832 migration to America.) Boyle built the first brick house east of the Los Angeles River and cultivated the Lopez vineyards, manufacturing and selling wine under the Paredon Blanco name. He also operated a shoe store in Los Angeles and was a member of the city council.

After Andrew Boyle's death in early 1871, his property passed to his only daughter and her husband, William Henry Workman (1839–1918), a saddler and rising politician in town. As the first growth boom was underway in the Los Angeles area, Workman decided to subdivide part of Paredon Blanco. In Spring 1875, he partnered with banker and real estate speculator Isaias W. Hellman and John Lazzarovich, who was married to a member of the Lopez family, and announced the creation of the new neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

Before long, the growth boom ended, largely because of the failure of the bank co-owned by Workman's uncle, William Workman (1799–1876), owner of the Rancho La Puente in the eastern San Gabriel Valley. It was not until the next development boom, which took place during Workman's tenure as mayor in the 1887-88 period, that Boyle Heights grew rapidly and became a desirable residential area for middle and upper middle class Angelenos. Some large Victorian-era homes still survive in Boyle Heights as testament to the late nineteenth-century status the neighborhood possessed.^*

 

 

 

 
(1942)* - View of the Boyle Hotel-Cummings Block, located on the corner of Boyle Avenue and First Street, Boyle Heights as it appeared in 1942.  

 

Historical Notes

In the twentieth century, the building became associated with the many mariachi musicians who rented rooms in the hotel and gathered in the adjacent plaza to await customers. #*^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1950)^^+ - View looking up at the cupolaed structure of the old Cummings Block on the northwest corner of E 1st St. and Boyle Ave. It was built originally as a hotel and it still is one.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1950s)^.^ - Kitty corner shot of the Cummings Hotel, Boyle Heights.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1979)* - Exterior view of the historic Boyle Hotel on the Cummings Block with its turret gone and some of its windows bricked in.  

 

Historical Notes

Although the condition of the building deteriorated through the years and some of the decorative elements were removed, the Boyle Hotel underwent a full-scale rehabilitation that renovated the interior for use as apartments and restored missing architectural elements, such as the upper portion of the corner turret. #*^ 

 

 

 

 
(2012)#^^ - View of the Boyle Hotel complete with its turret shortly after the building was renovated.  

 

Historical Notes

In 2012, renovation of the relic of Victorian-era Boyle Hotel was completed with a turret, arches and a domed cupola crowning the four-story brick building. 

The East Los Angeles Community Corp., a nonprofit developer, restored the Victorian Italianate-style building, as part of an approximately $25 million project to transform the former hotel into affordable housing. #^^

 

 

 

 
(2012)#*^ - View looking west on 1st Street at Boyle Avenue shortly after the building was renovated.  

 

Historical Notes

The Boyle Hotel was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 891 in 2007.

 

 

 

Before and After

 
(ca. 1895)^## - View looking west on 1st Street at Boyle Avenue.   (2012)#*^ -View looking west on 1st Street at Boyle Avenue after 2012 renovation.

 

 

 

 

 
(2014)^# – Weekend bike riders head west on 1st Street at Boyle Avenue.  The beautiful Boyle Hotel stands tall on the corner with the downtown skyline in the background. Photo by Victoria Bernal  

 

* * * * *

 

Workman Residence

 
(n.d.)* - Close-up view of the residence of W. H. Workman at 357 Boyle Ave., Boyle Heights, later the site of the Hebrew Sheltering Home for the Aged. The house was built in 1880.  

 

* * * * *

 

Occidental College (First Campus)

 
(1890s)* - View of the first campus of Occidental College in Boyle Heights. An institution for the higher Christian education of both sexes, the college was built in 1890 in Romanesque/Elizabethan style and was destroyed by a fire in 1896.  

 

Historical Notes

On 20 April 1887, a group of clergy and laypersons from the city's Presbyterian population received its articles of incorporation from the State of California for "The Occidental University of Los Angeles, California." The site chosen for the school was at the southern end of Boyle Heights off Rowan Street (named, incidentally, for banker, county treasurer, county supervisor and Los Angeles mayor Thomas E. Rowan.) On 20 September, the cornerstone was laid for the sole college structure and construction commenced.

A year later, in October 1888, instruction began for the first crop of Oxy students, composed of twenty-seven men and thirteen women, who paid $50 tuition per year. Five years later, the college celebrated the matriculation of its first graduates: Maud E. Bell and Martha J. Thompson. Another landmark occurred in 1895 when Oxy played its first football game against arch-rival Pomona College, a contest won by the Tigers, 16-0.

On 13 January 1896, a fire destroyed the sole structure at the institution, which then moved temporarily to 7th and Hill streets in downtown Los Angeles. A new campus was built and occupied in 1898 at Highland Park, on Pasadena Avenue (now Figueroa Street) near Avenues 51 and 52.**^^

 

 

Occidental College (2nd location)

 
(1904)* - A group of formally-dressed people, women in white, men in black, pose by the Hall of Letters building at Occidental College. It may be a graduation ceremony. The structure was built in 1898 on Pasadena Ave (now Figueroa), between Ave 51 & Ave 52 in Highland Park (the second location of the campus).  

 

Historical Notes

Despite a strong Presbyterian presence on its campus, Occidental cut ties to the church in 1910. In 1912, Occidental President John Willis Baer announced the trustees’ decision to convert Oxy into an all-men’s institution. However, students protested, and the idea was abandoned.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)*#*# - Panoramic view of Highland Park with the San Gabriel Mountains in the distance. On the left, the railroad tracks make a turn and then head northeast toward South Pasadena. At center, Figueroa Street also turns and parallels the tracks. At center-left stands the 3-story Hall of Records Building seen in previous photo. The white building to its right is the Occidental College Library Building. It sits at the point where Figueroa makes its turn.  

 

Historical Notes

After being located in Highland Park for over a decade, another move would be made. The small size of the 15-acre campus and the disruption caused by frequent freight trains pushed the college's trustees to find a new location. In 1912, the school began construction of a new campus located in Los Angeles’ Eagle Rock neighborhood.^*

 

 

 
(1908)* - Closer view showing the Occidental College campus in Highland Park (center-left). North Figueroa Street runs down the center of photo after make a sharp turn. It was called Pasadena Avenue at the time. Monte Vista Avenue parallels it to the left.  

 

 

 

 
(Early 1900s)* - View showing three of the early buildings at Occidental College. From left to right they are: the Chas. M. Stimson Library building, theStimson Library Hall of Letters building, and the Academy building.  

 

Historical Notes

The Hall of Arts and Letters building was converted to apartments.  The hall still stands today.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1908)* - Photograph of the Chas. M. Stimson Library, built in 1904 on the Occidental College Highland Park Campus. The two-story building has an extended porch where above it is a pediment displaying the name of the building. Multifoil tracery outline the windows the walls. Above the roof is a turret-like tower. A stone masonry wall creates a perimeter around the front yard. Heavy tracks line the dirt road in front of the building.  

 

Historical Notes

After the College moved to its present campus in Eagle Rock (1914) the Library building was used for a short time as a Los Angeles City Branch Library. The building has since been demolished.^

The new Eagle Rock campus was designed by noted California architect Myron Hunt, also known as the planner of the Caltech campus and as designer of the Huntington Library and Art Gallery and the Rose Bowl.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Temple Street Cable Railway Barn

 
(ca. 1890)* - A cable car full of passengers and decorated with American flags is seen in front of the Temple Street Cable Railway barn and powerhouse on the northwest corner of Temple Street and East Edgeware Road. Angelino Heights is in the background.  

 

Historical Notes

Originally spelled Angeleno Heights, Angelino Heights is second only to Bunker Hill as the oldest district in Los Angeles. Founded in 1886, it was originally connected to the downtown mainline (which ran east to west on Temple Street) by the Temple Street Cable Railway and later by streetcars.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^## - View of Angelino Heights looking north at the corner of Temple Street and East Edgeware Road. The two buildings on the northwest corner belonged to the Temple Street Cable Railway. The front building with tracks running into its entry is the cable car barn. The building in the rear with the smokestacks is the powerhouse.  

 

Historical Notes

In the late 1940s, a large swath of Angelino Heights was destroyed to build the Hollywood Freeway. The new freeway cut off Temple Street save an overpass at Edgeware Road.^*

 

 

Homes of Angelino Heights

 
(ca. 1890)^## - Close-up view of the multi-story homes of Angelino Heights.  

 

Historical Notes

Angelino Heights was the City of Los Angeles' first recognized historic district, or Historic Preservation Overlay Zone (HPOZ). Enacted in 1983 and spelled out in Angelino Heights' Preservation Plan, this zoning prohibits unsympathetic remodelling of historic houses and requires new construction to resemble original architecture in scale, massing and materials.

Today, the district contains many notable examples of Victorian architecture, particularly of the Eastlake and Queen Anne styles, and though found throughout the neighborhood, they are especially concentrated on Carroll Avenue. Two of these residences served as the houses used for the TV shows Charmed and Journeyman, used in the shows as San Francisco Victorian residences, and because of the picturesque nature of the neighborhood, they have served as the backdrop for countless motion pictures from the earliest days of cinema to the present.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^## - A man is seen sitting on the front porch of his simplistic but elegantly stylish home in Angelino Heights.  

 

Historical Notes

Traveling around the Angelino Heights today, one can see many styles of architecturally significant homes, such as Craftsman, Bungalow, Mission Revival, Art Deco, and Colonial Revival, to name a few.^*

 

* * * * *

 

Vincent Lugo Adobe

 
(ca. 1858)** - This is the earliest known close-up photograph of the Los Angeles Plaza. There is a square main brick reservoir in the middle of the Plaza, which was the terminus of the town's historic lifeline: the Zanja Madre ('Mother Ditch'). The two-story building behind the reservoir is the Vincent Lugo Adobe House.  

 

Historical Notes

The Lugo Adobe, said to have been built in the 1840s by Don Vicente Lugo, was one of the very few two-story houses in the pueblo of Los Angeles.

The Lugo family was one of the founding families and first settlers of Los Angeles in 1781. For his service as a corporal in the Spanish army, Vincent Lugo’s father, Antonio Maria Lugo, received a land grant in 1819 which included what is now Bell Gardens. Shortly thereafter, he became mayor of Los Angeles.^#*^

In 1867, Lugo donated this house on the Plaza to St. Vincent's School (forerunner of Loyola University).*^*

 

 

 

 
(1865)* - View of the LA Plaza looking east, showing the newly refurbished Vincent Lugo adobe, now housing Saint Vincent's College. The Old Plaza Church is seen in the foreground.  

 

Historical Notes

Saint Vincent's College was founded by the Vincentian Fathers in 1865. The college, now Loyola University was located in the Lugo Adobe as seen above. The college was only there for a brief period (1865 - 1868) before moving to a new location several blocks over. The new campus was surrounded by Broadway, 6th Street, Hill Street, and 7th Street. Today, the site is in the heart of Los Angeles's Jewelry District and is known as St. Vincent Court. A decade later, the school moved to a location at Grand Avenue and Washington Boulevard where it remained until being folded into the newly founded Los Angeles College in 1911.  That evolved into Loyola College of Los Angeles and then Loyola Marymount University.^*

Click HERE to see more of St. Vincent's College (later LMU).

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1886)^^* -  Panoramic view showing the Old Lugo Residence, now a Chinese restaurant in disrepair, on the east side of the Plaza.  

 

Historical Notes

The building consists of a covered veranda and balcony, four windows with shutters on the second level, and three dormer windows along the roof. There is a pile of debris or wood in front of the large building. A shoemaker has a shop next door. Furniture and two Chinese lanterns are visible on the second story porch. At least eight additional Chinese lanterns hang below. Four men stand in front. A horse and carriage are visible at right. To the far left, another carriage can also be seen. Some signs are in Chinese. Legible signs include: "Chung Kee, shoe maker, repairing", "Chung Kee Co., shoe makers" and "Chinese merchandise, Chinese goods, butcher shop".^^*

From the 1880s until it was razed in 1949, the building was occupied by the Chinese businesses.

 

 

 

 

 
(1890)* - The Los Angeles Plaza, around 1890. The one story building on the left is the former residence of Don Augustin Olvera. The large two story building on the right is the former residence of Don Vicente Lugo. The LA City Water Company is at the northwest corner of Marchessault and North Alameda. Some of the area shown is now occupied by the Union Terminal.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1902 the City of Los Angeles took over control of its water system from the LA City Water Company. The building seen with a large sign on its face reading: LA CITY WATER CO., was used by the City's Water Dpartment (later DWP) from 1902 until it was razed in 1939.

Click HERE to see more in Water Department's Original Office Building.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Exterior front view of the two-story Vicente Lugo adobe house with horse-drawn wagon parked in front.  

 

Historical Notes

When this photograph was taken, the adobe was home to Leeching Hung & Co.

 

 

 
(1905)* - Close-up view of the two-story Vicente Lugo adobe house, seen with hipped roof and dormer windows. The home is located at 518-520 North Los Angeles Street and Sunset Boulevard, and faces the Plaza.  

 

Historical Notes

When this photograph was taken, the adobe was home to the Pekin Curio Store with brick buildings flanking it on either side; and the road was still unpaved.

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - Shops on Los Angeles Street at Marchessault. Shown are the Fook Wo Lung Curio Co., at 526-528, next to Houng On Company, at 524, and Chew Fun and Company, Chinese herbs in the old Vincent Lugo adobe at right.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930)^^* - View showing the Old Lugo adobe residence as seen from the LA Plaza, across Los Angeles Street. Three early model cars are seen parked in front.  

 

 

 

 
(1939)* - Exterior front view of the two-story Vincent Lugo adobe house, located on Los Angeles Street and facing the Plaza. It is now flanked by brick buildings, with cars parked on the street in front.  

 

 

 

 
(1947)^*# - View of Los Angeles Street looking north. The large trees in the upper left are in the LA Plaza and across the street is the Vincent Lugo Adobe with its distinctive hipped roof and dormer windows. In the background can be seen both the Terminal Annex Post Office and Union Staion.  

 

 

 

 
(1949)^#*^ - This is one of the last photos taken of the Vincent Lugo adobe house taken shortly before the historic building was demolished. View is looking toward the southeast corner of Marchessault and Los Angeles Street.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1949)^*# – Close-up view of the Vincent Lugo adobe in its last days of existence.  

 

Historical Notes

The last vestige of Old Chinatown, a block of buildings between Sunset Boulevard and Los Angeles, Alameda and Aliso streets, was demolished in 1949 to make way for the Hollywood Freeway and a park.

Included in that cluster of 22 razed buildings was the home of Vicente Lugo, the first two-story residence on the plaza. He donated the house to the parish priest in the 1850s. The house became the first home of St. Vincent's College (now Loyola Marymount University) in 1865, named for Lugo's patron saint, Vincent de Paul, a 17th century French priest who founded the Vincentian Fathers.

 

 

 

 

 
(2010)^*# – Aerial view showing the site of the old Vincent Lugo Adobe.  

 

Historical Notes

The site of the Vicente Lugo adobe house was designated California State Historic Landmark No. 301 (Click HERE to see the California Historical Landmarks in LA Listing).

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

Avila Adobe

 
(ca. 1869)^^* - View of the edge of the Los Angeles Plaza and the entrance to Wine Street (renamed Olvera Street in 1877) looking north from the Pico House. The Avila Adobe is visible at center-right on Wine Street.  

 

Historical Notes

Don Francisco Avila, a wealthy cattle rancher and one-time Mayor of the pueblo of Los Angeles, built the Avila Adobe in 1818. The Avila Adobe, presently the oldest existing residence within the city limits, was one of the first town houses to share street frontage in the new Pueblo de Los Angeles.*

 

 

 
(1890)* - Avila Adobe house on Olvera Street as it looked in 1890; two young boys sit on the porch.  

 

 

 

 
(1920s)* - View looking south of Olvera Street before improvement and also before City Hall was built. On the left the Avila Adobe is seen. To the right is the Sepulveda House with a gas pump on by its side and at the end of the street is the Los Angeles Plaza.
 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930)* - A view of Olvera Street looking across at vending booths in front of the Avila Adobe with two pedestrians walking near.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1930, through the efforts of activist Christine Sterling, the Plaza-Olvera area was revived with the opening of Paseo de Los Angeles (which later became popularly known by its official street name Olvera Street).^*

 

 

 

 
(1932)* - View of the Avila Adobe house on Olvera Street, taken in 1932 - two years after Olvera Street was converted to a colorful Mexican marketplace - as made evident by the small vendor stands visible throughout.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1940s)#+ – Postcard view showing the Avila Adobe on Olvera Street.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1930s)* - View of the Avila Adobe house on Olvera Street, showing the rear of the home. Several windows and doorways are visible under the long, covered "corredor" (or porch); steps lead down to a lower area of the courtyard.  

 

Historical Notes

The Avila Adobe consisted of a generous courtyard with covered porches for each of the garaging areas, stables, workshops, etc., as well as a garden and vineyard, which Don Francisco tended to regularly.**

 

 

 
(ca. 1935)* - View of the sign in front of the Avila Adobe, the oldest existing residence within the city limits.  

 

Historical Notes

The sign for the Avila adobe reads "This is the oldest and most historic building in Los Angeles. Built in 1818 by Don Francisco Avila it was occupied as American headquarters in 1847. The rooms are furnished in the period of early California. Olvera Street is the first main thoroughfare of Los Angeles.”

 

 

 

 
(1948)#^ – Postcard view showing the Avila Adobe on Olvera Street.  Built in 1818 by Don Francisco Avila it was occupied as American headquarters in 1847.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1953, the State of California acquired the Avila Adobe as part of El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historic Park, and has been opened to tours since 1976.

The Avila Adobe is registered as California Historical Landmark #145, while the entire historic district is both listed on the National Register of Historic Places and as a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Vickrey-Brunswig Building

 
 
(ca. 1887)* - A view of the Los Angeles Plaza looking southwest with the Pico House to the left and the Old Plaza Church on the right. The 2-story 'Plaza House' (built in 1883) sits directly across the Plaza on the west side of Main Street. The Vickrey-Brunswig Building, one of the City's first 5-story buildings, would be built within a year of this photo just to the left (south) of the Plaza Building.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1887, during the height of the real estate boom, investor William Vickrey bought a parcel of land on North Main Street, on which he commissioned construction of the Vickrey-Brunswig Building. Originally the site of an adobe owned by Jesus Dominguez, the land was purchased by Vickrey from the City of Los Angeles for a total cost of $3,925.

Los Angeles city directories from the mid-1880s list Vickrey's occupation as "capitalist." He established and served as president of the East Side Bank, which was located at 510 Downey Avenue in downtown Los Angeles.^^^^

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - Same view as previous photo but three years later. The new additon to the scene is the 5-story Vickrey-Brunswig Building built adjacent to the Plaza House.  

 

Historical Notes

Construction of the Vickrey-Brunswig Building took place in 1888, the year marking the abrupt collapse of the real estate boom that had driven rapid construction and market speculation through the 1880s. Soon after completion of the building, Vickrey would be forced to declare insolvency and then lose the property to his lender.^^^

The Victorian-era brick Vickrey Building was among the earliest five-story buildings in Los Angeles.  When it opened in 1888, the building housed ground floor retail with lodging on the upper floors. #*^

The two-story Plaza House (built in 1883) was commissioned by Frenchman Philippe Garnier, whose name appears at the base of the decorative false gable parapet rising above the roofline. It was once the site of La Esperanza Bakery.

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Closer view showing the new 5-story Vickrey-Brunswig Building located on N. Main Street across from the LA Plaza and also across the street from the Pico House. Men are seen strolling in front of the Plaza.
 

 

Historical Notes

In 1897, the Vickrey Building was purchased by F. W. Braun and Company, and for more than three decades was associated with the pharmaceutical industry.  Reorganized as the Brunswig Drug Company in 1907 following its purchase by part owner and prominent Angeleno Lucien Brunswig, the company expanded dramatically and developed into the largest pharmaceutical manufacturing laboratories west of Chicago.  #*^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)^^* - View of the Brunswig Building located on the northwest corner of N. Main and Republic streets.  The name of the building appears on two signs, one over the doorway and one on top of the roof.  

 

Historical Notes

Prominent architect Robert Brown Young designed the building in a transitional Italianate style, varying the treatment of each story of the facade for greater visual interest.  The windows of the upper floor feature Romanesque arches, while those of the third floor are embellished with turned posts that serve as the mullions between the grouped sashes. 

