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

Historical Notes

The University of Southern California (USC) was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university. USC's development has closely paralleled the growth of Los Angeles, and the university historically has educated a large number of the city's business leaders and professionals.^*

Historical Notes

For many years the Coliseum was capable of seating over 100,000 spectators. In 1964 the stadium underwent its first major renovation in over three decades. Most of the original pale green wood-and-metal bench seating was replaced by individual theater-type chairs of dark red, beige, and yellow; these seats remain in place today, though the yellow color was eliminated in the 1970s. The seating capacity was reduced to approximately 93,000.^*

Historical Notes

The now-signature torch was added during the renovations for the 1932 Olympics. It is still being lit during the fourth quarters of USC football games.^*

Historical Notes

The colonnade on the east end of the Coliseum is composed of a triumphal arch, flanked by 14 smaller arches and a central torch, rising 107 feet above street level. The torch, which was built for the tenth Olympiad, is constructed of concrete and capped with a bronze fixture that was kept illuminated throughout the games.^

Historical Notes

Many of the palm trees seen above still exist and our now situated within the grounds of the Los Angeles Orhopaedic Hospital (Flower St. and Adams Blvd). These are considered to be the oldest trees in Los Angeles. The trees date back to the 1870s.

The Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital (LAOH) was founded in 1911 by Charles LeRoy Lowman, as a clinic for children with crippling disorders. The first LAOH building was constructed in 1922 at the above site. It was replaced in 1959 by a second hospital, and today a third hospital nears completion on the Westside of Los Angeles.^^^

Historical Notes

Patriotic Hall was built in 1925 and the building opened its doors in 1926 to serve the public. When it was built, the 85,000-square-foot building was the tallest building in the city. Patriotic Hall was rededicated to honor of Bob Hope and renamed "Bob Hope Patriotic Hall" in 2004.^*

Historical Notes

Charles Alexander See II (1882–1949) arrived in the United States from Canada in 1921 with his wife Florence MacLean Wilson See (1885–1956), and his widowed mother Mary Wiseman See (1854–1939). Mary See had developed the recipes that became the foundation of the See's candy business while helping run her husband's hotel on Tremont Island in Ontario. The family opened the first See's Candies shop and kitchen at 135 North Western Avenue in Los Angeles in November 1921. They leased the shop from the French Canadian pioneer of Los Angeles Amable La Mer. They had twelve shops by the mid-1920s and thirty shops during the Great Depression. In 1936 See's opened a shop in San Francisco.

In 1972 the See family sold the company to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In 2007, Warren Buffett called See's "the prototype of a dream business". ^*

Historical Notes

Farmers Market started when a dozen nearby farmers would park their trucks on a field to sell their fresh produce to local residents. The cost to rent the space was fifty cents per day.

In 1870, when they moved west from Illinois, Arthur Fremont (A.F.) Gilmore and his partner bought two sizable farms, one of which was the 256-acre dairy farm at the corner of 3rd Street and Fairfax Ave. Gilmore gained control when the partnership dissolved later.

Gilmore Oil Company replaced the dairy farm when oil was discovered under the land during drilling for water in 1905. Earl Bell (E.B.) Gilmore, son of A.F. Gilmore, took over the family business. The younger Gilmore started midget car racing and brought professional football to Los Angeles. He built Gilmore Field for the Hollywood Stars baseball team, which was owned by Bing Crosby, Barbara Stanwyck, and Cecil B. DeMille.^*

Historical Notes

Farmers Market was created in July 1934 by Roger Dahlhjelm, a businessman, and Fred Beck, an advertising copywriter. They asked the owners of “Gilmore Island,” the former dairy farm at 3rd & Fairfax, if they could invite local farmers to park trucks on vacant Gilmore land to sell fresh produce to local shoppers.

