Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

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.^*

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.

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 1858, Stearns constructed a two-story business block on Los Angeles Street nearby and called it Arcadia Block after his young bride, Arcadia.

Historical Notes

Isaias Wolf Hellman built one of Los Angeles' first two-story building in Arcadia Block. 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.^*

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.^*

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.^*

Historical Notes

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

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.

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.^*^

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).^*^ 

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.

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.*

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).*^

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.*^

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 gable" would once again return when the Plaza Church was repaired/remodeled circa 1901.^*

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.^*

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. ^*

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.^*

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." ^*

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.^*

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." ^^*

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 a California Historical Landmark No. 144.^*

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

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. ##^*

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. #*

Historical Notes

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

Historical Notes

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

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.

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.*#*

Historical Notes

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

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.^*

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.

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.^*

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).^*#

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.^*

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.*

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.

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. #^^#

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. *#^^

Historical Notes

The Bullard Block (Building) would replace the old Clocktower County Courthouse (NE corner of Spring and Court streets) in the late 1890s. Today, City Hall stands at this location.

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

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.

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.

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.

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).

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. 

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.^*

Historical Notes

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

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

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."*

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".

Historical Notes

Even by the time of the Historic American Buildings Survey in 1937 the upper floors had been altered repeatedly. At the time of that survey the theatre space was used as a hotel/rooming house.

Historical Notes

The facade was restored in the 60s and additional work was done in an 80s "restoration." The 80s work included a seismic retrofitting, new electrical service, and sprinkler and alarm systems. Ductwork was installed but evidently not any heating or cooling equipment. Over a period of 20 years, the City spent approximately $11 million stabilizing the buildings on the block. The Merced building has been vacant for decades due to lawsuits brought by an unhappy developer and other problems.*

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.

Historical Notes

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

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.^*

Historical Notes

S. A. Rendall, the photographer of the amazing panoramic photo seen above, is mentioned in a 1911 publication titled: OUTPOST – Preserving 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.” #**

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).^*

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." ^*

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.^*

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.^*

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.^*

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.^*

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.^#

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..^*

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). ^*

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.*

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.*^

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." ^*

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.^*

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.^*

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.

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

Team Name: Romans

Colors: Blue and White

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.^^*

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."

Historical Notes

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

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.*

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.

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.

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?"

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.

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).

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.

Click HERE to see more on the Los Angeles and Independence Railroad.

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.+##

Historical Notes

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

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.

Historical Notes

The Arcadia Block, located on the southwest corner of Los Angeles Street and Arcadia Street in early Los Angeles, was a significant structure in the city's history. Constructed between 1858 and 1859, it was the first all-brick commercial building in Los Angeles, marking a departure from the traditional adobe structures of the time. The building was commissioned by Abel Stearns, a wealthy cattle rancher and one of the earliest Anglo-American settlers in Southern California. He named the building after his wife, Arcadia Bandini de Stearns.

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.

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 1858, Stearns constructed a two-story business block on Los Angeles Street nearby and called it Arcadia Block after his young bride, Arcadia.

Historical Notes

Isaias Wolf Hellman built one of Los Angeles' first two-story building in Arcadia Block. 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.

Historical Notes

The Arcadia Block building was the first business brick building in Los Angeles.

The Arcadia Block became a symbol of commercial progress in Los Angeles and housed various businesses over the years, including Harris Newmark and Company, a wholesale grocery and drug merchant. It also featured Stearns's Hall on the second floor, which served as a venue for theatrical and political events.

Historical Notes

In the 1860s, a severe drought affected Stearns's ranching operations, leading to financial difficulties. Consequently, the Arcadia Block was sold at a sheriff's auction in 1867. Over the years, the building continued to host different enterprises, such as the Waterhouse and Lester Company, which dealt in vehicle and garage supplies.

Historical Notes

The section of Aliso Street seen above was renamed Arcadia Street in 1872.

Historical Notes

The Pico House (center-right) wasn't built until 1870.

The section of Aliso Street seen above was renamed Arcadia Street in 1872.

Historical Notes

One of the most notable features of the Arcadia Block was its proximity to the Los Angeles City Hall site. In the late 1920s, as Los Angeles underwent rapid urban development, the new City Hall was being constructed just a few blocks away. By 1927, the steel framing of the City Hall tower could be seen rising behind the Arcadia Block, symbolizing the transformation of the city.