Architect R. B. Young was the principal of one of Los Angeles's earliest architectural firms, R.B. Young & Son. Young's office garnered a number of prestigious hotel commissions, such as the Clifton (his first commission in Los Angeles, at the corner of Broadway and Temple Streets), Lankershim, Westminster, Lexington, Hollenbeck, and Occidental hotels. Young also designed the Lankershim office building, the Barker Brothers' block, the Wilson Block, and the California Furniture Company.^^^^

 

 

 
(ca. 1921)* - Closer view of the Brunswig Building located at 501 N. Main Street. The roof sign reads: 1888 - Brunswig Building. The sign over the building entrance reads: Brunswig Drug Co.  

 

Historical Notes

The Vickrey-Brunswig Building was constructed of brick on a trapezoidal plan and stands five stories with a full basement. It was constructed in the Italianate style commonly used for commercial architecture in the Iate-19th and early 20th centuries. Characteristic elements of the building include the decorative stringcourse located above the fifth floor windows and the segmental and rounded arched brick windows featured on the south and west elevations.^^^^

 

 

 

 
(1920)**#^-  View looking south on Main Street showing the Old Plaza Church and Brunswig Building (Brunswig Drug Company) on the right and the LA Plaza and Pico House on the left. The new City Hall which would stand two blocks south would not be built until 1928. Early model cars share the road with electric streetcars.  

 

Historical Notes

Note the elevated kiosk on the edge of the plaza to the left ot the photo. Elevated booths like these were used by the Los Angeles Railway and the Yellow Cars as a switchman’s tower to control the flow and path of streetcars through the intersection.  Many of these were still standing well into the 1920s.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1928)^* - View looking south on Main Street showing the newly constructed City Hall standing in the background (corner of Temple and Main streets) with the Brunswig Building and Old Plaza Church at right.  

 

 

 

 
(n.d.)#*^ – View showing the Vickery-Brunswig Building located at 501 N. Main Street, across the street from the Pico House. Photo by Flora Chow  

 

Historical Notes

The County of Los Angeles purchased the Vickrey-Brunswig Building and the adjacent Plaza House in 1948 and renovated them for use by the Los Angeles County Civil Service Commission, County Superior Courts, Police Crime Laboratories and the County Sherriff’s offices through the mid-1970s.  #*^

 

 

 
(2015)#^**– Google street view looking northwest showing the 5-story Brunswig Building at 501 N. Main Street, adjacent to the Plaza House. The Old Plaza Church is at far right.  

 

Historical Notes

After enduring three decades of vacancy and deterioration, the County rehabilitated both buildings to house LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, a Mexican and Mexican-American cultural center which opened in 2011. #*^

 

 

 

 
(2014)^* - View of the Vickrey-Brunswig Building as seen from the LA Plaza with the Pico House on the left and the Plaza House on the right.  

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the LA Plaza

 

* * * * *

 

 

Phillips Block

 
(ca. 1890)* - The Phillips Block circa 1890, located at the intersection of Spring and Hill streets. The Hamburger's Peoples Store was in this building.
 

 

Historical Notes

The building was constructed in 1887 at a cost of about $200,000 in the French Renaissance style popular at that time for secular buildings. It was the second four-story building erected in Los Angeles and was one of the most ornately decorated.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - The entrances to Hamburger's People's Store in the Phillips Block at the intersection of Spring and Hill Sts. is decorated in patriotic themes. Horse and buggies wait by the curb. A sign for "Royal Rooms" hangs over an arched entrance. Mr. Carpenter's law office, Dr. Hoy's (Eye and Ear), and Dr. Solomon's (Eye, Ear and Throat) offices are on the second floor.  

 

Historical Notes

A. Hamburger and Sons was one of the first department stores to operate in Los Angeles.  Originally known as A. Hamburger & Son's People's Store, the name later changed to Hamburger's Store.   In 1908 the company relocated their store from Spring Street to a newer building located at Broadway and Eighth Street.  May Department Stores acquired Hamburger's in 1923 and renamed it the May Company. Much later in the century, the May Company and Robinsons chains of department stores would affiliate under the name Robinsons-May; and this entity would be bought out by Macy's in 2005.*^#

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - A horse and buggy are parked in front of a vintage automobile on North Spring St. at Franklin. In the background stands the four-story Phillips Block building with a banner on the top floor for M. Garry Realty Co. advertising its availability.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church

 
(ca. 1890)* - Exterior view of Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church, located at 734 S. Hope Street, as seen from across the unpaved street. A horse-drawn carriage is parked outside the church at the curb.  

 

Historical Notes

The Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church was constructed in the late 1880s. After serving as a Methodist church for years, it later became the Third Church of Christ, Scientist.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1911)* - Exterior view of Third Church of Christ, Scientist, located at 734 S. Hope Street, during an extensive remodeling project in 1911.  

 

Historical Notes

After serving as Simpson Methodist Episcopal Church and Simpson Auditorium for years, it became the Third Church of Christ, Scientist in the early 1910s. A Christian Science Reading Room remains on the site, but the large church building was demolished after it suffered severe damage as a result of the 1971 San Fernando earthquake.*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Burbank Villa Hotel (later Santa Rosa Hotel)

 
(1887)* - View of the Burbank Villa Hotel on Olive Avenue. It was built by Dr. David Burbank and his son-in-law John W. Griffin. In the distance can be seen Burbank Block.  

 

Historical Notes

At the time the American Civil War broke out Dr. David Burbank established his profession as a dentist in Pueblo de Los Angeles. In 1867, he purchased Rancho La Providencia from David W. Alexander and Francis Mellus, and he purchased the western portion of the Rancho San Rafael (4,603 acres) from Jonathan R. Scott. Dr. Burbank's property reached nearly 9,200 acres at a cost of $9,000. He eventually became known as one of the largest and most successful sheep raisers in southern California, resulting in him stopping his practice of dentistry and investing heavily in real estate in Los Angeles.^

 

 

 

 
(1887)^ – View looking across an unpaved Olive Avenue showing the Burbank Villa Hotel with several people standing on the porch and stairway.  

 

Historical Notes

The Burbank Villa Hotel (with turret, gables, and verandas with arches) was built by Dr. Burbank and his son-in-law John W. Griffin in 1887 at a cost of $30,000.00. Later the hotel was renamed the Santa Rosa Hotel and was a popular place for weddings and parties. During the 1920s the hotel was remodeled into apartments and by 1927 it had been torn down and replaced by the post office. Today, this post office is known as the Burbank Downtown Station and is located at 135 E. Olive Ave, Burbank.

 

 

 

 
(1924)* – Close-up view of the Victorian-style Burbank Villa Hotel about the time its name change to Santa Rosa Hotel.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1924, the Burbank Villa Hotel was renamed Santa Rosa Hotel.

 

 

 

 
(1920s)^^ – View showing the Santa Rosa Hotel (originally Burbank Villa Hotel) located at 135 E. Olive Avenue.  

 

Historical Notes

During the 1920s the hotel was remodeled into apartments and by 1927 it had been torn down and replaced by the post office. Today, this post office is known as the Burbank Downtown Station and is located at 135 E. Olive Ave, Burbank.^

 

 

 

 
(1970s)^^ - Photo of the Downtown Burbank Post Office at 135 E. Olive Avenue taken from across the street. A convertible sports car drives past while a man mails an item at one of the two curbside collection boxes. The building inscription reads, "United States Post Office, Downtown Station, Burbank California 91503."  

 

Historical Notes

The post office was built in 1938 on the former site of the Santa Rosa Hotel and, before that, the Burbank Villa. Constructed during the Depression, under the federal Works Progress Administration program, out-of-work skilled laborers were employed by Los Angeles architect, Gilbert Stanley Underwood, who also designed the Los Angeles Federal Court House.

The Mediterranean style exterior features five large arches and a red tile roof. The inside lobby displays two 25-foot murals, by artist Barse Miller, celebrating Burbank's aviation and motion pictures industries. The post office served as the main branch and administrative offices until 1968 when increased mail volume required a larger facility. A new post office then opened on Hollywood Way while the Olive Avenue location continued to serve as the Downtown branch. In 1985, the building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and, on November 11, 2003, the Downtown Burbank Post Office was named in honor of legendary entertainer, Bob Hope, who launched his career nearby with a weekly radio show at Burbank's NBC Studios.^

 

 

Phillips House

 
(1970s vs Today)* - Phillips House then and now. The home was relocated from Court Street to Carroll Avenue.  

 

Historical Notes

Built in 1887, the imposing Phillips House was likely a project of local real estate developers George O. Ford and James B. Myer, men also associated with the homes at 1316, 1320, and 1324 Carroll Avenue. Ford was an agent for the Richfield Land and Water Company, and Myer owned the Southern Pacific Transfer Truck Company.*

 

 

 

 
(2012)^ – The Phillips House located at 1300 Carroll Avenue in Angelino Heights with the downtown skyline in the background.  

 

Historical Notes

The first owner of the house was Aaron Phillips, who was from Iowa and had a wife, Maria, and daughter Grace. Grace lived in the house until 1942, when her heirs sold the property to the current owner’s family. The home was relocated from Court St to Carroll Avenue in the 1970s.*

 

 

 

 
(2007)* – The Phillips House located on the SW corner of Carroll Ave and East Edgeware Rd.  

 

Historical Notes

One of the most ornate homes in Angelino Heights, the Phillips House blends two Victorian styles. The sharp angles, in both the shape of the house and its geometric decoration, typify the Eastlake style, while the overall decorative exuberance reflects the Queen Anne style.*

This Victorian home was the first house on Carroll Avenue declared a Los Angeles landmark (No. 51).

 

 

Los Angeles Times Building

 
(ca. 1890)* - View of the second LA Times Building on the northeast corner of 1st and Broadway with trolley making a turn from Broadway to 1st Street. The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce is in the building adjacent to the Times, on the north side of 1st Street.  

 

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Times was first published on December 4, 1881, under the name of the Los Angeles Daily Times. When the original founders ran into financial problems the following year, the fledgling paper was inherited by its printer, the Mirror Printing Office and Book Bindery. The company hired as editor former military officer Harrison Gray Otis, who quickly turned the paper into a financial success.

Otis and a partner purchased the entire Times and Mirror properties in 1884 and incorporated them as the Times-Mirror Company. Two years later, Otis purchased his partner's interest in the company.  In October 1886, the word "Daily" was removed from the title and the newspaper became the Los Angeles Times.^*

Today, the LA Times occupies its 4th building since it started publishing back in 1881. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the LA Times.

 

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Los Angeles Examiner Building

 
(ca. 1903)* - The intersection at Broadway and 5th, looking south from 5th. The Los Angeles Examiner building is visible on the right. Pedestrians line the sidewalks, and horses and buggies are on the street. A lone bicycle rider leads the pack. Signs for "Mammoth Shoe House", "United Millinery Company", and "Angelus Studio" are visible.  

 

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Examiner was founded in 1903 by William Randolph Hearst as a union-friendly answer to the Los Angeles Times. At its peak in 1960, the Examiner had a circulation of 381,037. It attracted the top newspapermen and women of the day. The Examiner flourished in the 1940s under the leadership of City Editor James H. Richardson, who led his reporters to emphasize crime and Hollywood scandal coverage.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1903)* - Exterior view of the Los Angeles Examiner building at 509 South Broadway, in Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

The Herald Examiner moved into a new building in 1914, located at the southwest corner of Broadway and 11th Streets. Click HERE to see LA Examiner's Second Building.

In 1967, Herald Examiner employees began a strike that lasted almost a decade and resulted in at least $15 million in losses. The paper never recovered from the strike and went out of business November 2, 1989, leaving the Los Angeles Times as the sole city-wide daily newspaper.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Wells Fargo & Co's Express Office

 
(ca. 1890)* - Wells Fargo & Co's. Express office in an unidentified building circa 1890. A group of men are standing on the sidewalk while several horse-drawn wagons on parked on the dirt street.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1852, Vermont native Henry Wells and New Yorker William G. Fargo organized Wells, Fargo & Company to provide express and banking services to California.^*

 

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Casa de Lopez (Lopez Adobe)

 
(ca. 1883)* - View showing the Geronimo Lopez Adobe of San Fernando.  Three women and two men stand on the second floor wrap-around balcony, probably members of the Lopez family.  

 

Historical Notes

The Lopez family built the adobe between 1882 and 1883 using 24-by-6-inch, sun-baked blocks. The surviving adobe home was built by Valentin Lopez, Geronimo's cousin and brother-in-law.  It was the first two-story adobe built as a residence in the San Fernando Valley. It is considered the City of San Fernando's oldest standing building.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1910)^^ – View showing the two-story Lopez Adobe with its gilded balcony and terracotta-tiled roof, located at 1100 Pico Street in San Fernando.  

 

Historical Notes

Catalina Lopez died in 1918, and Geronimo Lopez died in 1921, at age 90. In 1928, several modifications were made to the house by one of the Lopez daughters, Louisa Lopez McAlonan. The balcony staircase was changed, and some rooms were divided to form apartments. Modern plumbing and electrical fixtures were also added at the time.  The original shake shingle roof was also replaced by clay-tile roof. ^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1935)* - Close-up view of the Geronimo Lopez adobe in San Fernando. It was built by Valentino Lopez for his father, Geronimo, in 1878. It later was used as a stage station, then was the San Fernando Valley's first post office. It is located at 1100 Pico Street, on the corner of Maclay Avenue and Pico Street.
 

 

Historical Notes

The Lopez Adobe has been recognized for its blend of Mission Revival and Victorian architectural styles.  Catalina Lopez designed the residence's Victorian features.  The first local newspaper, the San Fernando Times, was printed in April 1889 from the Lopez Adobe.

Members of the Lopez family continued living in the adobe until 1961.   The last Lopez to live in the adobe was another daughter, Kate Lopez Millen, who lived in an upper apartment from 1931 until shortly before her death in 1961. The property remained in the Lopez family until 1971. ^*

 

 

 

 
(2008)^* - Front view of Casa de Lopez (Lopez Adobe), 1100 Pico Street in San Fernando.  

 

Historical Notes

Lopez Adobe is one of the two oldest private residences in the San Fernando Valley. Built by early settlers of the San Fernando Valley a short distance from the San Fernando Mission, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.

The Grand-Reopening of the property occurred on March 22, 2015 and is now open for public tours once every 4th Sunday of the month from 12-4 P.M. ^*

 

 

Lopez Station Stagecoach Stop

 
(ca. 1885)^^* -  View showing the Geronimo Lopez stage station and ranch adobe.  A man is seen standing on the porch of the one and a half-story adobe.  The roof of the adobe is shingled, and doors can be seen at regular intervals on each visible wall of the edifice. At the time the photograph was taken, the adobe was being used as a toll and stage station. It was built by Valentino Lopez.  

 

Historical Notes

Geronimo and Catalina Lopez purchased 40 acres of land near the Mission San Fernando in 1861 and built an adobe home along the Butterfield Overland Mail 1st Division, on the Stockton - Los Angeles Road wagon route that connected Los Angeles and San Francisco. The original adobe became known as Lopez Station.

The couple also operated the San Fernando Valley's first general store, its first English language school, and the first post office (in 1869) at the site.

One account of the early days of the San Fernando Valley noted the significance of the Lopez family:

In the late 1860s and early 1870s a traveler riding through the high wild mustard fields of the San Fernando Valley would find little evidence of people except for the mission, a few other adobes, cattle grazing in the fields and a stage house built by Geronimo Lopez and his wife, Catalina. ^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)** - Lopez Station around the year 1890 was used as a stagecoach stop on the route from Los Angeles to San Francisco. It was located on the 15700 block of Rinaldi Street in Mission Hills.  

 

Historical Notes

Lopez Station served as a stopping place for the Butterfield Stage. The station sat on 40 acres of land originally owned by Geronimo Lopez. Here Lopez established a stage stop and a general store. This valley stop would expect two stages a week from Los Angeles en route to San Francisco. Lopez Station served the Butterfield Stage Line throughout its run from 1861 until 1874. When the railroad was completed linking Northern and Southern California, stagecoach travel became obsolete.

In 1868, Lopez Station also became an overnight stop for Remi Nadeau’s Cerro Gordo Freighting Company. Nadeau ran freight wagons hauled by teams of sixteen or more mules back and forth from San Pedro to the Cerro Gordo mines in the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountains in Inyo County.**

The original Lopez Station adobe was destroyed in the 1910s for the construction of the San Fernando Reservoir (later renamed Van Norman Reservoir), part of the then new Los Angeles Aqueduct system.  After the 1971 Sylmar earthquake the foundation was again exposed in the reservoir basin. It was later covered by the vehicle track when the Los Angeles Police Department built the Davis Training Center in the late 1990s. ^*

 

 

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Leonis Adobe

 
(ca. 1890s)**# - Leonis Adobe as it appeared in the 1890s. The photo shows a man standing by his horse in the field. If you look closely, standing right behind the fence (center) is a woman looking at the photographer. This is purported to be Espirut Leonis, wife of Miguel Leonis.  

 

Historical Notes

Leonis Adobe, built in 1844, is one of the oldest surviving private residences in Los Angeles County and one of the oldest surviving buildings in the San Fernando Valley. Located in what is now Calabasas, the adobe was occupied by the wealthy rancher, Miguel Leonis, from 1880 until his death in 1889. Following Leonis' death, the property was the subject of a legal dispute between his common law wife (Espiritu Leonis), heirs, and a daughter born out of wedlock; the dispute lasted more than 15 years in the courts.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1915)^^* - Photograph of the adobe home of Miguel Leonis in Calabasas, ca.1915. The building is two stories high and has both a covered balcony and covered porch at right. Although classified as an adobe, most of the building is made of wood. A door and a window flank a brick chimney at left. Much of the view of the front of the house is obscured by several tall trees and bushes. Another tree is visible behind the house.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1961, the adobe had fallen victim to vandalism, and its owner applied for a permit to raze the structure and erect a supermarket in its place. Preservationists succeeded in having the adobe declared a Historic-Cultural Landmark (the first structure in Los Angeles receiving the designation in 1962 - Click HERE to see the LA Historic-Cultural Monuments List).

Leonis Adobe is also known as one of the most haunted sites in Los Angeles County, and it was profiled in the British paranormal television series "Most Haunted" in 2005. The adobe was restored and is operated as a living museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.^^^

 

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Valley

 

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Corner of 5th and Hill

 
(ca. 1890)^^* - View showing the first building erected on the corner of Fifth Street and Hill Street in Los Angeles. The small, two-story clapboard house is at center. It has a small balcony with an open doorway at center, as well as a covered porch on the first floor. Large vines have grown up the side of the porch, hiding much of the front of the house from view. Four people are on the sidewalk in the foreground, including two young children at left and a girl and a woman walking at center.  

 

Historical Notes

The building, the home of Mary E. Taft, was moved to face Fifth Street. Later this block would become part of the center of Los Angeles' financial district.^^*

 

 

 

S/W Corner of 2nd and Grand

 
(1890)* - Photo taken from the southwest corner of 2nd Street and Grand Avenue, looking north on Grand. It shows a modest one-story home. A woman stands on the steps that lead to the entrance of the house and three other people are standing in the garden, all looking toward the photographer. Visible behind tall trees, a larger, more elaborate Victorian home can be seen.  

 

 

 

N/E Corner of 8th and Broadway

 
(ca. 1897)+** – View showing the northeast corner of 8th Street and Broadway. A woman and young girl are seen standing in front of the Victorian house. Another woman is seated in a horse-drawn carriage.  

 

 

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Hershey Residence

 
(ca. 1896)* - Exterior view of Almira Parker Hershey's two-story Victorian Gothic style home, located on the northwest corner of 4th Street and S. Grand Avenue on Bunker Hill.  

 

Historical Notes

Almira Hershey was a relative of Milton S. Hershey, founder of the Pennsylvania chocolate empire, and the daughter of Benjamin Hershey who amassed a fortune in the lumber and banking industries. Mira inherited a substantial sum when her father died and she relocated from Muscatine, Iowa to Los Angeles in the 1890s.

Hershey purchased real estate on Bunker Hill and commenced construction on a number of residences, including her own home at the NE corner of Fourth and Grand Avenue in 1896. The elegant structure sat across the street from the Rose Residence.*##^

In 1906, Mira had this home moved to 750 W. Fourth Street and commissioned architects C.F. Skilling and Otto H. Neher to split it in half to turn it into an apartment building. After the apartment building opened in 1907, it was named the Castle Towers, reminiscent of the structure's "castle-like features." Built to a cost of around $50,000 and designed by architects Curlett & Eisen.*

 

* * * * *

 

Bradbury Mansion

 
(ca. 1890)* - Exterior of Lewis Leonard Bradbury's mansion, located on the corner of Hill and Court streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Designed by Samuel and Joseph Cather Newsom, the house was built in 1886 at a cost of $80,000. In 1887, Lewis Lenonard Bradbury bought the 35-room structure, complete with 5 chimneys and 5 turrets, from one-time County Clerk J.W. Potts for $125,000.*

Arriving in Mexico around 1862, L.L. Bradbury began to accumulate "barras", or shares, of Minas del Tajo (Tajo Mines). By 1873 he had acquired control as the majority shareholder, substantially increasing his wealth in the process. Bradbury was one of several highly successful foreign investors in 19th and 20th century Mexico.