Originally called the “Farmers Public Market,” the concept was so popular that within months, permanent stalls were erected to provide the farmers with a more convenient way to provide their produce. The “Public” was dropped from the name almost immediately. #**

Hsitorical Notes

Gilmore Stadium was used for American football games at both the professional and collegiate level. The stadium was the home of the Los Angeles Bulldogs, the first professional football team in Los Angeles. Gilmore Stadium was also the site of two 1940 National Football League (NFL) Pro Bowls. It was opened in May 1934 and demolished in 1952, when the land was used to build CBS Television City.^*

Historical Notes

Gilmore Field opened on May 2, 1939 and was the home of the Hollywood Stars baseball team until September 5, 1957. The ballpark was located on the south side of Beverly Boulevard between Genesee Avenue and The Grove Drive, just east of where CBS Television City is currently located. A couple hundred yards to the west was Gilmore Stadium, an oval-shaped venue built several years earlier, which was used for football games and midget auto racing. To the east was the famous Pan-Pacific Auditorium. Click HERE to see more in Baseball in Early L.A.

Both facilities were built by Earl Gilmore, son of Arthur F. Gilmore and president of A. F. Gilmore Oil, a California-based petroleum company which was developed after Arthur struck oil on the family property. The area was rich in petroleum, which was the source of the "tar" in the nearby La Brea Tar Pits.^*

Historical Notes

When CBS Television City opened next door in 1952, the Farmers Market provided those working or visiting that television studio a convenient place to shop or eat.

In the 1970s The Country Kitchen, a restaurant owned and operated by Jack and Eileen Smith (located next to the still-operating Du-par's), was popular with stars and their fans alike. Mickey Rooney could sometimes be found working behind the counter. Other customers included Elvis Presley, Regis Philbin, Rip Taylor, Mae West, Johnny Carson and even The Shah of Iran on his visit.^*

Historical Notes

In the 1890s, dairy farmer Arthur F. Gilmore found oil on his land, probably in the vicinity of the La Brea Tar Pits. The field was named after the Salt Lake Oil Company, the first firm to arrive to drill in the area. The discovery well was spudded (started) in 1902.

Historical Notes

Development of the field was fast, as oil wells spread across the landscape, with drillers hoping to match the production boom taking place a few miles to the east at the Los Angeles City field. Peak production was in 1908.  By 1912, there were 326 wells, 47 of which had already been abandoned, and by 1917 more than 450, which had by then produced more than 50 million barrels of oil.  After this peak, production declined rapidly. Land values rose, corresponding to the fast growth of the adjacent city of Los Angeles, and the field was mostly idled in favor of housing and commercial development. The early wells were abandoned; many of their exact locations are not known, and are now covered with buildings and roads.^*

Historical Notes

After its first oil well in 1902, the Salt Lake Oil Field developed quickly in the following years and was once the most productive in California.  Over 50 million barrels of oil have been extracted from it, mostly in the first part of the twentieth century, although modest drilling and extraction from the field using an urban "drilling island" resumed in 1962. As of 2009, the only operator on the field was Plains Exploration & Production (PXP). The field is also notable as being the source, by long-term seepage of crude oil to the ground surface along the 6th Street Fault, of the famous La Brea Tar Pits.

The adjacent and geologically related South Salt Lake Oil Field, not discovered until 1970, is still productive from an urban drillsite it shares with the nearby Beverly Hills Oil Field, also run by Plains Exploration and Production.^*

Historical Notes

One of Los Angeles' most unusual drilling was a well that stood in the middle of La Cienega Boulevard from 1930 to 1946, forcing drivers to zigzag around it.  The oil island was located between Beverly Boulevard and 3rd Street.

Historical Notes

When the wooden derrick was constructed in 1907, it wasn't in the middle of La Cienega Boulevard. It was in the middle of a bean field. La Cienega didn't run that far north at the time but in 1930 the City extended La Cienega to Santa Monica Blvd. leaving the oil derrick in the middle of the roadway.^^

Historical Notes

Today, there is derrick tucked inside the Beverly Center not too far from where the above photo was taken.  It is near the parking area for Bloomingdale’s.^^

Historical Notes

Fairfax runs from the upper left to the bottom center right of the photo. San Vicente is the wider street with the streetcar tracks. Olympic runs from the bottom left to the upper right corner of the phone. Von's Market is in the lower right corner and the Green Spray Market is at the upper left on the northeast corner of Fairfax and San Vicente.