Historical Notes

The Arcadia Block stood as a reminder of Los Angeles's early days until its demolition in May 1927. Its removal was seen as a loss of one of the last pre-Civil War structures in the city, representing the rapid modernization and transformation of Los Angeles during that period.

Following its demolition, the site of the old Arcadia Block became a parking lot, remaining so until the construction of the 101 Freeway through downtown in the 1950s

Historical Notes

The construction of the 101 Freeway removed the Jennette Block, leaving the Garnier Building to its north. The Jennette Block was built around 1888, and the Garnier Building followed in 1890.

Historical Notes

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Historical Notes

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

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Freeway through downtown was opened in 1954.

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.^*

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.*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the 300 Block of North Main Street.

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.^*

Historical Notes

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

Historical Notes

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

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.

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.^*

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.^*

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.*

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.*

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.*

Historical Notes

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

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.

Historical Notes

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

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.” *^

Historical Notes

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. *+

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.*^

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.

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.*

Historical Notes

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

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).

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.^*

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.

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.*

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.

Historical Notes

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

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.*#*

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.^^*

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.^

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. +^#

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. +^

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. +^

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^*

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.*

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.^*

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.^*

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.*^

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.**^^

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.^*

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.^*

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. #***

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.^*

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.*

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.*

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.^*

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.^

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

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.

Historical Notes

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

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.*

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).

Historical Notes

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

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.

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'.*

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.*

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.*

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.*

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.

Historical Notes

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.*

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During the 1940s, a rectory and school building were added. The school closed in 1969 because the parish could not afford it. It became a convent for the Disciples of the Divine Master.^

Historical Notes

The two-story Greek Revival-style church has three different doors visible in its facade. The centermost door is flanked by columns, while secondary doors are at left and right, each topped by a statue. Above the center, two other statues flank a rose window. A latin inscription above the center door reads: "sub invocatone sanctae vibianae virginis et martyris".

Historical Notes

The cathedral had a seating capacity of 1,200. Designed in 1876 by Ezra F. Kysor, it was modeled after a Baroque church in Barcelona.

Historical Notes

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

Historical Notes

The facade's classical pilasters and volutes are crowned with a tower and cupola. Inside are relics of an early Christian martyr whose name is given to the Cathedral, St. Vibiana. The remains are preserved in a marble sarcophagus.^

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In early 1996 the good Cardinal, who presides over the largest Catholic Diocese in the United States, proposed that it be torn down and replaced by a new Cathedral building. Preservation- and historic-minded L.A. folk protested loudly in response.^

Historical Notes

The cathedral was heavily damaged during the 1994 Northridge earthquake and became the subject of a lengthy legal battle between the archdiocese, which wanted to demolish the building and build a new cathedral on the site, and preservationists, who wanted the building to remain standing due to its historical significance. In 1996, the parties involved reached a compromise in which the archdiocese would purchase a nearby site on which to build a new cathedral, and in turn would turn over the St. Vibiana site to the City of Los Angeles. The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels was dedicated in 2002 as the successor to St. Vibiana's Cathedral.^

Historical Notes

The cathedral site was taken over by the city. The city sold the former cathedral building to downtown developer Tom Gilmore in 1999 for $4.6 million. The non-historic 1940s Education Building was demolished, making way for the new Little Tokyo Branch of the Los Angeles Public Library. The building celebrated the end of its renovation with a gala on November 12, 2005, though plans for its use were still undecided. In August 2007, the 3,500-pound cupola was returned to the top of the 83-foot tall bell tower.^

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.^

Historical Notes

In 2017, it was added to the National Trust for Historic Preservation list of America's Most Endangered Places "Success Stories"—sites that were named to the "Most Endangered" list that were the focus of successful preservation efforts

Amy Knoll Fraser and Chef Neal Fraser are now the owners and operators of Redbird | Vibiana, a wedding, events and performing arts venue located in the Historic Core of Downtown Los Angeles^.

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.^*

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.**^

Historical Notes

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

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."

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.

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.*^

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.^***

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.

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.^***

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.^*

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.^^*#

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.^^*#

Historical Notes

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.^*

Historical Notes

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

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.*

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.

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.

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.*#*

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.^*

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.*^

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.*

Historical Notes

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

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more early views of the Raymond Hotel.

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.^**#

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.*^**

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.

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**^*

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