L.L. Bradbury's success in Mexico's mining industry afforded his family a luxurious lifestyle during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The family maintained several properties and homes, distributed between northern and southern California, in addition to several mines in Mexico.^^^*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^^* - View showing the Bradbury residence, located at Hill Street and Court Street. The Bradbury Mansion, constructed in the Queen Anne style of architecture, sits at center surrounded by a wrought-iron fence. The mansion has several turrets and is ornately decorated by elements including fish-scale shingles and carved moldings. A gazebo-like structure sits to the right of the house, covering a walkway to a secondary entrance.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1898)*#*# –  View showing the Highland Villa, the Bradbury Mansion and the Bixby house, Court Hill.  

 

Historical Notes

Looking northwest from the third City Hall with Highland Villa still isolated above a foot path which will become Hill Street, the Bradbury Mansion standing majestically above the fray at what will become Hill and Court Streets and the Llewellyn Bixby house signalling his death (1825-1896) as the second floor was added by his widow.*#*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^^* – View looking southwest from the County Courthouse showing the Bradbury Mansion at upper right on the corner of Hill and Court streets.  The Highland Villa can be seen at center of photo.  

 

Historical Notes

Broadway runs diagonally south(left)/north in the lower left quadrant of the photo. The steep slope with the stairs next to it is the future site of Court Flight, Angels Flight's sister funicular railway. Court St. dead ends at the top of the slope. The Bradbury mansion (built 1886, demolished 1928) is the large house on top of the hill, facing east on to N. Hill St. The house directly across from it (partially hidden by trees), at 138 N. Hill, is the third Los Angeles home (built circa 1881, demolished 1955) of Sarah Bixby Smith, author of "Adobe Days" (1931). The Hill Street Tunnel was put through in 1908 after 1st St. was extended to the west. Court Hill (between Bunker Hill and Poundcake Hill) was removed entirely in the mid- to late 1950s.

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^^* - Closer view showing the staricase leading up to the end of Court Street. The magnificent Bradbury Mansion sits on top of the hill as well as Sarah BixbySmith's home across the street (left of photo).  

 

 

 

 
(1927)* - Exterior of Lewis Leonard Bradbury's mansion, located on the corner of Hill and Court streets. Cars line the street and the building shows significant wear and is in need of paint.  

 

Historical Notes

The Bradbury Mansion was occupied for years by various movie studies, including J.A.C. Film Manufacturing Co., who moved into the building in 1913. Hal Roach occupied it with Harold Lloyd, who referred to the mansion as "pneumonia hall", due to the building's high level of draftiness. It also served as a luncheon center for area Supreme Court judges and as a boarding house; it was demolished in 1929.*

 

 

 
(1928)^^+ - Looking east from the Bradbury Mansion widow's walk showing City Hall under construction in its final stages.  

 

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Ruber Residence

 
(n.d.)^^* - Exterior view of the J. Ruber home located at 145 N. Flower St.  It sat on the southwest corner of Flower and Court streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The house is a small structure with a wide front porch held up by Romanesque columns.  A 5-story sheer drop down to Figueroa was in its backyard.^*#

 

 

Haddock Residence

 
(ca. 1890)* – View of a large Queen Anne style residence, designed by architects Bradbeer & Ferris. Located at 939 S. Olive St., it was owned by Charles Haddock at the time this photograph was taken.  

 

 

 

Loew Residence

 
(1890)* - Exterior front corner view of the two-story Victorian style Jacob Loew home at 1417 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, in 1890, during construction  

 

Historical Notes

Jacob Loew was president of Capitol Milling Company and originally from Germany. Samuel and Joseph Cather Newsom were the architects. The Queen Anne style house was built in 1888 at a cost of $20,000.*

 

 

6th and Firgueroa Streets

 
(ca. 1890)* - Two ornate Victorian homes located on the west side of South Figueroa Street looking south from 6th Street.  

 

 

Robinson Mansion

 
(ca. 1887)^*# - Birdseye view of Bella Vue Avenue (now Bellevue, this section of which would later become part of Sunset Boulevard) and the Robinson residence shortly after it was built, looking north from Fort Hill.  

 

Historical Notes

The J.W. Robinson mansion can be seen on the hilltop.  It was located on Teed Street near Bella Vue Avenue  (now Bellevue, this section of which would later become part of Sunset Boulevard).

Teed Street was named after Freeman G. Teed who, in the 1880s and 90s, was LA City Clerk and President of the City Council. He was also a real estate speculator.^*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)* - Exterior view of the two-story Victorian style home of Joseph Winchester Robinson, located on Teed Street near Bella Vue Avenue (now Bellevue, this section of which would later become part of Sunset Boulevard). A winged gargoyle watches over the entrance.  

 

Historical Notes

Samuel and Joseph Cather Newsom were the architects. The house was built in 1887 at a cost of $10,000.

Joseph Winchester Robinson was the owner of Boston Dry Goods which later became the J. W. Robinson Department Stores.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^## - View looking northwest from Fort Moore Hill.  The beautiful Victorian mansion (on the right) was purchased by Mrs. Julia S. Ford after the sudden death of J. W. Robinson in 1891.    

 

Historical Notes

J. W. Robinson's “Boston Dry Goods Store” began business in of 1883 at the corner of N. Spring and Temple Streets. Joseph Winchester Robinson advertised that his establishment was characterized by “fine stocks and refined ‘Boston’ service.” The arrival of railroads spurred the enormous and long-lived growth of Southern California, and Robinson’s store brought eastern goods and their attendant sophistication to a willing (and growing) public; in 1887 the store was forced to move to larger quarters at 69-73 N. Spring Street. After returning from a trip back east in 1891, Robinson became ill and passed away in his home at the age of 45. His father, H.W. Robinson came to Los Angeles for the funeral and to look after the business founded by his late son. ##^^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1897)* - Panoramic view of the two-story Victorian style home of Mrs. Julia S. Ford, who purchased the residence from J.W. Robinson Estate and then remodeled it.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^^* - View showing the Ford Mansion (previously Robinson Mansion) sitting on the hill overlooking Sonora Town as seen from Fort Moore Hill. Castelar Street is on the right running away from the camera.  

 

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William H. Andrews Residence (San Fernando Valley)

 
(ca. 1900)+^^ – Front view of William H. Andrews' House, once the only house on the Lankershim Ranch.  

 

Historical Notes

On the Van Nuys / Lankershim lands, in the late 1880’s, as wheat profits began to decline, JB Lankershim, son of Isaac, formed a group, the Lankershim Ranch Land and Water Company, and bought the easternmost 12,000 acres, and plotted the area for fruit-growing farms. William H. Andrews was the superintendent for these lands, and was the on-site director for the sale and lease of the farms for JB. As the farms grew, Andrews was instrumental in securing lands in the area for the Southern Pacific Railroad; the line that slanted across the valley to Chatsworth. +^^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - View looking down Vineland Avenue just south of Third Street (now Riverside Drive) showing the residence of William H. Andrews.  

 

Historical Notes

William Andrews was married to Mary "Mollie" Weddington, the sister of Sheriff Wilson Weddington of Storm Lake Iowa. During the winter of 1890, the Andrews invited their relatives to spend the winter in warm Southern California. The Weddingtons came and saw real opportunity in the San Fernando Valley. That same winter, William Andrews conducted a land auction for the Lankershim Land and Water Company, and the Weddingtons made their first big purchase of Valley land.^^#

 

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Valley

 

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Point Fermin Lighthouse

 
(ca. 1870s)^^ - View of Point Fermin Lighthouse near the edge of the cliffs at San Pedro.  

 

Historical Notes

Point Fermin Lighthouse was built in 1874. It was the first navigational light into the San Pedro Bay. Phineas Banning, with the support of many local businessmen, petitioned the Federal Government and the US Lighthouse Board to place a lighthouse on the point in 1854. Although the Lighthouse Board agreed funding and land, disputes delayed its construction until 1874.#^*^

Point Fermin marks the southern-most point of the City of Los Angeles.  It was named after Father Fermín de Francisco Lasuén by British explorer George Vancouver. When Vancouver visited in 1793 he wanted to thank the Father for his hospitality at the mission in Carmel. ##**

Father Padre Fermín de Francisco Lasuén also founded Mission San Fernando Rey de Españaon (the San Fernando Mission). Sometimes called the "forgotten friar," Padre Fermín Lasuén actually governed the California Mission system three years longer than his more famous predecessor, Padre Junipero Serra.^*

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Mission.

 

 

 
(ca. 1875)#^ - Exterior view of the lighthouse at Point Fermin, San Pedro.  Four people pose for the camera as they sit in a horse-drawn carriage in front of the white picket fence.  

 

Historical Notes

Paul J. Pelz, a draftsman for the US Lighthouse Board, designed the Stick Style Victorian lighthouse. The design was used for six lighthouses built between 1873 and 1874, of which three are still standing, East Brothers in San Francisco Bay, Hereford Light in New Jersey, and Point Fermin. The Stick Style is an early Victorian architectural style and is simpler in design and decoration than the later high Victorian period. It is characterized by its gabled roofs, horizontal siding, decorative cross beams and hand carved porch railings. #^*^

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)** - Exterior view of the Victorian-style Point Fermin Lighthouse, located at 807 W. Paseo Del Mar in San Pedro on the Palos Verdes Peninsula.  

 

Historical Notes

The Point Fermin Lighthouse stands 30 feet tall and was built in 1874 at Point Fermin to guide mariners. The Lighthouse has a brick foundation and a wood frame, which was built with lumber from the California Redwoods.**

 

 

 

 

 
(1890)^^* - Profile view of the lighthouse on Point Fermin, San Pedro.  A picket fence surrounds the wooden two-story house with the square tower supporting the light. Several trees are in the yard.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1941 the light was extinguished due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. There was fear that the light would serve as a beacon for enemy planes and ships. Later, the lantern room and gallery were removed. They were replaced by a lookout shack that remained for the next 30 years, and was referred to as "the chicken coop" by locals.^*

 

 

 
(2005)^* - View of Point Fermin Lighthouse, San Pedro.  Photo Date: July 2005.  

 

Historical Notes

Point Fermin Lighthouse was saved from demolition in 1972 and the light was added to the National Register of Historic Places. It was refurbished in 1974, and a new lantern room and gallery were added. It is California's only surviving 19th century lighthouse.**

In 2002, the lighthouse was restored, retrofitted, and rehabilitated for public access with funds from the City of Los Angeles, the Port of Los Angeles, and the State of California. The lighthouse was opened to the public on November 1, 2003 under the management of the Department of Recreation and Parks for the City of Los Angeles. Volunteers from the Point Fermin Lighthouse Society serve as tour guides and help to keep the lighthouse open to the public.#^*^

 

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San Pedro Boarding House

 
(ca. 1890)* - Numerous people are seen outside of an unidentified two-story wooden building, which appears to be a boarding house or hotel, in San Pedro.  

 

 

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San Pedro Hotel

 
(ca. 1898)* - Group portrait of people standing on the ground floor and along the balcony of the second floor of the San Pedro Hotel. Many flags are hanging around the hotel. A horse-drawn carriage is parked alongside the hotel.  

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of San Pedro and Wilmington

 

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Salvation Army

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Salvation Army Corp No. 2 quarters on the corner of 1st and Weller (San Pedro) Streets, the first one with an industrial outreach in California. It offered meetings and lodging for workingmen.  

 

Historical Notes

The Salvation Army's presence in Southern California dates back to 1887, when an open air street meeting was held on the corner of Temple and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. To this day, a plaque remains in the sidewalk to commemorate the event.

Prior to this meeting, a church, or Corps (as it is known in The Salvation Army) had been established in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles Street. In 1892, the Corps moved to First Street where The Salvation Army occupied almost the entire block with a hotel for transient men and a men's industrial complex, the forerunner of today's Adult Rehabilitation Centers. In 1899, The Salvation Army opened a rescue home for young, expectant mothers in Los Angeles known as Booth Memorial Center.***#

 

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Bank of Santa Monica (later California Bank)

 
(ca. 1899)##^ – View of the Bank of Santa Monica located at Third Street and Oregon Avenue (now Santa Monica).  

 

Historical Notes

By 1899 there were two banks in the City of Santa Monica: Bank of Santa Monica located at Third Street and Oregon Avenue (now Santa Monica Blvd.) and Commercial Co's Bank at 219 Third Street. By the late 1920s there were thirteen financial institutions, including multiple branches. #**#

 

 

 
(1890)* - Exterior view of the California Bank building located south on 3rd from Oregon (now Santa Monica Boulevard). The building includes a library, upstairs in the corner. Several horse drawn carriages can be seen along side of the building.  

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Santa Monica.

 

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Fort Street Methodist Episcopal Church

 
(1890)* - Fort Street (now South Broadway), showing the Fort Street Methodist Episcopal Church, replaced by the Homer Laughlin Building in 1916. Also includes the "Peerless" restaurant, featuring a sign that reads "Best 15 cent meal in the City"!  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^^* - Panoramic view of downtown Los Angeles looking west from Spring Street and Fourth Street toward Bunker Hill across Broadway between Third Street and Fourth Street. Fort Street Methodist Episcopal Church (later purchased by Homer Laughlin for $63,000 in 1899) stands in the center of the photograph which includes principally dwellings. The house to the right of the church is the Hunter Residence (see next image). The tall pole at the top of Bunker Hill seen in the upper-left is one of Los Angeles’ earliest electric stretlights, standing 150-ft tall. Click HERE to see more in Early L.A. Streetlights.  

 

 

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Hunter Residence

 
(ca. 1890)^^* - View showing the Hunter Residence located on Fort Street (later Broadway) near Third Street.  The single-story brick house has a small fence surrounding its perimeters. It features a covered porch, large rectangular windows and a symmetric, inclined roof. Above the covered porch is "furnished rooms" sign. The Fort Street Methodist Episcopal Church is to the left of the small house.  

 

 

 

Custer Avenue School

 
(ca. 1890s)#*** - View of Custer Avenue School located on the corner of Custer and Temple streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Built in 1895, Custer Avenue School was the first Junior High School (Middle School in the District). It became an elementary school in 1914. #***

 

 

Harper School

 
(ca. 1890s)#*** - View of Harper School, built in 1896. The school was renamed Vermont Avenue School in 1903. Notice the round dormer on the right side of the picture. Also notice the flag in the photo; it was painted in by the photographer.  

 

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Westminster Hotel

 
(ca. 1890)* - A horse and buggy and a few people stand on the corner on 4th and Main Streets in front of the Hotel Westminster, architect, Robert B. Young. Down the street to the left is the N.P. Bailey Furniture store.  

 

Historical Notes

The Westminster Hotel was a large Victorian brick building with a six-story tower. It was designed in 1887 by Robert B. Young and was considered the grandest hotel in the city. In about 1870, this area was the site of a Chinese market.^^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890)^ - 4th and Main looking north. The I. W. Hellman Mansion is on the left and on the right is the Hotel Westminster, designed by Robert B. Young, before it was enlarged.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1893)^^* - Another view of the Westminster Hotel located on the northeast corner of 4th and Main Street in 1893.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^^* - People near and far walk across 4th and Main Street past the majestic Westminster (architect, Robert B. Young). Included also are a bicycle, a car and a horse-drawn cart.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1924)^^* – View looking north up Main Street.  The Westminster Hotel is seen on the northeast corner of 4th and Main Streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The four prominent buildings seen above at the intersection of 4th and Main are the:  Van Nuys Hotel (N/W), Westminster Hotel (N/E), Farmers and Merchants Bank Building (S/W), and San Fernando Building (S/E).

 

 

 
(1926)* - Main and 4th streets, showing the Westminster Hotel on the northeast corner and the San Fernando Building (right) on the southeast.
 

 

 

 

 
(1954)##*^ – View of the Westminster Hotel, northeast corner of Main and 4th Streets.  

 

Historical Notes

By the mid-1930s the Westminster Hotel was in decline. It, however, continued to operate until 1960 when the building was razed to make room for new development.^^*

 

 

 
(1959)^## – Close-up view showing the Westminster Hotel one year before it was demolished.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1960)* - Viewed from a parking lot across the street, past the sign advertising 65 cents maximum for all day parking. Across the street is the Hotel Westminster as seen shortly before it was razed.  

 

Historical Notes

The O.T. Johnson Corporation owned the Westminster until 1952. The Westminster is the only historic building to have been razed at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets (February 1960). Remaining today on the other three corners are the Barclay (Van Nuys) Hotel, the Farmers and Merchants bank, and the San Fernando Building.^#**

 

* * * * *

 

 

Stimson House

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Front exterior view of the Thomas Douglas Stimson house at 2421 South Figueroa Street near Adams Street.  

 

Historical Notes

The Stimson House is a Richardsonian Romanesque mansion on Figueroa Street north of West Adams. Built in 1891, it was the home of lumber and banking millionaire, Thomas Douglas Stimson. During Stimson’s lifetime, the house survived a dynamite attack by a blackmailer in 1896. After Stimson’s death, the house has been occupied by a brewer who reportedly stored wines and other spirits in the basement, a fraternity house that conducted noisy parties causing consternation among occupants of neighboring mansions, as student housing for Mount St. Mary's College, and as a convent for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet.

From the day it was built, the 30-room house was a Los Angeles landmark. Neighbors and occupants have referred to it over the years as "the Castle" or the "Red Castle" due to its turret-top walls, four-story tower, and red-stone exterior.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Front corner exterior view of the Thomas Douglas Stimson house.  

 

Historical Notes

When Stimson House was built in the 1890s, the Los Angeles Times described it as "the costliest and most beautiful private residence in Los Angeles," a building "admired by all who see it." More than a hundred years later, the Times said: “From the front, the 31⁄2-story house resembles a medieval castle, with brick chimneys standing guard like sentries along the roof and an ornate four-story crenelated tower on the northeast corner, a noble rook from a massive chess board." With its $150,000 cost, it was the most expensive house that had been built in Los Angeles at the time^*

The Stimson House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and has also been designated Historic-Cultural Monument No. 212 by the City of Los Angeles.  Click HERE to see complete listing.

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Corner front exterior view of the Thomas Douglas Stimson house. An open water-supply channel (zanja) flows in front next to the sidewalk.  

 

Historical Notes

Zanja (Spanish for ditch) was the original water supply channel for the southwest part of the city. It was built in 1868 and rebuilt in 1885 with concrete. The original water supply for Los Angeles was delivered in open trenches, the zanja, despite serious problems with public dumping into the trenches. In the 1880s and 1890s gradually piped water was introduced into more expensive neighborhoods, and the zanjas were used for irrigation only.

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Zanja Madre (Original LA Aqueduct)

 

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(ca. 1890)^^* – Exterior view of E.C. Fisher's store on the west side of South Main Street, north of Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles. The store is in a long single story building that reaches from the left of the image to the right. It has an overhang that covers a walkway in front of the large glass windows of the store. There are four men standing on this walkway, and there is a small amount of merchandise, including melons, wash tubs, and ropes, arranged in front as well. Legible signs include, from left to right, "Examiner sold here", "News Depot Stationery", "Tinware Hardware", "Staple & Fancy Groceries", "Produce Tea & Coffee", "Window glass Paintbrushes", "The Broad-Guage", "Ranch Eggs Wanted".  

 

Historical Notes

Note accompanying the photo reads:  "Portrait of Fisher's Broad-Guage Department Store. There is a large hotel apartment building on this corner, The Rutland, owned by the Central and Broad-Guage Department. Store owned by E. C. Fisher, located on the west side of Main Street just north of the northwest corner of Washington--the corner occupied by Henry Coch's Saloon. On the southwest corner of Main and Washington was Dave Waldron's old Washington Gardens, later Luna Park. Opposite, on the northeast corner, was the Main Street and Agricultural Park Streetcar Horse Barns and on the southeast corner was one Louis Martin's Saloon. The man on the right was one of my photographers, the boy in short-sleeves is myself, the man on the steps--E.A. Butterfield, and the policeman is a Mr. Kemp" -- Signed, J. H. Crum in 1935.^^*

 

 

Temperance Temple

 
(ca. 1890s)* - View of the Temperance Temple of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), located at 301 N. Broadway at Temple Street. A horse-drawn carriage is shown parked along the street past the Temple and other neighboring buildings.  