Olympic Boulevard was originally named 10th Street. 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

The main reason that San Vicente Boulevard runs diagonally as it does is because it was built on the Los Angeles Pacific Electric Railway Right-of-way in the early 1900s.  Named for the Rancho San Vicente y Santa Monica that had previously occupied the area, it begins at Venice Boulevard between Crenshaw Boulevard and La Brea Avenue and travels in a northwesterly direction towards Beverly Hills. The roadway splits into two streets past La Cienega Boulevard, with the western branch becoming Burton Way, which eventually becomes Santa Monica Boulevard South and connects directly to downtown Beverly Hills. San Vicente Boulevard itself continues north into West Hollywood and ends at Sunset Boulevard.

A separate stretch of road with the same name, San Vicente Boulevard, runs from Brentwood to Santa Monica. Originally, this  boulevard ran from the Soldiers' Home (Sawtelle Veterans Home) in Los Angeles to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. This tree-lined street was 130 feet wide, with trolley lines used by the Los Angeles Pacific Electric Railway running down its center.^

Historical Notes

The bridge was removed after the streetcars stopped running in the 1950s.

Historical Notes

Los Angeles Metropolitan Airport opened in 1928 and was spread over 80 acres amid the trees and farmland. In 1929, Hollywood discovered the airport. Howard Hughes, Hoot Gibson, Cecil B. DeMille, Gene Autry and Wallace Beery were among the growing number of stars flying at the new airport. The airport continued to expand and grow with three factories, six hangers, and a control tower on airport grounds. The airport also began hosting air races.  During one such race in 1929, Amelia Earhart set a new speed record.

Click HERE to see more in Aviation in Early Los Angeles

Historical Notes

Taylor Yard, also known as the Southern Pacific Railroad Yard, played a critical role in Los Angeles' rail and industrial history. Located along the Los Angeles River, Taylor Yard served as a major hub for freight and passenger train operations throughout much of the 20th century.

Historical Notes

Taylor Yard, originally established in 1911 by Southern Pacific Railroad, was a significant railway station and classification yard in Los Angeles. Named after the Taylor Feed Mill that previously occupied the site, it grew to become a crucial hub in Southern Pacific's operations in Southern California.  It was used as a freight-switching facility by the Union Pacific and later the Southern Pacific railroads from the 1920s until 1985.

Historical Notes

Taylor Yard had been named after J. Hartley Taylor who was a grain merchant and owned a milling company in the area.  Throughout the 1920’s and 1930’s the property was a rail yard and an industrial site used primarily as a freight-switching facility, storage space and maintenance and repair facility for rail cars and locomotive engines.  Several utility shops were on the property, which provided electrical, plumbing and mechanical support services. 

Click HERE to see more on the Taylor Gorcery and Taylor Milling Company (1890s).

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles General Shops were one of the Southern Pacific's major shop facilities, though not as large as the mammoth Sacramento Shops. They played a crucial role in maintaining and repairing equipment for the railroad's extensive operations in Southern California and beyond.

Historical Notes

Originally established in the 1920s, the yard facilitated the Southern Pacific Railroad's activities, including maintenance, repair, and classification of freight cars. It became one of the most extensive railroad facilities in Southern California, with a vast network of tracks, shops, and warehouses.

Historical Notes

The shops were used for heavy repairs and maintenance on locomotives and other equipment. As late as the early 1960s, dead locomotives were still being brought to these shops for major repairs .

Historical Notes

In 1939, when Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal (LAUPT) opened, Southern Pacific carved out a portion of the Los Angeles General Shops grounds to create the Mission Road Coach Yard (MRCY) . This new facility was used for passenger car maintenance and storage.

Historical Notes

Photograph caption dated April 18, 1953 reads: "This is the Southern Pacific's old roundhouse near the Los Angeles river. It's a far cry from Dieselville, which is a sprawling yard. In the roundhouse, locomotives are stacked in stalls like silver stallions. On the turntable is the DInky, a snubnosed beetle on an engine which pushes the 'biggies' hither and yon. 'There still is romance in steam,' said one veteran railroader."

Historical Notes

By 1949, the yard was rebuilt to accommodate growing operations, and during the 1950s, Taylor Yard reached its peak, becoming the central node in Los Angeles' freight network for Southern Pacific.