 

Historical Notes

The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) stands for the complete abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and all harmful drugs and protection of the home. As the membership of the WCTU grew throughout the U.S, a call went out from May Gould, a resident of Los Angeles, to Frances Willard to organize a local group in Southern California. On September 20 and 21, 1883, the first State Convention was called and the WCTU of Southern California was organized at the First Presbyterian Church, 2nd and Fort (now Broadway) Streets, Los Angeles. This temple was dedicated in 1889 after money had been donated for its construction in 1886.*

 

 

 

 
(1890)* - Exterior of the Temperance Temple of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), located at 301 N. Broadway at Temple Street. A horse-drawn Temple Street Cable Railway trolley and carriages are shown traveling down both streets past the Temple and other neighboring buildings.
 

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)*#*# – View showing the San Francisco Fire Department brigade and band, in front of the Los Angeles County Courthouse (S/E corner of Temple Street and Broadway) with the WCTU Building across the street. The tower of Los Angeles High School can be seen in the distance (top center-right).  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)^^* – Panoramic view looking northwest from the LA County CourthouseLos Angeles High School stands tall in the background.  The Temperance Temple building is seen in the lower-left located on the northwest corner of Temple and Broadway.  The Broadway Tunnel is out of frame at right-center.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - Street view of the Women's Christian Temperance Union Temple on the northwest corner of Broadway and Temple as seen from the front of the LA County Courthouse.  

 

Historical Notes

This landmark building was featured in some early pictorial books on Los Angeles and in 1900 was the site of the National Education Association (NEA) Convention.  The Frances E. Willard Home For Girls was housed on the 4th floor from its inception in 1919 until 1933. #*#^

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - Close-up view showing the Temperance Temple of the Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) on the northwest corner of Broadway and Temple Street.  

 

 

 

 
(1939)^^* – View facing north at Broadway and Temple Street showing the Women's Christian Temperance Union Building, now only two stories tall.  Billboard on top of building reads: "Prohibition: the Best Method Against Liquor Traffic."  On the right are two Los Angeles Railway streetcars, one leaving and another one entering the Broadway Tunnel.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1925, the City of Los Angeles took 10 feet of property from the Broadway side and in 1928, took another 12-1/2 feet from the Temple side. The 1933 Long Beach Earthquake damaged the building and consequently the two top floors were removed.

The death knell of the once beautiful structure came in 1947 when the County of Los Angeles took the site by eminent domain and constructed a power plant where the venerable Temperance Temple once stood. When the Temple was razed in 1950, the corner stone was presented to the WCTU and now resides in front of the present Headquarters building. #*#^

 

* * * * *

 

 

Pico House

 
(1891)* - The Pico House in 1891. The sign on 2 sides over the building here reads "Pico House" and horses and carriages are on the dirt street on the right side. Farther back on the right are the towers of Baker Block (built in 1878 and later torn down to make way for the 101 Freeway).  

 

Historical Notes

In 1868, Pío de Jesús Pico constructed the three story, 33-room hotel, Pico House (Casa de Pico) on the old plaza of Los Angeles, opposite today's Olvera Street.*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the LA Plaza District.

 

* * * * *

 

Los Angeles County Courthouse

 
(1891)* - View showing the Los Angeles County Courthouse nearing completion. Construction began in 1888. Broadway is in front, Temple Street on the left, and New High Street behind. The holes seen in the main tower are for the yet to be installed clocks.  

 

Historical Notes

Constructed in 1891, the Los Angeles County Courthouse stood where the city’s first high school, Los Angeles High School, had been located. The high school was there from 1873 until 1886 when it was moved to North Hill Street to allow for construction of the courthouse.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1891)* - View looking south across Temple Street showing of Belderrain Adobe (foreground) as it sits in the shadow of the newly constructed Los Angeles County Courthouse.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1891, the LA County Courthouse moved into it's new home, a beautiful new building constructed at the old site of Los Angeles High School.. Prior to its move, the courthouse was located in a large building on Temple Block sharing space with a theatre and marketplace (1861-1891).*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1891)* - View looking southeast at the corner of Temple Street (left) and Broadway showing the LA County Courthouse. Note the manicured lawn and newly planted palm trees.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1891)* - Close-up view of the L.A. County Courthouse, also as known as the "Red Sandstone Courthouse" . shortly after its completiion. Newly planted palm trees are seen in front. This was actually LA's 6th courthouse location.  

 

Historical Notes

The red sandstone structure was built in the Richardsonian Romanesque style and designed by architects Curlett, Eisen and Cuthbertson. The rusticated stone building has wall dormers, column pilasters, cupola's topped with finials, and a large square clock tower with turrets and a central multi sided cupola with cast iron cresting and a flagpole. Wide stone staircases connected by walls surround the building. ###

 

 

 
(1890s)^## - View looking toward the southwest corner of New High (later Spring St.) and Temple streets showing the Los Angeles County Courthouse. A Horse-drawn wagon is heading west on Temple Street while pedestrians are seen walking up the incline along the courthouse bulding.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^*# - The Los Angeles County Courthouse from the corner of New High (later Spring) and Temple streets, facing southwest. Horse-drawn carriages are seen waiting at the curb.  

 

Historical Notes

The County Courthouse building utilized an open-air elevator shaft that was added to the building before the turn of the last century. The circular shaft can be seen just to the left of the left palm tree. If you look closely, you can see the elevator car is between the first and second floors.^*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)^*# - View looking southeast showing the Los Angeles County Courthouse at the intersection of New High and Temple streets. New telephone lines are now seen in front of the courthouse.  

 

Historical Notes

Through more than 150 years the county has used at least eight buildings as its county courthouse. All have been situated within a mile of each other in downtown Los Angeles south of the original plaza in what has for the past 80 years been called the Civic Center.

◆ The first county courthouse was in the adobe Bella Union Hotel, where court was held in rented rooms from 1850 to 1852.
◆ From January 1852 until November 1853, the county rented the home of county attorney (and later judge) Benjamin Hayes on Main Street.
◆ The Roche (or Rocha) House, an adobe on the corner of Spring and Court Streets, which the county and city jointly purchased from Jonathan “Don Juan” Temple, was used from November 1853 to March 1860.
◆ From 1860 to 1861 the county rented a building, probably a two-story brick house on Main Street, from John Nichols, former mayor of Los Angeles.
◆ The Temple Market Block — where City Hall now stands — was rented by the county in May 1861, purchased in 1867 and used until 1891. This was the Clocktower Courthouse, known for its rectangular tower with a clock on all four sides.
◆ The Red Sandstone Courthouse on Poundcake Hill, completed in 1891, was damaged beyond repair by the Long Beach earthquake of 1933 and demolished in 1936. It is now the site of the Foltz Criminal Justice Center, constructed in 1972.
◆ The Hall of Records, built next door to the Red Sandstone Courthouse in 1911, was used along with other buildings as the courthouse from 1934 until 1959, when the current courthouse was occupied. It was demolished in 1973.
◆ The current courthouse, the Stanley Mosk County Courthouse, is located at 111 N. Hill Street.  Dedicated in 1959, it was the largest courthouse in the United States. *#^^

 

 

 

 
(1900)* - Close-up view of the Los Angeles County Courthouse as seen from across Broadway from above the Rivers Bros. Grocery (S/W corner of Temple and Broadway).  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1906)^^* - View showing the Los Angeles County Courthouse and Jail looking west. The flat rooftops of high rise buildings fill the foreground while the gothic architecture of the courthouse stands to the left, its clock tower reading approximately ten minutes after nine o'clock and an American flag waving from its peak.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)### - View looking southwest at the intersection of New High and Temple streets showing the Los Angeles County Courthouse (Los Angeles Superior Court) standing tall on Poundcake Hill. In view are pedestrians, a cable car, horse-drawn buggies, houses and commercial buildings.  

 

Historical Notes

Pouncake Hill was once where Los Angeles High School once stood (1873 - 1876).

 

 

 
(ca. 1906)* - View looking southeast at the intersection of Temple and Broadway, showing the LA County Courthouse side by side with the newly built Hall of Records.  

 

Historical Notes

The LA County Courthouse building served as the courthouse until 1932, when it sustained damage in the Long Beach earthquake, and was demolished in 1936.^

The Hall of Records was built in 1906 to relieve overcrowding next door in the county’s red-sandstone courthouse.  The new building consolidated most county offices under one lavishly ornamented roof—a showy headpiece that featured finials, pyramidal gables, and copper ribbing. The building was demolished in 1973.

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)^^* - View of the Los Angeles County Courthouse and Hall of Records standing side-by-side.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1925)* - L. A. County Courthouse viewed from the east (New High Street), with the Hall of Records on the left.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1927)* - View is looking northwest toward three powerhouses: Hall of Records, County Courthouse, and Hall of Justice. The construction site of the new Los Angeles City Hall can be seen in the forefront.  

 

Historical Notes

The Hall of Records was built in 1906 and demolished in 1973; the County Courthouse was built in 1891 and demolished in 1936; the Hall of Justice was built in 1922 by Allied Architects.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1926)^^* - View looking west showing the County Courthouse standing between the Hall of Records and the Hall of Justice. The International Bank Building stands to the right and in the foreground is the construction site for the new City Hall.  

 

 

 

 
(1927)* - Preparation of the site for construction of Los Angeles City Hall, 1927. Behind are the old County Courthouse and the Hall of Justice to its right.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1927)^^* - View looking east from over the City of Los Angeles garage showing the County Courthouse surrounded by the Hall of Justice (left), Hall of Records (right) and the steel framing for the new City Hall (behind).  

 

 

 

 
(1928)* - View of the Los Angeles County Courthouse viewed through the colonnade of the recently completed City Hall.  

 

 

 

 
(1930)^^* -  View looking southeast at the intersection of Temple and Broadway.  The old Courthouse stands at center with the Hall of Records to its right.  City Hall towers above both in the background.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930)* - Cars parked on New High Street in front of the old County Courthouse. The Hall of Records is on the left.
 

 

 

 

Before and After

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
(1928)^^* - A great shot of the Los Angeles’ City Hall in the background (which is still with us, thankfully) and in the foreground the County Courthouse who somebody decided wasn’t worth saving (demolished in 1936).  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1933)* - Rear exterior view of the first Los Angeles County Courthouse (built 1891), also as known as the "Red Sandstone Courthouse," located at Spring and Temple. The new City Hall built in 1928 can be seen in the background. Note that the clock tower has been truncated (see previous photo).  

 

Historical Notes

This building served as the courthouse until 1933, when it sustained damage in the Long Beach earthquake and declared unsafe. It was fully demolished by 1936.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1933)^*# – View showing the statue of Senator Stephen M. White in front of the entrance to the great Red Sandstone Courthouse.  

 

Historical Notes

Stephen M. White was elected Los Angeles County District Attorney in 1882, State Senator in 1886 and United States Senator in 1893. During his term in the United States Senate, Senator White’s most notable accomplishment was his successful leadership of the fight to create the Los Angeles Harbor in San Pedro as opposed to Santa Monica Bay, the site that was being advocated by powerful railroad interests.

The statue of Stephen White was moved several times before finding a home in front of the new County (now Mosk) Courthouse in 1958.  It would remain there for 30 years.  In 1989, the statue was moved again to its present location, at the entrance to Cabrillo Beach off Stephen M. White Drive, overlooking the breakwater at the L.A. Harbor. Click HERE to see contemporary view.

 

 

 

 
(1933)* - Demolition of the L.A. County Courthouse at Broadway and Temple with the new City Hall standing in the background. The Hall of Records, built in 1911, appears on the right.  

 

 

 

 
(1932)* - Officials presenting the old courthouse clock to the Los Angeles County Museum on March 2, 1932. Left to right are: Hugh A. Thatcher, P. F. Cogswell, R. W. Pridham, Henry W. Wright, James Hay, W. J. Martin, J. S. Dodge, Fred J. Beatty, W. A. Bryan (director of the museum), J. J. Hamilton, J. R. Quinn, J. Don Wahaffey, V. E. Hinshaw, F. E. Woodley, Dr. J. W. Bovard, and Mayor Frank Shaw.  

 

Historical Notes

The two bearded gentlemen standing front-center of the clock formerly mounted on the old Los Angeles County Courthouse are James Hay and William Martin.  Both were long time County employees who were supervisors before the newly-demolished courthouse was built. The clock has been preserved and can still be seen today at the Natural History Museum's California History Room.*

Additional information provided by the LA Conservancy: The numerals from one of the clock faces of the 1st County Court House were incorporated into one of the clock faces of the 2nd Court House, and were subsequently transferred to the east-facing upper clock of the 3rd Court House (opened 1959), north side of 1st Street between Grand Avenue and Hill Street, renamed the Stanley Mosk Courthouse.

 

 

Click HERE to see more of today's Los Angeles County Courhtouse (Stanley Mosk County Courthouse)

 

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USC Founders Building

 
(ca. 1895)^^* -  View of the Founders Building of the University of Southern California College of Medicine, located on Buena Vista (later north Broadway).  

 

Historical Notes

The College of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) was founded in 1885. Dean of the Faculty: Dr. J. P. Widney.  USC was founded in 1880.^#*#

 

 

 
(ca. 1909)^^* -  Exterior view of the University of Southern California College of Medicine located on Buena Vista Street (North Broadway). The 3-story wooden building has a set of stairs rising to a covered porch and main entrance. At the roof level is a sign "USC College of Medicine".  

 

Historical Notes

In 1897, the population of Los Angeles was about 86,000.  There were 303 registered physicians in LA County.  From 1899, there existed only a small medical library to serve the College of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) and the physicians of the city.^#*#

 

* * * * *

 

 

Barlow Medical Library

 
(1939)* - Exterior front view of the Barlow Medical Library, built in 1906 and designed by Robert D. Farquhar in classic architecture style. The library was located at 742 North Broadway, across the street from the Founders Building (previous photo).  

 

Historical Notes

In 1906, Dr. Walter Jarvis Barlow, a faculty member of the College of Medicine, erected a library building on Buena Vista Street, just opposite the Founders' Building, which he deeded to the Los Angeles College Clinical Association (a non-profit holding corporation of the College of Medicine, USC).  The library was named in Dr. Barlow’s honor.

In 1907, the building was dedicated to the medical profession of Southern California and of the Great Southwest. Dr. Milbank Johnson, President of the Board of Trustees, accepted responsibility for the collection. Control and management of the Library vested in Board of Trustees of the Barlow Medical Library Association, with support coming from subscribing patrons who paid $25.00 per year. In 1907 there were 53 patrons and about 5000 volumes.^#*#

 

 

 
(n.d.)^*# - Interior view of the Barlow Medical Library, College of Medicine of the University of Southern California.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1909, the maintenance of the medical school had become more and more expensive and the University of Southern California was already spending most of its income in support of its College of Liberal Arts. Thus in 1909 the College of Medicine changed it affiliation and became part of the University of California, with the buildings including the Barlow Library building deeded to the University of California. The Barlow Medical Library Associates continued to run the Library and retained ownership of its books and journals.^#*#

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of USC

 

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Alhambra

 
(ca. 1890)* - Photograph of Alhambra, Garfield and Main Street ca. 1890. A horse drawn street car is in front of the elaborate Alhambra Hotrel. The building on the opposite corner is named the Jones Building and was erected in 1887.  

 

Historical Notes

Alhambra was founded as a suburb of Los Angeles in 1903. It existed as an unincorporated area during the mid-19th century. The first school in Alhambra was Ramona Convent Secondary School built on hillside property donated by the prominent James de Barth Shorb family. Thirteen years before the city was incorporated, several prominent San Gabriel Valley families interested in the Catholic education of their daughters established the school in 1890. The city's first public high school, Alhambra High School, was established in 1898, five years before the city's incorporation. The Alhambra Fire Department was established in 1906. On July 11, 1903, the City of Alhambra was incorporated.

Alhambra is named after Washington Irving's book Tales of the Alhambra, not after the Alhambra palace itself.^*

 

 

 

 
(1898)*- This was one of the big hotels in Alhambra in 1898. Early settlers made their homes in Alhambra, gateway to the San Gabriel Valley, because of the water works.  

 

Historical Notes

The elegant Alhambra Hotel stood at the northwest corner of Garfield and Main. This ornate structure was one of the earliest commercial buildings having been built in 1888 and which featured a billiards hall, barbershop, and restaurant. Unfortunately, the building burned down in 1908.*###

 

 

 
(1887)* - Alhambra's first restaurant was named "Tilley's" and was located in this two story wood frame building with a sidewalk and unpaved street.  

 

Historical Notes

Tilley's Restaurant opened in 1885.  It was built by H. W. Stanton at the corner of Main and Garfield, the building was first used as a post office and grocery. The upstairs hall was used as a church, school, community meetings, and entertainment gathering place. H. W. Stanton was the first storekeeper, postmaster, teacher, telephone agent, land subdivider and promoter. After subdividing several ranches he became wealthy and retired. He took a trip around the world, but upon his return to Alhambra found that the boom had gone bust, and he too was broke.^###

 

 

   
  (1898)* - An unidentified man (possibly one of the owners) stands at the front door of the Crow & Drake Groceries, two-story building located on So. Garfield Ave. It was the first general merchandise store in Alhambra in 1898.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1890)* - Two men and a horse stand outside a building in Alhambra with a sign on the roof identifying the owner as Charles Winter, horseshoer and blacksmith. The shop opened in 1885 and was located at 4 W. Main Street.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1899)^^* - Exterior view of Villa Brunner located on the north side of Main Street just east of the Southern Pacific Railroad crossing in Alhambra.  

 

Historical Notes

The Moorish-style residence was called Villa Brunner from 1905 to 1927 during which time it was owned by the Brunners.^^*

 

 

 

 
(1910)^^* - Postcard view of the front entryway to Villa Brunner, also refered to as the "Alhambra".  

 

Historical Notes

Two spired onion domes and the top of a chimney are visible at center in the background. The rightmost onion dome is larger and has a taller spire. A short set of stairs and an archway are also visible through the trees and shrubs which occupy the middle ground of the image. A concrete driveway bisects the lower half of the image, leading from the foreground through the archway and into the background. The near end of the driveway is flanked on each side by a small palm tree and a short stone column. The left column bears a rectangular plaque reading "Villa Brunner", while the right column's oval plaque reads "1225".^^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^*# - Close-up view of Villa Brunner in Alhambra showing its Moorish style arches similar to those seen at the Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain.  

 

Historical Notes

Called "The Alhambra," it was the first important residence in Alhambra. The house was built in 1885 and torn down in 1927.^^*

 

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Echo Mountain House Hotel

 
(ca. 1890s)* - View overlooking Echo Mountain with Pasadena and the San Gabriel Valley seen in the background below. The white structure on the left is the Echo Mountain House Hotel.  

 

Historical Notes

Buildings at Echo Mountain, reached by the Mount Lowe Railway, included the Echo Mountain House, a 70-room hotel at an elevation of approximately 3500 ft., the 40-room Echo Chalet, the observatory, car barns, dormitories, repair facilities, and a casino/dance hall.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - View of some of the hotel guest standing on the veranda and stairways at the front of Echo Mountain House.
 

 

Historical Notes

Completed in the fall of 1894, the Echo Mountain House was a marvel. The four-story Victorian building was marked by a tall, cylindrical tower and capped by a metal dome and a huge American flag. The bright white exterior was marked by a long row of windows on each floor. At the building’s entrance, two sweeping verandas looked off across the canyons and the valley. The interior of the hotel was extravagant, with detailed wood inlay, the finest floral-patterned carpet and handmade furniture throughout. There were seventy guest rooms, large areas for office space, a massive social hall and dining room, a souvenir shop, a Western Union office, a bowling alley, a billiard room, a barbershop and a shoeshine stand.^^##

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Mt. Lowe Railway

 

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Hellman Residence

 
(1887)* - Lithograph of the expansive Italianate style estate, identified as the Isaias W. Hellman residence, located on the southwest corner of Main and 4th streets. Isaias was the brother of Herman Hellman, a well-known banker and financier in Los Angeles during the late 1800s/early 1900s.  

 

Historical Notes

Hellman became Los Angeles' first banker almost by accident. As a courtesy, he stored his customers' gold and valuables in a safe. One day, Hellman got into an altercation with a customer who had been coming in and out of the store gloriously drunk, withdrawing gold each time from a pouch stored in the safe. When the man sobered up, he was angry to discover he had spent most of his funds, and he lunged at Hellman. That interaction prompted Hellman to stop his informal banking operations. He got slips printed up that said I.W. Hellman, Banker, and started buying people's funds and issuing deposit books.

On September 1, 1868, Hellman and Temple founded Hellman, Temple and Co., the fledgling city’s second official bank. In 1871, Hellman and John G. Downey, a former governor of California, formed the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles, which became Los Angeles' first successful bank. Hellman lent the money that allowed Harrison Gray Otis to buy the Los Angeles Times and Edward Doheny and Charles A. Canfield to drill for oil.^*

 

 

 
(1887)* - Panoramic view of the Isaias W. Hellman residence in foreground, southwest corner of Main and 4th streets. This would be the future site of the Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles.  

 

 

 

 
(1890)* - View of the spot where the Isaac & Herman Hellman residence once stood on the corner of 4th and Main Streets. For the move, the house was cut into four sections, with the last section to be moved visible in the center of the image on the left. The house was moved to make way for his family's bank building - Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles. Dan W. Graybill, standing in the foreground on the right, donated this photograph. A couple street cars are seen traveling on the right in front of the Van Nuys Hotel (under construction).  

 

Historical Notes

The Farmer's and Merchants Bank was founded by 23 prominent Los Angeles businessmen, with an initial capital of $500,000. The three largest subscribers were Isaias W. Hellman ($100,000), former California Governor John G. Downey ($100,000), and Ozro W. Childs ($50,000) who in later years became the founders of the University of Southern California. Other investors included Charles Ducommun ($25,000), I.M. Hellman ($20,000) and Jose Mascarel ($10,000.) The Farmers and Merchants Bank was the first incorporated bank in Los Angeles, founded in 1871 by John G Downey, the seventh governor of California and Isaias W. Hellman, a successful merchant, real estate speculator and banker, and brother of Hermann W. Hellman. Downey was named the first president. Isaias later served as president of the bank till his death in 1920.^*

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Street view of Herman Hellman's residence, located at 958 So. Hill St. Faintly visible are various members of the Hellman family, including: Irving (on the far left), Frida (later Mrs. Louis Cole), Herman and Amy (later Mrs. Sollie Aronson). Joining them is the coach driver, Oscar Leuschner.  

 

Historical Notes

Herman W. Hellman was born on September 25, 1843 in Reckendorf, Bavaria. He emigrated to the United States with his brother Isaias W. Hellman, arriving in Los Angeles on May 14, 1859 as a sixteen-year-old.

He started working as a courier from Wilmington to Los Angeles. In 1861, he worked for his uncle, Samuel Hellman, who had a store in Los Angeles. Shortly after, he opened his own store at Downey Block.

He established a wholesale grocer's called Hellman, Haas, & Co. with Jacob Haas, the brother of Abraham Haas. They sold groceries in Southern California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. As his business prospered, he became one of the wealthiest men in Los Angeles by the 1880s. The company later became known as Baruch, Haas, & Co.

In 1890, he became Vice President and General Manager of The Farmers and Merchants Bank, a bank established by his brother. He was later demoted by his brother, who found his lending practices too lenient. He resigned in 1903, and became the President of the Merchants National Bank instead. He also became a co-founder of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce.

In 1903, he hired architect Alfred Rosenheim to design the Hellman Building named in his honor. The eight-story building in Downtown Los Angeles still stands today, on the corner of Fourth Street and Spring Street.

He served as President of the Congregation B'nai B'rith, later known as the Wilshire Boulevard Temple.^*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Zahn Residence

 
(1891)* - The Bunker Hill residence of Dr. John Carl Zahn at 427 South Hope Street in 1891.  

 

Historical Notes

The Zahn residence on Hope Street was a large building, yet simple and elegant with far less ornamentation than a lot of the other painted ladies in the neighborhood. Behind the house was a small pasteur where horses were kept and the Zahn boys would sometimes amuse themselves by careening down the grassy hills in the area on homemade sleds.*##^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1912)* - Exterior view of the Bunker Hill residence of John Carl Zahn at 427 South Hope Street.  

 

Historical Notes

Mrs. J.C. Zahn continued overseeing the family real estate holdings after her husband's death, and in 1912 had the family home demolished in favor of a three story brick building which was to be called the Zahn Apartments but ended up going by the name Rubaiyat. In 1930, the building was remodeled and renamed the Wickland Apartments and in its last few years was known as the St. Leon until it was demolished around 1963.*##^

 

* * * * *

 

 

Shatto Residence

 
(1892)* - Photo taken from Orange Street and shows an exterior front view of two Queen Anne style houses built around 1892, on a hill at Lucas and Orange Street (later Wilshire Blvd).  

 

Historical Notes

The corner house, at 1213 Orange Street, was the residence of George R. and Clara Shatto, and later became the site of Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles. George Shatto, a real estate speculator from Michigan, purchased Santa Catalina Island in 1887 for $200,000 and created the settlement that would become Avalon. He was the first owner to try to develop the island into a resort destination at the height of the real estate boom, and can be credited with building Avalon's first hotel and pier.*

Next to the Shatto house is the Orson Thomas (O.T.) Johnson house at 1221 Orange Street. O.T. Johnson became a very successful businessman in Los Angeles, known for building the Westminster Hotel. Occidental College has the Johnson Hall that was constructed in 1914 and was a gift of the Johnsons.  O.T. was also a big supporter of the LA YMCA, donating a reported $35,000 to construct a YMCA building. Johnson built the Florence Crittenden Home and established a clinic in Los Angeles for the aid of poor children.  He also built a seventy-five suite apartment building named Anna Craven Johnson Home, after his wife, that was established for the use of widowed mothers with dependent children.^*^*

 

 

 
(1900)##+ – View showing four members of the Shatto family posing in front of their home.  The massive Victorian house has three stories, a wrap-around porch, a cylindrical tower, as well as several brick chimneys. The hill in front of the home is covered with a closely trimmed lawn and is held in place with two stone retaining walls.  

 

 

 

 
(1892)* - Exterior front view of the home of George R. and Clara Shatto, built approximately in 1892 at Lucas and Orange (later Wilshire Blvd.), later the site of Good Samaritan Hospital, in Los Angeles. The photo was taken from the Orange Street side. There are people standing in front of the house and a horse and buggy in the driveway.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

First English Lutheran Church

 
(1890)*- View showing the First English Lutheran Church, located at the southeast corner of Flower and 8th Streets in Los Angeles, shown soon after its construction in 1890 before the streets were paved. The Abbotsford Inn is visible behind the church on the left side and a few residences are seen in the background on the right.  

 

Historical Notes

Abbotsford Inn was converted into a hotel by Abbot Kinney, best known as the developer of Venice. The building, designed by Robert B. Young, was erected in 1887 by D. W. Hanna as Los Angeles College or Hanna College. After the college failed, Kinney took it over.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1892)* - Children pose on the steps outside of the First English Lutheran Church of Los Angeles, located at 800 S. Flower Street. A partial view of the Abbotsford Inn can be seen behind the church on the left.  

 

 

 

 
(1920s)* - View looking southeast showing a traffic officer standing on a box and as he conducts traffic at the intersection outside of First English Lutheran Church, located at 800 S. Flower Street in Los Angeles. Present in the background are the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Company (right) and the First Methodist Episcopal Church (left).   

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1925)* – A car is parked in front of the First English Lutheran Church with the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Company building visible on the right.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1925)^## - Street view of the recently completed LA Gas and Electric Corp. Office Building near the corner of 8th and Flower streets. The First English Lutheran Church of Los Angeles stands at the corner. Click HERE to see more in LA Gas and Electric Corporation.  

 

 

 

 
(1936)* – View of the First English Lutheran Church of Los Angeles, located on the busy corner of 8th and Flower streets, captured just prior to its demolition. In the background are the Los Angeles Gas and Electric Company building (right) and the First Methodist Episcopal Church (left).  

 

* * * * *

 

 

US Government Building

 
(1890s)* - View looking north on Main Street showing horse-drawn carriages, streetcar, and pedestrians all sharing the street.  The large building with the awnings on the right is the Government Building on the corner of Winston and Main Streets. The building with the circular-like tower with flag is the Main Street Savings Bank Building.  

 

 

 

 
(1893)* - View of the United States Government Building, located on the southeast corner of Main and Winston Streets.
 

 

Historical Notes

In June of 1893 the Los Angeles Post Office moved into this building from its location on Broadway near Sixth Street.*

 

* * * * *

 

La Grande Station

 
(1893)* - View looking eastward from Santa Fe Avenue at 2nd Street. La Grande Santa Fe Depot is at right, located on the corner of 2nd and Santa Fe.  

 

Historical Notes

Santa Fe opened La Grande Station on July 29, 1893 and was unique for Southern California in its Moorish-style architecture. The station was located at 2nd Street and Santa Fe Ave, just south of the First Street viaduct built in 1929 and on the west bank of the LA River.^*

 

 

 
(1890s)^^* - External view of the La Grande Santa Fe Station. Horse-drawn carriages are parked at the curb waiting for passengers.  

 

Historical Notes

The Moorish-inspired La Grande railroad station was used as a passenger terminal for Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (often abbreviated to "Santa Fe").^^

 

 

 
(1896)^# – Closer-view showing horse-drawn wagons waiting in front of the La Grande Station with streetcar seen at far left.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^* - A passenger train is stopped at the La Grande Station as two men are seen posing for the camera.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1894)^*# – View showing the new landscaping around La Grande Station shortly after it was built.  

 

Historical Notes

Outside La Grande Station, a garden of exotic plants welcomed newcomers to the supposedly sub-tropical climate of Southern California.

Back of photo reads:  “La Grande Station, Los Angeles, taken just after its completion in 1894.  Taken by E. E. Risley, deceased, who for many years was division gardener.  Courtesy of his son, Leslie E. Risley, store department, Los Angeles."

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^## - View of the La GrandeSanta Fe Depot showig the detail of its Moorish-style domes with ivy now growing over the front brick entrance..  

 

Historical Notes

The La Grande depot was also notable for its red-brick construction, selected because it signaled the station's importance and because it followed a rash of fires that had destroyed wooden depots.^^

 

 

 

 
(1893)++* – View showing passengers lining up to board the Overland Train at Los Angeles' La Grande Station.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1899)++* – Panoramic view showing a train leaving the La Grande Station.  Note the tall poll in the background (center-left).  It was one of Los Angeles’ first streetlights and was 150 ft. tall.  Click HERE to see more in Early LA Streetlights.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1899)### - View of La Grande Station, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway's main railroad station.  

 

Historical Notes

The rusticated brick building is in the Moorish style and features a gazebo like covered entrance that leads under two towers with battlements and into a circular section with a large onion dome. The building has arched stained glass windows, square windows with keystones, dentils, and bands of coursing. There are two wings. One wing has a tower with battlements, a hipped roof with a dormer, topped with a structure with a gabled roof with a pediment, and a small cupola with a dome. The second wing has a hipped roof with a dormer, topped with a structure with a gabled roof with a pediment, and a curved section with arched windows and a high, sloped, curved roof. ###

 

 

 

 
(1910)^^ – Postcard view of the La Grande Station, Santa Fe Railroad with its beautiful Moorish-style dome.  Two early model automobiles are parked in front.  

 

Historical Notes

The Moorish-style depot cost $50,000 when built in 1893 and for 30 years boasted a first-class restaurant called "The Harvey House." ^^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1924)*#*# – A group of passengers after arriving at Santa Fe La Grande Station.  

 

 

 

 
(Early 1930s)* - Exterior view of the La Grande Station in Los Angeles showing the distinctive Moorish-style dome. Three early model cars are parked perpendicular to the curb. Photo taken prior to the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake.  

 

Historical Notes

Many Hollywood movies were filmed at the stylish station. Laurel and Hardy's film Berth Marks (1929) was one of the first sound movies shot on location. Other movies that used Santa Fe's La Grande Station included Choo Choo 1931 (Our Gang - Little Rascals), Lady Killer, 1933 with James Cagney, Swing Time 1936 (Fred Astaire) and Something to Sing About 1937 (James Cagney).^*

 

 

 
(1933)* - View of the La Grande station shortly after the 1933 Long Beach earthquake. Note: the Moorish-style dome has been removed because of earthquake damage.  

 

Historical Notes

After the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, the station's dome was removed but the station continued to serve as the Santa Fe terminal until 1939 when Union Station opened.^*

 

 

 
(1930s)*#*# – Front view of the La Grande Station without its Moorish Dome.  Photo taken after the 1933 Long Beach Earthquake.  

 

Historical Notes

La Grande Station was the Santa Fe Railway's main passenger terminal in Los Angeles, until the Long Beach earthquake of 1933. After the earthquake, the station's dome was removed, but the station continued to serve as Santa Fe Railway's LA passenger terminal until the opening of the new LA Union Station on May 7, 1939. When Union Station opened in 1939, Santa Fe moved all of its passenger services there and closed the La Grande station.^^

 

* * * * *

 

 

Bonebrake Residence

 
(ca. 1890s)* - View looking north of a eucalpytus-covered, unpaved Figueroa Street. The residence of Los Angeles banker George H. Bonebrake is visible on the left at 2619 Figueroa St. The cross-street is West Adams.  

 

Historical Notes

Major George H. Bonebrake was President of the Los Angeles National Bank and the State Loan and Trust Company.*##* 

 

 

 

 
(1893)* - Exterior view of the Queen Anne style residence of Los Angeles banker George H. Bonebrake at 2619 Figueroa St.  

 

Historical Notes

George Bonebrake was partners with John Bryson, Sr., the 19th mayor of Los Angeles.  Together, they built the Bryson-Bonebrake Block, one of the more important office buildings built during the 1880s Los Angeles building boom.  It was a 126-room bank and office building on the northwest corner of Spring and 2nd street. Its cost was projected to be $224,000, a staggering sum at the time. Bonebrake was one of the richest men in the city and could afford making such an investment. He located the main headquarters of his bank in the Bryson-Bonebrake Block.*##*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1893)* - Front view of the Bonebrake residence showing porch and entryway, located at Figueroa St. near Adams.  

 

Historical Notes

Today, the Auto Club building stands on this site.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Hildreth Mansion

 
(ca. 1895)* - - Exterior view of the ornate Hildreth Mansion, located at 357 S. Hope Street, as seen from across the unpaved street. A stone retaining wall is being built and the steps are not yet in place.  

 

Historical Notes

Designed by Joseph C. Newsom and built in 1891 for Rev. Edward T. Hildreth, a Congregational minister. Tthe defining features of the Victorian Shingle style home were an ornate chimney and wrought iron circular balcony on the tower.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1928)* - View of the ornate Hildreth Mansion, located at 357 S. Hope Street, a seen from the intersection with 4th Street (foreground).  

 

Historical Notes

Located at the northwest corner of the intersection of Hope and 4th streets, the exterior of the elevated house was finished off with a stone retaining wall and steps leading up the entrance.

By 1939, the eighteen rooms of the house had been converted into nine residences. Boarders paid between thirteen and thirty-five dollars a month in rent and had lived in the mansion anywhere from one to twelve years. With the exception of the eighty-seven year old resident who was killed in an auto accident in 1940, the boarders of the once stately home lived a quiet existence and dried laundry on the grand wrought iron balcony.*##^

 

 

 
(1950)* - Exterior of the "Hopecrest," commonly known as the Hildreth Mansion, as seen from across the intersection of Hope and Fourth streets. Numerous stairs lead up to the house, which is surrounded by palms, flowers, shrubs, and trees.  

 

Historical Notes

By 1954, the Hildreth Mansion was but a beautiful memory, destroyed by the CRA's visions of urban renewal.

Today, the 5th tallest building in Los Angeles, Bank of America Plaza (formerly Security Pacific Plaza), is located where the Hildreth Mansion once stood.^*

 

* * * * *

 

St. Angelo Hotel

 
(ca. 1895)^^* - View of the Hotel St. Angelo with people standing on all three balconies. The hotel was located near the corner of Grand Avenue and Temple Street.  

 

Historical Notes

The St. Angelo Hotel at 237 North Grand Avenue was built during the boom of the 1880s when it was advertised as a European family-and-tourist rooming house. During the next few decades, the hotel and its guests were mentioned in the society pages.*#*

 

 

 
(1939)* - Exterior of the former St. Angelo Hotel as seen from across the street. A sign over the entrance announces "new management". "Grand Cleaners" occupies one of the lower floor rooms.  

 

Historical Notes

The hotel was a large Victorian structure with three stories, two balconies and a covered porch. A large cylindrical tower with a conical roof is at right, while a rectangular tower is at left. The balconies are held up by arch ways, and several rectangular windows are visible on the side of the building at left.^^*

 

 

 
(1952)^## - View of a man walking in front of the St. Angelo Hotel (Apts.) as seen from across the street. Bulldozers would soon demolish the building along with all its neighboring buildings located on Bunker Hill.  

 

Historical Notes

Despite the hotel's shabby condition, it stood proudly on the Hill until the board of health ordered it vacated in 1956. All traces of the once grand hotel were soon erased and replaced by the Music Center which was dedicated in 1964.*##^

 

 

 

 
(1956)^^+ – View showing the old St. Angelo Hotel at 237 N. Grand Avenue, just off of Temple.  

 

Historical Notes

Photo Caption reads:  The old St. Angelo Hotel was recently ordered vacated by the Board of Health and soon will be torn down. And so another famous old landmark will live only in the photo files.

This would be the location of the Music Center, built in 1964.  Click HERE for contemporary view.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Bradbury Building

 
(1894)^^* - Panoramic view of downtown Los Angeles, looking east on Third Street from the balcony of the Crocker Mansion.   There is a clear view of the intersection of Broadway and Third Street where the Bradbury Building is seen on the southeast corner. On the northwest corner can be seen the excavation for the Irvine Building. City Hall is at upper-left of photo with the cupola of St. Vibiana's Cathedral behind it in the distance.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1894)#++ – Street view looking east on 3rd Street at Broadway with the Bradbury Building at right on the southeast corner.  Horse-drawn wagons are seen throughout on the unpaved streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Built in 1893, the Bradbury Building was commissioned by LA mining millionaire Lewis L. Bradbury and designed by local draftsman George Wyman. The building features an Italian Renaissance Revival -style exterior facade of brown brick, sandstone and panels of terra cotta details, in the "commercial Romanesque Revival" that was the current idiom in East Coast American cities.^*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)* - Closer view of the Bradbury Building located on the southeast corner of Broadway and 3rd Street with about a dozen men standing in front of the building. Note the streetcar at lower-right.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1950s)+## – View looking at the N/E corner of Broadway and 3rd Street showing the Bradbury Building with the lower level of building covered with signage. Note the roof line has changed slightly from previous photo..  

 

Historical Notes

The beautiful Bradbury Building is one of the oldest buildings in downtown. At the time the building was completed, it featured the largest plate-glass windows in Los Angeles. But the magnificence of the building is the interior: reached through the entrance, with its low ceiling and minimal light, it opens into a bright naturally lit great center court.^*

 

 

 

 
(1964)^*# - Interior view of the Bradbury Building located at 304 South Broadway.  

 

Historical Notes

The five-story central court features glazed brick, ornamental cast iron, tiling, rich marble, and polished wood, capped by a skylight that allows the court to be flooded with natural rather than artificial light, creating ever-changing shadows and accents during the day.

Geometric patterned staircases and wrought-iron railings were used abundantly throughout. The wrought-iron was created in France and displayed at the Chicago World's Fair before being installed in the building. Freestanding mail-chutes also feature ironwork. The walls are made of pale glazed brick. The marble used in the staircase was imported from Belgium, and the floors are Mexican tiles.  Cage elevators surrounded by wrought-iron grillwork go up to the fifth floor.^*

 

 

 

 
(n.d.)^*# - View of the intricate framework that makes up the Bradbury Building's skylight.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1970)^*# - Profile view of the Bradbury Building's ornate staircase and elevator.  

 

Historical Notes

The Bradbury Building has operated as an office building for most of its history. It was purchased by Ira Yellin in the early 1980s, and remodeled in the 1990s.

 

 

 

 
(1978)* - A view of the interior light court's glass ceiling in the Bradbury Building, 304 South Broadway, as well as the birdcage elevators and iron wrought railings.  

 

 

 

 

 
(2007)*++ – View looking at the magical light-filled Victorian court that rises almost fifty feet with open cage elevators, marble stairs, and ornate iron railings. Photo by Julius Shulman  

 

Historical Notes

In 1962, the Bradbury Building was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 6 (Click HERE to see the complete listing). In 1977, the building was designated a National Historic Landmark. It also is listed in the U.S. National Register of HIstoric Places.^*

 

 

 

 
(2007)*++ - Magnificent view looking through the ornate iron railings as seen through the lens of Julius Shulman.  

 

Historical Notes

The building underwent complete restoration in the early 1990s as part of the Yellin Company’s Grand Central Square project.