Historical Notes

Photograph caption dated Jan. 27, 1936 reads: “Passenger Engine No. 7856 of the Union Pacific rolled into the Los Angeles shops for a new set of tires. Workmen at the shops lifted the 200-ton locomotive from its wheels. August C. Roepke, mechanical supervisor, second from right, signals crane operator while J. H. Sinnar, foreman of the shop, extreme right, oversee operations and makes certain that workmen are careful and in the clear in case of accident.”

Historical Notes

The Coast Daylight was a passenger train run by the Southern Pacific Railroad between Los Angeles and San Francisco, California.  The train ran on SP's coast line tracks which was considered to be the most beautiful route of all their passenger trains.  The passenger cars and locomotive were painted red, orange, and black.  The colors were so striking against the California coastline that the train was often called the "Most Beautiful Train in the World".

The streamlined Daylight began running on March 21, 1937.  Initially 12 Pullman passenger cars were hauled by GS-2 steam locomotives.  Later, more passenger cars and newer steam engines were added as ridership increased.  A southbound train in San Francisco (Train 98) and a northbound train in Los Angeles (Train 99) would leave at the same time.  Both would depart at 8:15 am and arrive at their destination at 6:00 pm, traveling 471 miles in 9 hours 45 minutes.

After the inaugural run, the Coast Daylight became very popular and ridership skyrocketed.  Within a few years the Coast Daylight had the highest ridership numbers in the country.  Almost every day the trains operated at full capacity.  SP placed an order for more streamlined cars and when they received the new equipment in 1940 they turned the Coast Daylight into the Morning Daylight which ran with 14 cars.  The older 1937 cars from the Coast Daylight became the mid-day train called the Noon Daylight.  Also streamlined was the Sunbeam (Texas Daylight), the San Joaquin Daylight which ran through California's Central Valley between Oakland and Los Angeles, and the Lark which ran between San Francisco and Los Angeles at night.

Historical Notes

The Noon Daylight was introduced on March 30th 1940 due to demand for travel on the Morning/Coast Daylight (San Francisco to Los Angeles). However, people preferred the earlier arrival times of the Morning/Coast Daylight and patronage did not meet expectations.

The Noon Daylight was discontinued for the World War II years not reinstated until 14th April 1946.

In the 1950s train ridership started to decline.  More people were driving cars, flying with the airlines, or even riding rival passenger trains like on the Santa Fe.  On January 7, 1955 the steam era ended for the Coast Daylight and all trains were pulled by diesel engines.  Though the diesels were more efficient, popular opinion felt they just did not have the appeal like a steam engine.

As ticket sales continued their downward spiral, the Daylight trains became shadows of what they had once been giving way to shrinking consists and spartan amenities.  Whenever possible, the trains were discontinued by the SP.

Historical Notes

In 1940 the Sunset was an overnight train SF to LA that continued to New Orleans-- the SF to LA part ended 1942.

The Daylight, Southern Pacific’s original train that later became an entire fleet, was one of the most successful and recognized streamliners of all time even rivaling the Santa Fe’s legendary Super Chief. Interestingly, however, only one was a long distance train as the rest were regional runs which served several different Californian cities. The popularity of the train remained incredibly high for many years even through the early 1960s.  However, by the latter half of that decade the Southern Pacific began greatly reducing services and amenities on its fleet as patronage declined.  By that time the railroad grew increasingly disinterested in operating passenger trains resulting in its fabled Daylight fleet coming to an unceremonious end in the early 1970s. Today, a version of this successful fleet of trains remains under Amtrak as the popular Coast Starlight.

Historical Notes

Cars flew like an endless chain down the humps night and day at the Taylor Yard.  The humpmaster assigned each car to its destination, electronically pulling a switch to the various tracks below, loading each track with cars headed for common destinations.

Historical Notes

In the 1960’s, the 247-acre freight switching facility called Taylor Yard began to slow down its operations during a time when Los Angeles was growing and expanding rapidly.  By 1985 it was closed and only used for maintenance and storage.