 

 

 

 
(2007)*++ - A woman is seen descending down the Bradbury Building's ornate staircase.  Photo by Julius Shulman  

 

Historical Notes

Today the Bradbury Building serves as headquarters for the Los Angeles Police Department's Internal Affairs division and other government agencies. Several of the offices are rented out to private concerns, including Red Line Tours.^*

 

 

 

 
(2005)^* - View of the Bradbury Building as it appeared in 2005.  Photo by Carol M. Highsmith  

 

Historical Notes

The building is featured prominently as the setting in films, television, and literature (Click HERE to see detailed listing) particularly in the science fiction genre. Most notably, the building is the setting for both the climactic rooftop scene of Blade Runner (1982), as well as the set of the character J. F. Sebastian's apartment in which much of the film's story unfolds.^*

 

 

 

Then and Now

 
(1894 vs. 2022)* – Looking east on 3rd Street at Broadway showing the iconic Bradbury Building on the SE corner with El Pollo Loco and Carl’s Jr. across the street on the NE corner.  

 

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

 

Irvine-Byrne Building

 
(1895)* - An architectural drawing of the Irvine Block, located on the northwest corner of 3rd Street and Broadway. The names of various tenants in the building have been printed in the picture at different floor levels. The building stood kitty-corner from the Bradbury Building (S/E corner).  

 

Historical Notes

Still standing today, the Irvine-Byrne building is the second oldest building in downtown Los Angeles, right behind the Bradbury Building (1893) which sits across the street. The five-story Beaux Arts style building was designed by Los Angeles architect Sumner Hunt and built in 1895 for Margaret Irvine of Irvine Ranch fame.  Originally called the Irvine Block it was built as an office building and, when it was built, was only the second office building in the area.^*

 

 

 

 
(1890s)+++ – View showing a Tally Ho coach and group of people gathering in front of the Irvine-Byrne Building, home of the Mount Lowe Springs Co., a Thaddeus Lowe-owned water company. Tally Ho service took passengers to Mount Lowe Railway in the San Gabriel Mountains, north of Pasadena. Click HERE to see Early Views of Mt. Lowe Railway.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1905, James W. Byrne bought the building and the name changed to the Irvine-Byrne Building. In 1911, Byrne hired San Francisco architect Willis Polk to repair the building. At some point in the next thirty years it changed hands and by World War Two, it was the home of the Mexican consulate.^*

 

 

 
(2010)++# – View showing the Irvine-Byrne Building at 249 South Broadway the Giant Penny store occupying the ground floor.  

 

Historical Notes

In the 1980's, the ground floor was taken over by a Giant Penny discount store. This store remained on the premises until Urban Pacific Builders bought the building in 2004.^*

In 1991 the Irvine-Byrne Building was dedicated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 554.

 

 

 
(2013)^* – View showing the Irvine-Byrne Building, now the Pan American Lofts.  

 

Historical Notes

In 2004 the new owners, Urban Pacific, hired Donald Barany Architects to convert the building to condominiums, which they completed before the end of the year. After the $20 million renovation, the Irvine-Byrne Building is now home to the Pan American Lofts.^*

 

* * * * *

 

Lankershim Building

 
(1890s)* - View showing the dome-turreted Lankershim Building (built in 1887), located on the southeast corner of 3rd and Spring Streets.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)^^* – View looking southeast showing the Lankershim Building at the intersection of 3rd and Spring streets. Two additional stories have been added to the building and the original dome turret is now gone. The markets on the first floor have large striped awnings that extend almost to the end of the sidewalks. A horse-drawn carriage can be seen passing through while two other carriages are parked along the curb. The sidewalks are bustling with pedestrian traffic.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1907)^^* – View looking north on Spring Street from below Third Street. The Lankershim Building (1887-1990s) is at right on the S/E corner of 3rd and Spring.  The Simpson Building (1893-1963) is on the N/E corner, the Ramona Hotel (1886-1912) is on the S/W corner, and the Douglas Building (built in 1898) is on the N/W corner.  

 

Historical Notes

The Douglas Building is the only structure in the original view that has survived into the 21st century. The Hotel Ramona was torn down in 1912 to make way for the 13-story Washington Building which still stands today. The Stimson Building, considered by some to be the city’s first skyscraper, was damaged by fire in 1962 and demolished the following year, replaced by a parking lot. The Lankershim Building, later renamed the Title Insurance Building, seems to have been demolished around the same time. Its former footprint is now part of the Ronald Reagan State Office Building complex. #^*#

 

* * * * *

 

Governor Pio Pico's Office

 
(1895)* - View of Governor Pio Pico's office, located on the south side of Repbulic Street across from the LA Plaza. To the left is the Old Firehouse. To the right, across Sanchez Street, is the Pico House. In the distance can be seen the towers of Baker Block.
 

 

Hisorical Notes

The above building was the office of governor Pio Pico and last California capital of Mexico.

Pío de Jesús Pico was the last Governor of Alta California (now the State of California) under Mexican rule. Pico spent most of his adult life in Los Angeles where he helped to transform a remote pueblo into a major world metropolis. After a brief stint as governor in 1831, he became administrator of Mission San Luis Rey. In 1834 he married María Ignacia Alvarado, a member of a respected Los Angeles family. In 1845, he led a popular coup against Governor Micheltorena, resulting in his rise to the governorship, a post that lasted until the arrival of invading United States forces in 1846.+#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1884)* - View showing Los Angeles' first fire staion and Governor Pio Pico's Office Building. The Pico House is to the far right.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1821 Pico set up a tanning hut and dram shop in Los Angeles, selling drinks for two Spanish bits (US 25 cents). His businesses soon became a significant source of his income.

John Bidwell, an early California settler, mentioned him among the people he knew: "Los Angeles I first saw in March, 1845. It then had probably two hundred and fifty people, of whom I recall Don Abel Stearns, John Temple, Captain Alexander Bell, William Wolfskill, Lemuel Carpenter, David W. Alexander; also of Mexicans, Pio Pico (governor), Don Juan Bandini, and others".

By the 1850s Pico was one of the richest men in Alta California. In 1850 he purchased the 8,894-acre Rancho Paso de Bartolo, which included half of present day Whittier. Two years later, he built a home on the ranch and lived there until 1892. It is preserved today as Pio Pico State Historic Park. Pico also owned the former Mission San Fernando Rey de España, Rancho Santa Margarita y Las Flores (now part of Camp Pendleton), and several other ranchos for a total of over one half-million acres, or 800 mi².  Also, in 1868, he constructed the three story, 33-room hotel, Pico House (Casa de Pico) on the old plaza of Los Angeles, opposite today's Olvera Street. ^*

 

 

 

 
(1920s)* - View showing the El Pueblo Hellman/Quon Building on the southeast corner of Republic and Sanchez streets on the site once occupied by Governor Pio Pico.  

 

Historical Notes

The Hellman/Quon building is named for its two long-time owners, a white European builder and a Chinese businessman. When Hellman, the original owner, died in 1920, the building was sold to Quon How Shing, who helped fellow Chinese learn English and taught them how to adapt to American society. The building had a hidden bell to alert occupants to the presence of unwelcome visitors who might take issue with the gambling and opium smoking within. It is now the offices of Las Angelitas del Pueblo, the volunteer organization that offers free tours of El Pueblo de Los Angeles, and El Pueblo Education Center.++

 

* * * * *

 

 

Jennette Block

 
(ca. 1895)^## - Looking west on Arcadia Street from Los Angeles Street with Fort Moore Hill in the background. The three story Jennette building is on the northwest corner of Arcadia and Los Angeles Streets with Sanchez Alley running directly behind it up to the Plaza at Republic Street. Photo is misidentified. Aliso Street did not extend beyond Los Angeles Street. This is looking up Arcadia Street.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)* - Several men, including a police officer, pose in front of the Jennette Block, which was built circa 1888. The building houses the Hotel de Paris.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - Exterior view of the Jennette Block on the northwest corner of Los Angeles and Arcadia Streets, with the Hotel de Paris on the second floor.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1925)* - On the left is the Jennette Block on the northwest corner of Arcadia and Los Angeles Streets, and on the right is the Garnier Building at 415 North Los Angeles Street.  

 

Historical Notes

The construction of the #101 Freeway took away the Jennette Block and left the Garnier Building. The Jennette Block was built circa 1888 and the Garnier Building in 1890.*

 

* * * * *

 

 

Mason Building

 
(1895)* - Early view of the Mason Building, which broke ground in 1893 and opened in 1894. The building, owned by George Mason, was home to the Chamber of Commerce from 1894 to 1906, and boasted a frontage of 45 feet on Broadway, 275 feet on Fourth Street, and 74 feet on Lafayette Street.
 

 

Historical Notes

In 1894 LA Chamber of Commerce moved into its new quarters at the southeast corner of Broadway and 4th, in a building designed especially for its use, the then-new three-story Mason Building - which would serve as its home for twelve years. In 1906, it moved into the Southwest Building, located at 130 S. Broadway, and stayed there until January 31, 1925. In 1925 it moved to its brand new building at 1151 S. Broadway and 12th Street. It now makes its home at 350 S. Bixel and 6th streets.

 

 

 
(ca. 1916)* - View of the Mason Building at southeast corner of 4th and Broadway. The building would have two floors be added to it (see previous photo), be used as a Broadway Dept. Store, and later be abandoned.  

 

* * * * *

 

Van Nuys Hotel (later Barclay Hotel)

 
(1897)* - A view of two sides of the Van Nuys Hotel building, located at 103 W. Fourth St (N/W corner of Main and 4th Streets), as a horse and carriage stand in front of the Main Street entrance. The awnings on the ground floor and the entrances are all extended for cooling, as well as the awnings on most of the individual rooms above.  

 

Historical Notes

The Van Nuys Hotel was designed in 1895 by Octavius Morgan and J. A. Walls in a Beaux-Arts style for Isaac Newton Van Nuys. The view above shows the hotel’s large rooftop sign, which lured customers from railroad stations to the east.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1898)^*# - View looking north on Main Street at 4th Street where the Van Nuys Hotel stands on the N/W corner. Across the street, on the N/E corner, is the Westminster Hotel. On the left (S/W corner) is the Hellman Residence which became the future site of the Farmers and Merchants Bank (built in 1905).  

 

Historical Notes

The hotel was a commercial investment by Isaac Newton Van Nuys, one of Los Angeles’ wealthiest businessmen and landowners.*

 

 

 

 
(1905)^^* - View looking west on 4th Street at Main Street where the Van Nuys Hotel Building (later the Barclay) is seen on the northwest corner. Across the street, on the southwest corner, can be seen part of the Farmers and Merchants Bank Building. Both buildings are still standing. Click HERE to see contemporary view.  

 

Historical Notes

When it opened in 1897, the Van Nuys was one of the finest hotels in Los Angeles. It was the first hotel to provide telephone and electric service to every room. There were thirty-two rooms on each floor with sixty private baths and ten public baths. It is the oldest hotel in continuous operation in Los Angeles.*

 

 

 

 
(2016)** - Façade of the hotel facing Main Street, displaying original name, The Van Nuys Hotel.  Photo courtesy of J. M. Moore  

 

Historical Notes

Designed by the firm of Morgan and Walls, the six-story Beaux Arts-style building with Romanesque features has a ground floor with large picture windows and art-glass transoms above the lobby windows on 4th Street. The second floor exterior is of terra cotta scored to mimic blocks of stone, while the upper stories are sheathed in cream-colored pressed brick. Pilasters with Corinthian capitals rise from the second to the sixth floor, separating banks of paired windows. The building is capped by a modest cornice, under which is a plain band ornamented only with rondelles above each pier, and the building’s name, “The Van Nuys” in the center on the 4th Street and Main Street elevations.*

 

 

 

 
(2016)^.^ - The Van Nuys was renamed the Barclay in 1929. At this time it was turned into cheap lodging. Because it refers to the previous name the sign must have been painted close to this time.  

 

Historical Notes

Consolidated Hotels, Inc., leased the hotel in 1929, renamed it to Barclay, and renovated it to include a high-speed elevator and a remodeled lobby.

 

 

 

 
(2016)** – Close-up view showing the sign above the main entrance on 4th Street.  Photo courtesy of J. M. Moore  

 

Historical Notes

The 4th Street lobby still retains many original elements, including Sullivanesque plasterwork, ceiling decorations, columns, and arched doorways. The stained glass windows in the lobby feature old-fashioned scenes of banqueting, fine ladies, and music. One panel has a crest with the initials “V. N.” held up by sea horses.*

 

 

 

 
(2017)^^ – Corner view of the Barclay Hotel standing tall on the NW corner 4th and Main streets.  The Farmers and Merchants National Bank Building can be seen across the street (SW corner).  

 

Historical Notes

A city landmark, the Barclay houses low-income tenants as the neighborhood gentrifies around it.

The Barclay was granted Historic-Cultural Monument status by the city in 1985, but it continues its life of quiet oblivion. It is still a low-income residence and seems to be stubbornly resisting the gentrification that is going on all around.

 

 

 

 
(2017)^^ – Street view showing the 4th Street main entrance to the Barclay Hotel. Address: 103 W. 4th Street  

 

Historical Notes

In 2017, LA’s landmark Barclay Hotel was sold to Golden Hills Properties, a company owned by Michael Delijani.  Delijani is the son of Downtown real estate investor Ezat Delijani, who bought four of Broadway’s historic theaters—the Los Angeles, the Palace, the State, and the Tower—to prevent their further ruin and, in some cases, threatened demolition.^^

 

* * * * *

 

 

Hotel Baltimore

 
(ca. 1896)* - View of the original Hotel Baltimore located on the northeast corner of Seventh and Olive streets.  

 

Historical Notes

Hotel Baltimore was owned by mining magnate John Brockman. The hotel was purchased by the Los Angeles Athletic Club for $450,000 in 1907 and was demolished for the construction of the club’s new headquarters. The new Baltimore Hotel was built in 1910 on the southwest corner of Fifth and Los Angeles streets.*#*

 

* * * * *

 

 

First Congregational Church (Oldest Continuous Protestant Church in Los Angeles)

 
(ca. 1869)^^* - Left panel of a panoramic photograph/sketch of downtown Los Angeles taken from Bunker Hill with each property annotated and listed at top. The photographer, S. A. Rendall, can be seen standing in his own photo (#14). The First Congregational Church can be seen at left (#6). It was located on New High Street (#18) about a block north of Temple Street (#10).  

 

Historical Notes

The First Congregational Church was dedicated on June 26, 1868 by the Rev. Alexander Parker and was used until 1883.

 

 

 
(ca. 1875)* – Close-up view showing the First Congregational Church, the oldest continuous Protestant church in Los Angeles. It was located at New High (later Spring St), north of Temple St.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1880)* - View showing the First Congregational Church, now with steeple, located on New High Street (later Spring Street), north of Temple Street. Behind the Church and to the right is the Kimball Mansion, where Helen Hunt Jackson stayed.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1880)* - Another view of the First Congregational Church with the Kimball Mansion behind it. Wagons and horses can be seen in the foreground next to a barn.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1883, after outgrowing the small New HIgh Street church, a new building was constructed at 3rd & Hill streets.*

 

 

First Congregational Church (2nd Location)

 
(ca. 1883)^ - View looking south on Hill Street from 2nd Street. The First Congregational Church is seen on the northeast corner of Hill and 3rd streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The 2nd First Congregation Church was dedicated on May 15, 1883, cost $15,000 to build and furnish. The structure includes numerous gables in which there are Sunday school rooms, a pastor's study, and a library. The auditorium, with 25 stained glass windows, seats 425.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1885)* - View of Bunker Hill, looking west from 3rd and Hill streets. On the right is the First Congregational Church, built in 1883. It later became the Central Baptist Church and then the Unitarian Church. The Crocker Mansion is seen in the background.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1885)* - Close-up view showing the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, located on the northeast corner 3rd and Hill streets, seen here unpaved.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)* - View looking at the NE corner of 3rd and Hill streets showing the First Congregational Church building, as of 1892 occupied by the Church of the Unity.  

 

Historical Notes

The building served as the First Congregational Church until 1888, when it was sold for $30,000 to Central Baptist Church and was later sold to the Church of the Unity in 1892.

 

 

 
(1895)* - Closer view of the Church of the Unity (previously 2nd home of the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles). The sign mounted to the post in the center of the image reads, "Take cars here (pointing to the right) for Santa Fe Station."  

 

Historical Notes

In 1888, the First Congregational Church building was sold to the Central Baptist Church and was later sold to the Church of the Unity in 1892. The First Ccongregational Church congregation moved to a new location (it's 3rd) on the corner of Hill and 6th streets.

 

First Congregational Church (3rd Location)

 
(ca. 1900)^^* – View showing the First Congregational Church on the southwest corner of Hill Street and Sixth Street. The wood and brick structure has three roof peaks along the side of the main structure. Under each peak are rows of arched windows. A circular stained-glass window is directly under the eave of the shortest peak. A round tower with pointed turret on top is attached to the right side of the main structure. A horse and carriage is parked in front at right with a boy seen behind it.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1902 the First Congregational Church would move to its 4th location, 841 S. Hope Street.

 

First Congregational Church (4th Location)

 
(1906)* - View looking north on Hope Street showing the fourth building of the First Congregational Church at 841 South Hope Street. A banner hanging over an unpaved Hope Street reads, "Pacific Coast Congregational Congress May 16-23, 1906."  

 

Historical Notes

Built in 1902, this Gothic Revival building was designed by Howard, Train & Williams, and cost approximately $50,000 to build.

 

 

 
(Early 1900s)* - Interior view of the fourth building of the First Congregational Church, located at 841 South Hope Street.  

 

 

 

 
(1905)* – Close-up view of the First Congregational Church in its 4th location, at 841 South Hope Street, which was unpaved in the early 1900s.  

 

Historical Notes

This building served as the First Congregational Church until the early 1932 when the fifth church building was constructed on Commenwealth Ave.*

 

Click HERE to see the 5th and current location of the First Congregation Church of Los Angeles

 

* * * * *

 

 

Immanuel Presbyterian Church

 
(ca. 1900)* – View looking southeast toward the intersection of Figueroa and 10th streets showing the Immanuel Presbyterian Church on the SE corner. The church has a tall square tower with a peaked roof on the corner. An arched stained-glass window is above the three doors of the main entry.  

 

Historical Notes

Los Angeles architect James H. Bradbeer drew up plans for the Immanuel Presbyterian Church in 1890. The church was listed in the 1892 Los Angeles City Directory with Reverend W.J. Chichester as its pastor. His residence was on the west side of Burlington Avenue near Orange Street.

In 1897, Hugh Kelso Walker took over as the first Pastor of the first Immanuel Presbyterian Church. His first sermon was delivered in early 12/1897.^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)^^* - A man in a 3-piece suit wearing a hat pauses on the sidewalk in front of a palm tree (Dracenas palm tree) and looks up at it. Immanuel Presbyterian Church can be seen in the background on what is today the SE corner of Figueroa Street and Olympic Boulevard.  The building on the left is the Friday Morning Club Building (constructed in 1900).  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1915)* – Close-up view of Immanuel Presbyterian Church, located on the southeast corner of Figueroa Street and *10th Street (now Olympic Boulevard).  

 

Historical Notes

In 1932, the entire length of the 10th Street, from East L.A. to Santa Monica, was renamed Olympic Boulevard for the 10th Summer Olympics being held in Los Angeles that year.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1928)* – View of the Immanuel Presbyterian Church taken approximately a year before it was demolished, with the neighboring Petroleum Securities Building, at 714 Olympic Boulevard, seen in the background.  

 

Historical Notes

Immanuel Presbyterian Church relocated to a Gothic Revival style church on Wilshire Boulevard and Berendo Street in 1928. Click HERE to see more on the new church.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Hollenbeck Presbyterian Church

 
(ca. 1895)* - Exterior view of the Hollenbeck Presbyterian Church in Boyle Heights. The building to the right is the church parsonage at 122 N. Chicago Street.  

 

Historical Notes

According to a December 30, 1895, Los Angeles Times article that described the opening of the new Boyle Heights Presbyterian Church the previous day, "The new church is built onto the old one (built in 1885), which is separated from it by sliding oaken panels, and used for a Sunday-school and class- rooms." ^*#

 

 

 
(ca. 1895)^*# – Front view of the Hollenbeck Presbyterian Church located at 132 N. Chicago Street with the shaded parsonage next door.  

 

Historical Notes

The church's cornerstone was laid on September 2, 1895, by Mrs. Elizabeth Hollenbeck, who apparently put up a lot of the money for the church.^*#

 

 

 
(1987)* - Exterior view of the Iglesia Bautista Unida (United Baptist Church) located at 132 N. Chicago Street in Boyle Heights.  

 

 

 

 
(2014)#^** - Google street view showing the United Baptist Church (previously Hollenbeck Presbyterian Church) in Boyle Heights.  

 

 

Then and Now

 
 

 

* * * * *

 

 

St Mary Catholic Church (Boyle Heights)

 
(ca. 1896)* - Exterior view of the original St. Mary Catholic Church in the Boyle Heights.  

 

Historical Notes

St. Mary’s parish dates back to 1896, when it was established in Boyle Heights.  The original church building was replaced by a newer sanctuary in 1926, located on 4th Street - one block east of Hollenbeck Park.*^*^

 

* * * * *

 

Mott Market Building

 
(ca. 1897)* - View of the Mott Market Building, located on S. Main Street, between 1st and 2nd streets, which was the second home of the L.A. Chamber of Commerce between 1890-1894. The T. D. Mott Building with its arched windows on the second floor faced Main Street, and was home to several small businesses through the years. Some of the ones pictured are Hotel Monterey, Ludwig & Matthews, and Julius Hause.  

 

Historical Notes

T. D. (Thomas Dillingham) Mott arrived in Los Angeles in 1852, was a stable-keeper by 1860, married Maria Ascencion Sepulveda in 1861, was County Clerk from 1863-1869, became political boss of the Democratic Party in L.A. County, and became a State Assemblyman in 1871.

The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1888, is Southern California's largest not-for-profit business federation, representing over 1,600 businesses. The Chamber's early focus promoted the region's abundance of opportunities in agriculture and international trade. In 1967, the Chamber changed its name to the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce. The L.A. Chamber of Commerce takes up key issues that affect the business community in Los Angeles.*

 

 

 
(ca. 1920)* - View of the Mott Market Building, South Main Street. The two-story brick building seems to be overcome by signs hanging from its awnings that read "Wreden Packing and Provision Co.". In front, two automobiles are parked, one of which reads "Edendale Bakery". Farther in, a second sign reads "Sam Seelig Co. Store No. 18".  

 

Historical Notes

In 1893 the Southern California Fruit Exchange was founded in the building. An earlier record reads: "Sunkist Adventure, Part I, History, photo h. The Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce building, birthplace of the Sunkist cooperative marketing concept. Growers meeting here in the summer of 1893 founded Southern California Fruit Exchange".^

 

* * * * *

 

 

Ozmun Residence

 
(ca. 1897)* - Exterior front view of the Victorian style home and carriage house of Aaron M. Ozmun at 3131 South Figueroa Street. Bradbeer & Ferris were the architects. The house was demolished in 1956.  

 

Historical Notes

Aaron M. Ozmun was president of the Columbia Savings Bank on South Broadway at the time of this photo.

 

 

 
(n.d.)* - Interior view of the grand stairway of the Victorian style home of Aaron M. Ozmun.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

American Baptist Church

 
(1898)* - Exterior view of the recently completed American Baptist Church, located at 28th and Sumner streets in Los Angeles.
 

 

* * * * *

 

 

First German Episcopal Church

   
  (ca. 1898)^ - Exterior view of the First German Methodist Episcopal Church at its original location on 4th Street in Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

When built in 1875, the First German Methodist Episcopal Church was originally a one-story structure located on 4th Street near Hill. In 1897, the building was lifted and an additional story was placed underneath, as shown here. Four years later, the building was moved to 449 S. Olive Street. In 1910 the structure captured here was replaced by another. That church building served the German Methodist community until 1997, when the congregation relocated to 556 West Glenoaks Blvd. in Glendale. To this day, German continues to be the primary language for the church service.^

 

* * * * *

 

B'nai B'rith Temple (2nd Location)

 
(1897)#^^^ - View of B’nai B’rith Synagogue on the corner of 9th and Hope streets with a group of people standing in front of the entrance. Architect Abraham M. Edelman, son of long time rabbi of Congregation B'nai B'rith, designed this synagogue.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1896, the B'nai B'rith congregation moved into its new larger brick Victorian synagogue at 9th and Hope. It was designed by A.M. Edelman (also designed 1st temple), and had tall flanking towers capped with large onion domes.*^

The cornerstone of B'nai B'rith Synagogue was laid on March 15, 1896 and it was dedicated on September 5th of the same year. The synagogue, which had seating for 600 people, was built of red brick with twin towers and pomegranate domes, its floors were carpeted in deep red with plush-cushioned pews and had a chandelier containing 60 bulbs, which made it the largest in the city. H.W. Hellman, Harris Newmark, Kaspare Cohn, and Mrs. J.P. Newmark presented the beautiful stained glass windows.

Before moving into this building, Congregation B’nai B’rith occupied its first building at Temple and Broadway in Downtown L.A. from 1862 until 1895.*

Click HERE to see first location of B'nai B'rith Temple.

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1898)* - Exterior view of the second B'nai B'rith Temple, located at 9th and Hope streets in Los Angeles.  

 

Historical Notes

Sigmund Hecht became rabbi in 1899, and in 1903 the congregation joined the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, the national organization of the Reform movement. Edgar Magnin was hired as an assistant rabbi in 1915, and took over as senior rabbi upon Hecht's retirement in 1919. Both Hecht and Magnin implemented the Reform practice of the time, including heavier use of the English language and organ and choir music.*^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)* - Exterior view of the second B'nai B'rith Temple located at 9th and Hope streets with a very tall streetlight standing on the corner.
 

 

Historical Notes

The tall pole seen on the corner of 9th and Hope was one of Los Angeles' earliest streetlights. The circular object located on the pole at the top of the photo is NOT the light itself, but a platform used for maintenance. At 150 ft. tall, the streetlight was twice the height that is seen in this view. It was one of Los Angeles' first electric streetlights.

Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Street Lights.

 

 

 
(1908)* - View looking at the corner of Grand Avenue (with trolley lines running through it) and 9th Street showing two churches sharing the block with the B'nai B'rith Temple. The corner shop, Great Western Steam Carpet Cleaning Works, offers carpets cleaned and re-laid for .07 cents per yard.  

 

 

 

 
(1926)* - Exterior view of the second B'nai B'rith Temple on the corner of 9th and Hope streets. Neighboring businesses, hotels and apartment buildings are visible all along Hope Street, which runs from the foreground to the left side of the image.  

 

Historical Notes

This grand edifice was replaced in 1929 when Wilshire Boulevard Temple opened.*

Click HERE to see the 3rd location of B'nai B'rith (Wilshire Boulevard Temple).

 

* * * * *

 

 

Copeland Building (aka Armory Building)

 
(ca. 1898)#^ – View showing the Copeland Building, also known as the Armory Building, on the NW corner of Spring Street at Eighth Street in downtown Los Angeles. The words "Copeland" and "Armory. N.G.C." are carved into the stone on the building front. A U.S. Mail letterbox is on the corner, and theatrical posters for a May 16th event at the Orpheum Theatre and "to let" rental signs for Wright & Callender at 235 West Third St. are hanging in the windows.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1898, the Seventh Regiment of the National Guard of California celebrated the opening of its first dedicated armory, at the northwest corner of Eighth and Spring Streets. Designed by architect T. J. McCarthy, the three-story structure was built in a bristly Romanesque Revival style, then enjoying the height of its popularity in the design of local civic buildings. At the time of its completion, it was also one of the largest buildings in the southern part of the city. #^*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1908)^^* - Photograph of the Armory Building (aka Copeland Building), on the corner of Eighth Street and Spring Street. The castle-like building stands about three-stories tall. An American flag stands on top of the tower (corner of building). The tower, like the rest of the building, has battlements all the way around it. Buttresses with pyramid-like spires reinforce the building's structure at intervals all around the building. A dozen men stand around at the corner of the street.  

 

Historical Notes

For many years, the armory building had a mix of military and civilian uses that would seem unthinkable today. The lot was privately owned and developed by John S. Copeland, and the National Guard shared the building with three storefronts along Spring Street. Nonetheless, the armory was one of the most well-appointed military buildings in California, equipped with a drill hall, saddle room, officers’ quarters, reception rooms, and a gymnasium. It was also one of the few Romanesque Revival buildings whose turret was built with a functional purpose: the easy mounting of a Gatling gun (that convenience never became a necessity, thankfully). #^*#

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900s)* - A view of the Copeland Building on the corner of 8th and Spring Streets. The Evening News occupies the ground floor. A couple of horse-drawn vehicles and a bicycle are at the curb.  A man and a woman are seen at the corner.  

 

Historical Notes

The armory building also served briefly as the headquarters of the perennially mobile Post Office. In 1901, the Post Office moved out of its cramped offices near Fourth and Main Streets, installing its main office in the armory’s ground floor. The move proved to be extremely unpopular among the city’s business leaders, who found Eighth Street to be far too distant from the city center. In a biting editorial, the Los Angeles Times ridiculed the new location as being “somewhere out in the wilderness” and “handy for the farmers.” The criticisms however, failed to elicit any change. In 1904, the main Post Office moved to its next location at Seventh Street and Grand Avenue, hardly any closer to the center of business. #^*#

 

 

 
(ca. 1917)* - Members of the 7th California Volunteers line up in front of the Copeland Building, the location of the old armory at 8th and Spring streets, before departing for San Francisco.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1920s)* - A view of the northwest corner of 8th and Spring Streets. The Sun Drug Co. occupies the ground floor of the Copeland Building. Other signage on the building includes Copeland Amory N.G.C., West Coast Stationary & Printing Co., and Rose Room Dancing. In addition to automobile and pedestrian traffic, a streetcar and a traffic policeman are also seen in the photo.  

 

Historical Notes

The National Guard vacated its old quarters in 1914 after the completion of a new armory in Exposition Park (now the Wallis Annenberg Building). The former armory spent the remainder of its life as a rather standard small commercial building, with its upper stories converted for use as a dance hall. Somehow, it stayed untouched by its neighborhood’s rapid redevelopment during the 1920s. Like all too many of Los Angeles’ forgotten landmarks however, it was ultimately torn down by its owner in 1938 to be replaced by a parking lot. #^*#

Click HERE to see contemporary view.

 

 

William Dibble Fuel and Feed Store

 
(1898)* - Exterior view of William Dibble Fuel and Feed store, located on the southeast corner of 6th and Main Streets in 1898. Horses and wagons stand in the street, one loaded with bales of hay.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

Frost Building

 
(ca. 1898)* - Frost Building, northeast corner of Second Street and Broadway, 1898, architect, John Parkinson. Horse-drawn wagons can be seen parked in front of the buildings while pedestrians cross the street.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

Larronde Block

 
(ca. 1898)^## - View of the Larronde Block located at 211 West First Street with Bunker Hill in the background.  The Beaux Arts/Italianate style block building with sign "1882 Larronde Block" above roofline sits on the northwest corner of First and Spring streets.  Horse drawn-wagons are parked at the curb and pedestrians are seen crossing the intersection. Sign on the awning facing Spring Street reads: "Groceries Crockery Grain … "  

 

Historical Notes

At one time, the name Larronde was a fairly well known one in the City of Angels. Pierre Larronde was a native Frenchman who landed in San Francisco in 1847 and made a killing in the gold mines. When he relocated to Los Angeles in 1851, he amassed a further fortune by successfully raising sheep on one of the Ranchos. Always the astute businessman, Larronde cashed out his sheep empire in the late 1880s and focused his energies on real estate. His holdings included prime land at the corner of First and Spring, and a parcel on North Hope Street near Temple where he built the family home.^

 

 

 
(1920s)**# - View of the Larronde Block on the northwest corner of First and Spring streets. The LA Times Building, located on the northeast corner of First and Broadway, is seen in the background. Note the elevated kiosk at the corner.  

 

Historical Notes

Elevated booths were used by the Los Angeles Railway and the Yellow Cars as a switchman’s tower to control the flow and path of streetcars through the intersection. 

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

Los Angeles Theatre (later Orpheum Theatre and Lyceum Theatre - 2nd Home of the Orpheum Circuit)

 
(ca. 1897)^## – View looking north on Spring Street showing the Los Angeles Theatre (turreted building). The theatre would later be called Orpheum and Lyceum Theatre). The building on the left was later known as Lyceum Hall.  

 

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Theatre opened in 1888. It was built by William Hayes Perry and the building containing it was known as the Perry Building. 

 

 

 

 
(1895)* - - View showing the Los Angeles Theatre (future home of the Orpheum Theater) located at 227 S. Spring Street. The music hall on the left was the former home of Turnverein. Horse-drawn carriages are shown parked in front.  

 

Historical Notes

In 1903 this interesting Richardsonian Romanesque building became the Orpheum - the second home of Orpheum Circuit vaudeville in Los Angeles. Previously they'd been at the Grand Opera House.

There were four Orpheum theatres in downtown Los Angeles:

◆ 110 S. Main St. -- Grand Opera House was the home of Orpheum vaudeville from 1894 to 1903.

◆ 227 S. Spring St. -- The Los Angeles Theatre, later called The Lyceum, was known as the Orpheum from 1903 to 1911.

◆ 630 S. Broadway -- Now the Palace Theatre -- this was the Orpheum between 1911 and 1926.

◆ 842 S. Broadway -- Orpheum Theatre from 1926 to Today

 

 

 
(ca. 1903)* - Close-up front view of the old Orpheum Theater on Spring Street between 2nd and 3rd Streets. Architects: F. J. Capitain and J. Lee Burton.  

 

 

 

 

(1914)**^ - A view of the Lyceum all in lights from the 1914 Moving Picture World article about J.A. Quinn.

 

     

 

Historical Notes

The Orpheum moved on in June, 1911 to their new home at 630 S. Broadway (now the Palace Theatre). The existing building became the Lyceum Theatre in 1912. **^

 

 

 
(1919)* – View showing an early model car parked in front of the Lyceum Theatre.  Opened in 1888 as the Los Angeles Theater; became the 2nd Los Angeles Orpheum from 1903 to 1911; became the Lyceum Theatre from 1911 to 1941.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1930)* - Looking south down Spring Street near 3rd Street showing the ornate Lyceum Theatre.  

 

Historical Notes

By the 1930s the Lyceum Theatre was exclusively a movie theatre.

 

 

 
(1935)* – Close-up view showing the Lyceum Theatre as movie house.  Signs read:  TALKING PICTURES  

 

Historical Notes

Opened in 1888 as the Los Angeles Theater; became the 2nd Los Angeles Orpheum; closed in 1941 as the Lyceum Theatre.

 

 

 
(1941)* - A Herald Examiner photo of the Lyceum Theatre in 1941, the year of its demolition.  On the marquee: "Best Programs Ten Cents"  - "J Hersholt in Meet Dr. Christian - "T Ritter Down The Wyoming Trail"  

 

Historical Notes

Herald Examiner photo caption reads:  "Street view of the Lyceum Theatre, located at 227 South Spring Street, is the second oldest show house built in the city. Originally known as the Los Angeles Theater, where stars of yesteryear appeared, the theater will be razed to become a parking lot. Beneath it is one of the original springs from which Spring Street derived its name. Photo dated: January 15, 1941."

The site is now the L.A. Times parking garage.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Los Angeles' 1st Telephone Pay Station

 
(1899)* - This was Los Angeles' first telephone pay station, at 228 So. Spring St., in 1899. The first telephone line between San Francisco and Los Angeles had just been opened, and long distance calls to the Bay City were being stimulated. The young man, Roy E. Jillson, was messenger boy then and was still an employee of the telephone company in 1934.  

 

Historical Notes

Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in the late 1870's and it didn't take long for Los Angeles to adopt the new technology. In 1879, the Los Angeles Telephone Company was formed and it began offering telephone service in the area of what is now Downtown Los Angeles. This was just one year after the very first North America telephone exchange was installed in New Haven, Connecticut (January, 1878). The Los Angeles Telephone Company originally started with only seven subscribers.

In 1883, The Los Angeles Telephone Company merged with another local telephone company based in Northern California, Sunset Telephone Company. In 1906, the Sunset Telephone Company was acquired by Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, later known as Pacific Bell.^^^#

 

* * * * *

 

 

Sackett Hotel and Emporium

 
(1899)* - View of the Sackett Hotel and Emporium, corner Cahuenga and Hollywood Blvd. The first floor includes a post office, soda fountain, and hardware store. A horse and buggy is parked out front at left.  

 

Historical Notes

Horace David Sackett and Ellen Sackett  built the hotel in 1888 at Prospect (Hollywood Boulevard) and Cahuenga, an intersection that became an early Hollywood commercial center.  Their dauther, Mary Sackett, served as the first postmistress of the Hollywood post office located at the hotel.*

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Hollywood (1850 - 1920).

 

 

* * * * *

 

Weller Residence

 
(ca. 1890s)^^** - View of the home built for businessman Zachariah Weller in 1894. Before being moved to its current site in Angelino Heights in 1900, the structure was in the location pictured here, 401 North Figueroa (now North Boylston Street).  

 

Historical Notes

Businessman Zachariah Weller’s house was just six years old in 1900 when he sent his family off for a short vacation on Catalina Island, split the house in two, and moved it about 3,000 feet north (as the crow flies), deep into Angeleno Heights. When the Weller clan’s Avalon holiday was up, they returned to a home not only no longer encroached upon by filthy oil wells, but one which was newly wired for electricity, the first home in the Heights to be powered as such.^

Oil was discovered by Edward L. Doheny in 1892, near the present location of Dodger Stadium. The Los Angeles City Oil Field was the first of many fields in the basin to be exploited, and in 1900 and 1902, respectively, the Beverly Hills Oil Field and Salt Lake Oil Field were discovered just a few miles west of the original find. Los Angeles became a center of oil production in the early 20th century, and by 1923 the region was producing one-quarter of the world's total supply; it is still a significant producer, with the Wilmington Oil Field having the fourth-largest reserves of any field in California.^*

 

 

 
(1990)^.^ – View showing the Weller House at its current location in Angelino Heights.  Photo by Denis Freppel  

 

Historical Notes

In 1979 the Weller home was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 223 (Click HERE to see complete listing).  Its current location is 822-826 E. Kensington Road. Click HERE for contemporary view.

 

* * * * *

 

Forthmann House

 
(ca. 1900)^^* - Home of John A. Forthmann, Sr, at 18th and Figueroa Streets in L.A., its original location. Today, it is the USC Community House located at 2801 S. Hoover. Click HERE to see contemporary view.  

 

Historical Notes

John A. Forthmann, who founded the Los Angeles Soap Company with J.J. Bergin, built the house in the 1880s at 629 West 18th St. It was moved to 2801 S. Hoover in 1989 and is now the USC Community House. According to the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission, it is the sixth oldest house in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Soap Co. was most famous for its White King brand (‘It takes so little’).  At one point its plant covered about sixteen acres of downtown L.A.

In 1972, the Forthmann House was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 103 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

In 1989, about a year after the Los Angeles Soap Co. finally closed its doors, the house was picked up and relocated to its current location on Hoover. Today the home – one of the oldest in the city – is the headquarters for USC’s Real Estate Development Corp.*^^^

 

* * * * *

 

 

Rochester House (aka West Temple Apartments)

 
(ca. 1890)* - View showing the Rochester House located at 1012 West Temple Street. The Dorn and Phillips families are seen on the porch.  

 

Historical Notes

When he first had it built in the Second Empire style in 1887, Rufus Van Dorn named his house The Rochester for his New York hometown. A decade later, it was bought by the Van Nuys family who converted the structure into an apartment building at the end of World War I. Like a lot of Bunker Hill properties, it fell into disrepair following WWII.^

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1950)^ - View of the Victorian-style Rochester House at 1012 West Temple Street as seen from roof top across the street. The building features a center portico topped by a tower, bay windows, a mansard roof, and dormer windows. A tall palm tree graces its front yard.  

 

Historical Notes

The wood frame building was one of the very few extant examples of Mansard or Second Empire (Napoleon III) style structures found in Los Angeles.^

 

 

 

 
(1960s)* - The West Temple Apartments (aka The Rochester) as seen from Temple Street.  The building is partly hidden by stores on the street.  

 

Historical Notes

On January 4, 1963 the West Temple Apartments (The Rochester) was declared LA Historic Cultural Monument No. 11.

In August 1967, the El Pueblo de Los Angeles State Historical Monument Commission voted to move the Rochester from its West Temple home to Main and Republic Streets as part of the park being developed around the city’s Old Plaza (this Board – different than the Cultural Heritage Commission – had been overseeing the park project since 1965). The Commission also set up a solicitation fund for its relocation and restoration. Over the next few years, money was raised and a HUD grant of up to $100,000 was applied for and contracted.^

 

 

 

 
(1967)^.^ – View showing the Rochester Apartment Building as seen from the Harbor Freeway.  

 

Historical Notes

In August of 1969, the Commission did an about face and decided the Rochester wasn’t allowed in the park after all. Why? Well, the idea was always a matter of disagreement within the Board. Some of the Commission maintained the non-Spanish architecture of the Rochester would look out of place in Old Plaza. Also, they felt other things – like parking space – were more necessary.

In protest, a group made up of private contributors as well as three Board members (John Anson Ford, Dorothy A. Burnaby, and David A. Workman) sued the Commission, claiming the board had voted to move the Apartments, had raised public and private money, and had no right to renege. The plaintiffs won, and the Commission appealed the ruling. Jump to early fall, 1970, when, with verdict pending, the Rochester was moved temporarily to “railroad property just north of Union Station” (i.e. Alameda and Bruno Streets). In early 1971, California’s Court of Appeals upheld the original decision. Later that spring, following the State Supreme Court’s refusal to hear another appeal, the Commission unanimously consented to relocate and restore the Rochester.^

 

 

 

 
(1970)* - The large, historically important Rochester House being moved along 2nd Street at Beaudry Ave. at night on October 1, 1970, by Almas Brothers Star Movers, Inc. The lighted Department of Water and Power building is in the background.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1970)* -  A "Save Me" sign is still mounted on the Rochester House as it is being moved due to the Temple Urban Renewal Project. Photo date: October 1, 1970.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1978)^.^ – View showing the Rochester House at its new temporary location on railroad property just north of Union Station (i.e. Alameda and Bruno Streets).  

 

Historical Notes

The Rochester House was featured in Walt Disney's "Return to Witch Mountain” filmed in 1977 starring Bette Davis. It is used as the childrens hangout - haunted mansion.

This house has also been in the original Little Shop of Horrors as Seymore's Mom's apartment house, it is also the cover art for the children's mystery book "Go to the Room of the Eyes" by Betty K. Erwin, and it is in a great Victorian house book called "The Gingerbread Age" by John Mass.

 

 

 

 
(1978)^.^ - Close-up view showing the relocated Bunker Hill mansion (Rochester House) awaiting its fate at it's temporary location near Alameda and Bruno Streets.  

 

Historical Notes

The temporary move of the Rochester House turned out to be permanent. For whatever reason, the Rochester was allowed to languish further at the Alameda/Bruno site until it was ultimately demolished in 1979.

 

* * * * *

 

 

Feliz Adobe (Rancho Los Feliz)

 
(ca. 1900)* - Home of Antonio Feliz, originally built in the 1830s on Rancho Los Feliz, it was situated on the east side of the rancho near the river. The adobe is located at 4730 Crystal Springs Drive in Griffith Park and now serves as the Park Ranger Headquarters.  

 

Historical Notes

Rancho Nuestra Señora de Refugio de Los Feliz as it was called, was better known as Rancho Los Feliz. This 6,647-acre rancho was granted to Corporal José Vicente Feliz as early as 1795, one of the first land grants in California; it remained in Corporal Feliz' possession as late as 1816. When Corporal Feliz died his children inherited the rancho, and they built an old adobe house on the property sometime in the 1830s.

Rancho Los Feliz had a succession of owners: Doña María Ygnacia Feliz (daughter-in-law of Corporal Feliz) inherited the rancho in 1843 when her husband died. In 1853, Doña Maria divided the rancho among her own daughters; they inherited it in 1861, after their mother's death. Sadly, the daughters failed to improve the land and sold their portions for a mere $1.00 per acre. In 1860, Antonio Feliz, brother-in-law of Doña Maria acquired the property which included the adobe near the river, and which he kept until his death in 1863. Later that same year, Don Antonio Franco Coronel came into the ownership of Rancho Los Feliz. At some point, Don Antonio deeded the rancho to James Lick, a wealthy businessman from San Francisco.

In 1882, Colonel Griffith Jenkins Griffith acquired 4,071 acres of the rancho, and on December 16, 1896 Griffith donated 3,015 acres to the city of Los Angeles to be used as a park; other sections of the rancho were developed and became the communities of Los Feliz and Silver Lake. The old adobe, which still exists today, stands within the park boundaries at 4730 Crystal Springs Drive in Griffith Park.*

 

 

 

 
(1936)* - Restored home of the Feliz family, originally built in the 1830s on Rancho Los Feliz.  

 

Historical Notes

Now located in Griffith Park, the Feliz Adobe was remodeled in 1925 and 1936 it was occupied by William H. Johnson, superintendent of the golf courses at Griffith Park.*

In 1988, the Feliz Adobe was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 401 (Click HERE to see the complete listing).

 

* * * * *

 

 

Bullard Block

 
(ca. 1900)* - View of the John Anson Bullard Block on Spring and Court streets, looking north on Spring. Southern California Savings Bank is on the southeast corner across the street. Streetcar tracks are seen on Spring, and a carriage is parked at left. A lighted sign above the turret announces the bar in the building.  

 

Historical Notes

The Bullard Block was once the site of the old Clocktower County Courthouse. Today, City Hall stands at this location.

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - View of the intersection of Spring and Court streets. The Bullard Building stands on the northeast corner. The building was designed by Architects Morgan & Walls.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1925)* - Exterior view of the Bullard Block located on the northeast corner of Spring and Court streets. At one time the building housed the courthouse. Note the ornate 5-bulb lamps on the corners. Click HERE to see more in Ealry L.A. Street Lights.  

 

 

 

 
(1925)* - The five-story J.A. Bullard Block on Spring and Court Streets, looking north on Spring in 1925. The building is on the northeast corner of the intersection. California Importing Co. is on the southeast corner. Next to it is the L.A. Mission Cafe and California Jobbing Co., featuring dishes, glassware, silverware for restaurants and apartments. Streetcar tracks are seen on Spring, and cars are parked on the street. Behind the Bullard Block is Market Street.  

 

* * * * *

 

 

Hollenbeck Home for the Aged

 
(ca. 1896)^## -  View showing the Hollenbeck Home for the Aged on a hill opposite Hollenbeck Park. In upper left is standing J.E. Hollenbeck's original residence.  

 

Historical Notes

This early charity devoted to housing destitute elderly Los Angelenos opened on 09/06/1896 and was supported by the German-born philanthropist Elizabeth Hollenbeck (1827-1918). Elizabeth and her husband John,(1829-1885), migrated to Southern CA from Nicaragua, where they operated successful shipping lines and a hotel in the city of Greytown, now known as San Juan de Nicaragua. The couple arrived in Los Angeles in the spring of 1876 and John began actively buying real estate in town. He also became associated with bankers in town, becoming an official with the Commercial Bank of Los Angeles. He opened a hotel in Los Angeles, the Hollenbeck Hotel, in 1882, which became one of the most respected establishments of the period in the city. He passed away of a stroke in 1885, but Elizabeth lived on for another 33 years, emerging as a significant donor to various charities. She became active in a local Presbyterian congregation, later the Hollenbeck Presbyterian Church, and through these connections got the idea of opening a home for the elderly who lacked money to care for themselves.*##*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1896)* - View showing the main building of the Hollenbeck Home for the Aged in Boyle Heights shortly after it was constructed.  

 

Historical Notes

According to Sam Watters, writing in the Los Angeles Times, the Hollenbeck Home for the Aged housed at its opening "...34 women and 12 men representing eight nationalities and eight faiths.... They were, as one recalled, the 'fortunate unfortunates.' They were older than 60, residents of California and without sufficient financial support. At the home they were secure, their expenses paid for life." *##*

 

 

 

 

 
(Early 1900s)* - View of the Hollenbeck Home for retired people in Boyle Heights, across the street from Hollenbeck Park.  

 

Historical Notes

Originally built in 1896 and designed by architect Edelman, the Mission-Revival building had two addions, 1908 and 1923, the latter work designed by Morgan, Walls, and Clements.*##*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1936)* -  View showing two cars parked in front of the Hollenbeck Home for the Aged, located at 573 South Boyle Avenue in Boyle Heights.  

 

Historical Notes

Due to its masonry construction, the Hollenbeck House could not withstand seismic tremors and was not up to modern building codes. The Hollenbeck Trust razed the building in 1985 and replaced it with a more modern elder-care facility.*##*

 

 

* * * * *

 

Hotel Metropole

 
(ca. 1888)#**^ - View of a steamer docked at a pier in Avalon Bay in front of the newly constructed Hotel Metropole, Catalina Island.  

 

Historical Notes

The first owner to try to develop Avalon into a resort destination was George Shatto, a real estate speculator from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Shatto purchased the island for $200,000 from the Lick estate at the height of the real estate boom in Southern California in 1887. Shatto created the settlement that would become Avalon, and can be credited with building the town's first hotel, the original Hotel Metropole, and pier. His sister-in-law Etta Whitney came up with the name Avalon, which was taken from Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Idylls of the King," about the legend of King Arthur.^*

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1888)^^* - Photograph of an exterior view of the Hotel Metropole at Avalon Bay. The long, three-story hotel is pictured at center, just off the beach, featuring both a porch on which several people are visible, and second-floor balcony. More people stand at the end of the paved walkway from the hotel, watching two boatmen pull their boat ashore. Several other boats are in their vicinity. Mountains are visible in the background. Part of the wharf, on which a steaming trunk can be seen, is visible in the left foreground. A windmill stands to the right of the hotel.   

 

Historical Notes

The Hotel Metropole was completed in 1888 and became Catalina's grande dame. It was a large 3-story wooden structure with views of the bay that boasted of numerous windows, several dormers, half a dozen chimneys, and two covered patios.*

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1890s)^^ - Panoramic view looking southeast showing Hotel Metropole and steamer Hermosa. The large boat is docked at the pier with smaller boats in the water. Tents are visible close to the beach as well as buildings. Women are wearing high collared long sleeved dresses and gloves. On the right can be seen a windmill and clothes hanging on a clothesline.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1898)^## - View looking south toward Avalon from the top of a mountain above Sugarloaf Point. Two steamboats can be seen in the bay near the pier. The Hotel Metropole is the largest structure in town, however more and more buildings are beginning to spring up near the hotel. A large number of tents occupy the land between the hotel and the mountains.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - View of the historic Hotel Metropole located at 205 Crescent Avenue on Santa Catalina Island. Several people take a leisurely stroll through the streets, and at least two dozen boats are 'docked' on the beach. A sign next to a small structure reads: "Bert Harding - Boats to let - Fishing, tackle, Bait, etc."  

 

Historical Notes

The Hotel Metropole was such a success that additions to it were made in 1893 and 1897. The 1897 addition gave the hotel 58 more rooms as well as a large reception area and a ballroom.^##*

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - View of the Hotel Metropole on Santa Catalina Island. The E.E. Beeson & Co. building, selling general merchandise, bakery and delicacies, is to the right of the hotel, and Troy Laundry Co. is to the right of that. Several people can be seen taking a leisurely stroll through the street, as others sit at the base of the beach, watching swimmers.  A horse-drawn wagon is seen "parked" in the background.  

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - Postcard view showing the historic Hotel Metropole on Santa Catalina Island. Several smaller buildings are seen in the distance with the rugged Avalon mountainscape standing in the far background.  

 

 

 

 

 
(1901)## – View of the Hotel Metropole in Avalon, Catalina Island.  Two horse-drawn wagons are seen parked in front of the hotel.  

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1900)* - Front view of the historic Hotel Metropole. Several men and women gather in and around a horse-drawn carriage, which is 'parked' at the front of the hotel, while a few more people are visible at the hotel's entrance. The stage coaches would take hotel guests to various spots around the island such as Lover's Cove and Descanso Beach.  

 

Historical Notes

After the Banning brothers bought Catalina in 1891, they had better luck in developing the island to accomodate tourism.  They developed Avalon into a proper resort community, made roads into the island’s interior for stagecoach tours and access to hunting lodges. The new roads also enabled tourists to get to Descanso Beach, Lover’s Cove, and other locations, from the town of Avalon.*#*^

 

 

 
(ca. 1905)* - Close-up view of the Town of Avalon showing the Metropole Hotel and Grand View Hotel, as well as the pier and many small boats in the water. The steamer S.S Hermosa is docked at the wharf.  

 

 

 

 
(1904)#^ –  View of the Hotel Metropole from the bay. People are seen sitting on benches while others walk on the road in front of the hotel.  The Victorian structure has gables, a columned balcony, and front porch. A sign reads, "Metropole." Stairs lead down to the bay in front of the hotel.   

 

 

 

 

 
(ca. 1907)^^ - View showing a large group of people looking out toward the bay at possibly some type of water event.  The Hotel Metropole is seen in the background.  

 

Historical Notes

The Metropole continued to thrive during the early years of the 20th century, right up until the disastrous early morning hours of Nov. 29, 1915.  Between 3:30 and 4:00 a.m., a fire started mysteriously near the rear of the hotel. Avalon’s small fire department quickly was overwhelmed by the blaze, which spread until it had destroyed fully half of the town’s hotels and buildings. Many residents were left homeless.^##*

A few years later, the hotel was rebuilt on the same site but was significantly downsized, this time consisting of only 48 rooms and a luxurious 2-bedroom Beach house.*

A 52-room Hotel Metropole now stands on the site of the original structure in Avalon at the center of the Metropole Market Place development.^##*

 

 

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Catalina

 

 

 

* * * * *

 

 

 

 

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References and Credits

* LA Public Library Image Archive

**DWP - LA Public Library Image Archive

*^LADWP Historic Archive

^^Calisphere: University of California Image Archive

*# Mojave Desert.net: Remi Nadeau

#* Ancestory.com - Margarita Bandini Winston

#^ Huntington Digital Library Archive

^# KCET - The Lost Hills of Downtown Los Angeles; A Vision for the Next Los Angeles: Transportation Equity and Just Growth; Lost LA

## Library of Congress Image Archive

#+Maviealosangeles.com Avila Adobe

+#Life of Pio Pico - Pio Pico State Historic Park

++The City Project

+^Old Los Angeles and Environs blogspot

*+ The Jews of Los Angeles: Urban Pioneers

#**OUTPOSTPreserving Historical Data by W. S. Broke

#^*Early Downtown LA - Hollenbeck Hotel

#++National Geographic: California Before the Stars Arrived

*++Getty Research Institute

##+Facebook.com: Photos of Los Angeles

#^^theeastsiderla.com: Boyle Hotel

#*^LA Conservancy: Boyle Hotel; Vickrey-Brunswig Building

^^+UCLA Digital Library

^^*USC Digital Library

**^Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Archive; Belmont Hotel Fire

^^#The Museum of the San Fernando Valley

*^#CSULB - A Visit to Old LA: Hamburger Dept. Store; Main Street; Figueroa Street

**#Tumblr.com - LA History: LA Times; Leonis Adobe; Larronde Block

+++Mt. Lowe Preservation Society

++*Facebook.com - Bizarre Los Angeles

++#Flickr.com

^#*The Department Store Museum: J. W. Robinson's

***Los Angeles Historic - Cultural Monuments Listing

*^*California Historical Landmarks Listing (Los Angeles)

^*^LA Street Names - LA Times

^^^Oviatt Library Digital Archives

*#^Picture Gallery of Los Angeles History

^**UCLA-DWP Library Collection: Map of the City of Los Angeles as it Appeared in 1850

*#*Historic Hotels of Los Angeles and Hollywood (USC - California Historic Society); U.S. Hotel

*##Historic Los Angeles Theatres: Grand Opera House; Orpheum Theatre

^##California State Library Image Archive

+##GlamAmor.com: Bradbury Building

+#+Flickr.com: Broadway

+^^Facebook.com: West San Fernando Valley Then And Now

+^#Views of Early Los Angeles

+**Facebook.com: Old Photos of Los Angeles

*^^Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles: Bradbury Building

*^*^St. Mary's Catholic Church

^^**Flickr.com - Floyd B. Bariscale Photostream; Dodson Residence

^*^*TheZephyr.com: O.T. Johnson

***^Historical Buildings - boyleheightsbeat.com

^^^*UC Davis: Bradbury Family Papers

*^^^Big Orange Landmarks: Forthmann House and Forthmann Carriage House

^^^^US Department of the Interior: Vickrey-Brunswig Building

**^^Boyle Heights History Blog: Occidental College; Hollenbeck Park

^***Homestead Museum: Workman and Temple Family

*^^*Los Angeles Past: Temple and Main Streets, Los Angeles - Then and Now; City Hall (ca. 1895)

*^**Paradise Leased: Arcadia Hotel

**^*Santa Monica Beach Stories

^**^Wilmington Historic Society

^*^^San Fernando Valley Historical Society/Facebook.com: Burbank Villa Hotel; Hotel Cecil

**#^LAPL-El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument Photo Archive

^^^#Los Angeles Telephone

^#^#Big Orange Landmarks

^**# LMU Digital Collection: Arcadia Hotel

^*^#Uncanny.net: Bunker Hill

***#Salvation Army History: Southern California

**##Mojave Desert.net: Remi Nadeau

^*#*Panoramonview.org: Paorama of the Siege of Paris

^*##blogdowntown: Third Street Tunnel

^^*#Jewish Museum of the American West: Jacoby Brothers

^^##UC Irvine - The White City by Miles Clement

^#**Historic Hotels of Los Angeles and Hollywood (USC - California Historic Society)

^#*^LA Times: Amestory Building; Newmark Fountain; Demolition of Old Times Bldg; Don Antonio Maria Lugo; Los Angeles Chinatown then and now

*#*^University of Maryland Digital Archive

*#^^A House for Equal Justice - Judge Elizabeth R. Feffer

*#*#Flickr.com: Michael Ryerson

*###Historic Alhambra

^###Electronic Scrapbook of Alhambra History

*#^#Los Angeles Athletic Club History

^#*#Online Archive of California: Barlow Medical Library

*##*Pacific Coast Architecture Database (PCAD): Bryson-Bonebrake Block; Hollenbeck Home for the Aged

^##*South Bay Daily Breeze: Hotel Metropole; Spring Training with the Cubs on Catalina

^##^Los Angeles Downtown News.com: A True Soap Opera

*##^Pinterest.com: California Places of the Past

#***LAUSD.net; LA Memorial Library

#**^LA County Library Image Archive

#*^*Photos of Vintage Los Angeles: Facebook.com

#^**Google Maps

#^*^Point Fermin Lighthouse

#^^^The Art Institute of Chicago: B'nai B'rith Synagogue

#*^^Flickr.com: Views of Los Angeles

#*#*Walk N Ride LA: Exposition Park

#*#^Womans Christian Temperance Union

#^#^St. Vincent's Medical Center: History

#^#*Cinema Treasures: Childs' Opera House and Grand Theatre

#**#Santa Monica Local History: blogspot.com

#^*#Urban Diachrony: East side of North Main Street south of Arcadia Street; Intersection of 3rd and Spring Streets; NW Corner of 8th and Spring Streets

#^^#Los Angeles County Bar Association: Courthouse Clock

##**LAist: A Park a Day: Point Fermin Park, San Pedro

##^^The Department Store Museum: J. W. Robinson's

##^*Publicartinla.com: Bella Union Hotel Site

##*^California State Library Image Archiv

###Denver Public Library Image Archive

##* Boston Public Library: Flickr.com

##^ Santa Monica Conservancy

^ On Bunker Hill: The Zahn Family; Crocker Mansion; Hershey Residence; St. Angelo Hotel; Hildreth Mansion; Larronde Block and Residence; Brunson Mansion; Richelieu Hotel & Melrose Hotel

^*#Noirish Los Angeles - forum.skyscraperpage.com; Arcade Palm Tree; Temple Block; Ruber Home; Villa Brunner; LA County Courthouse; Angels Flight; Hotel Cecil; Wilson Block; Barlow Medical Library Interior; LA City Hall; Robinson Manison and Teed Street; Melrose and Richelieu Hotels; LA Times Building Bombing; Times Bldg Lit Up; North Los Angeles Street; Hollenbeck Residence; Main and 4th

^* Wikipedia: Abel Stearns; Pío Pico; Workman-Temple Family; Jonathan Temple; Los Angeles Herald-Examiner; Charles Maclay; Los Angeles High School; Cathedral of Saint Vibiana; John Edward Hollenbeck; Foy House; Isaias W. Hellman; Isaac Newton Van Nuys; Wells Fargo; Los Angeles Plaza Historic District; Harrison Gray Otis; Harris Newmark; Hazard's Paviolion; Los Angeles Athletic Club; Fort Moore; The Church of Our Lady the Queen of Angels; Compton; Los Angeles and Independence; Bradbury Building: LA Oil Discover; Boyle Heights; Phineas Banning; UCLA; History of UCLA; Arcade Station; Garvanza, Los Angeles; Highland Park; Avila Adobe; Stimson House; Ozro W. Childs; Ducommun; Los Angeles City Hall; James H. Dodson Residence; Burbank; Domingo Amestoy; Angelino Heights; Bank of America Center; History of Los Angeles Population Growth; Boyle Hotel - Cummings Block; YMCA; Spring St. School; La Grande Station; Fort Moore; Harris Newmark; Santa Catalina Island; Pt. Fermin Lighthouse; Loyola Marymount University; Herman W. Hellman; Farmers and Merchants Bank of Los Angeles; Wikimapia: Vickrey-Brunswig Building; Pan American Lofts

 

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