In 2007, Rio de Los Angeles State Park opened at the old Taylor Yard site. It is one of the last remaining undeveloped portions of land along the river to be used by communities as a park. The location of the park is 1900 San Fernando Road in the Cyprus Park community of Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The history of railroad bridges over the Los Angeles River reflects the region’s development as a key transportation hub. Early bridges were constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, connecting major railroad lines and facilitating the movement of goods and passengers. These structures include iconic crossings like the Southern Pacific Railroad bridge and the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway bridge.

The Southern Pacific Railroad bridge, built in the early 1900s, served as a vital link for freight operations, connecting to the expansive Southern Pacific Railroad Yard, known as Taylor Yard. Another significant bridge was constructed by the Union Pacific Railroad, enabling access to their large terminal facilities.

As the city grew, the railroads continued to expand their bridge infrastructure to meet increasing demands. This led to the development of more robust and modern bridges in the mid-20th century, many of which were designed to accommodate the rising number of trains crossing the river daily.

The river itself, once natural and meandering, was transformed in the 1930s into the concrete channel seen today. This flood control project altered the landscape, and the railroad bridges had to be adapted to the new channel, resulting in elevated or reinforced designs.

Today, while some of these historic railroad bridges remain, many have been replaced or modified due to changing rail operations and the redevelopment of the Los Angeles River as a public space. The bridges that still stand are not only functional structures but also landmarks of Los Angeles' rich railroad heritage.

Historical Notes

The Southern Pacific 'Cornfield' railroad yard, also known as River Station or the Bullring, was a significant railroad facility located in what is now the Los Angeles State Historic Park, north of downtown Los Angeles. Purchased by Southern Pacific in 1873, it served as the railroad's earliest presence in the city and was the Southern California terminus of the transcontinental railroad. The yard featured multiple tracks on concrete pads, a roundhouse, shops, and a distinct yard office. Its primary function was as a clean-out track for grain loading box cars, where empty cars were cleaned with high-pressure water hoses and underwent light repairs. The yard had its own yardmaster and assigned switcher engines, operating independently to service cars before delivering them to other facilities like Taylor Yard across the LA River. In 1992, Southern Pacific sold the 32-acre site to the State of California, leading to its eventual transformation into a public park.

Historical Notes

Santa Fe's Second District, also known as the Pasadena Subdivision, was a vital passenger rail route that connected Los Angeles Union Station to San Bernardino via Pasadena. Originally constructed in the 1880s, it became part of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (AT&SF) system in 1906. At its peak, the line accommodated up to 26 passenger trains daily, including famous services like the Super Chief and El Capitan. Primarily used for passenger transport, with most freight traffic routed through Fullerton, the Second District featured popular stations such as South Pasadena and Pasadena, the latter being a favorite among movie stars seeking to avoid crowds at Union Station. Amtrak continued to utilize the line for its Southwest Chief and Desert Wind services until the 1990s. In recent years, much of the western portion has been repurposed for light rail use, now forming part of the Metro A Line (formerly known as the Gold Line).

Historical Notes

Most interesting is the billboard on the truss bridge, advertising a fare of just $5.25 to San Francisco—with a travel time of only 9 hours and 20 minutes.

Historical Notes

The Lincoln Heights Jail, built in 1931, was once one of Los Angeles' most notorious detention facilities. Located near the Los Angeles River, it replaced the overcrowded city jail on First Street and was designed to accommodate the growing population during the city’s expansion. The facility featured Spanish Colonial Revival architecture and could hold up to 2,800 inmates.

Initially, the jail housed a mix of offenders, including gang members, bootleggers, and other criminals from the Prohibition era. In 1951, it became infamous as the site of the “Bloody Christmas” incident, when police officers brutally beat several Latino inmates, leading to public outrage and internal reforms within the LAPD.

By the late 1950s, the jail’s conditions had deteriorated, and it was considered outdated. The facility officially closed in 1965, with most inmates transferred to the newly constructed Parker Center jail. After its closure, the building saw sporadic use as a juvenile detention center and even served as a filming location for movies and television shows.

Today, the Lincoln Heights Jail stands as a historic structure, its weathered walls a reminder of the darker chapters in Los Angeles’ history. There have been discussions about its future, with some envisioning it as a cultural or community center, but its ultimate fate remains uncertain.

Historical Notes

L.A. County Hospital and USC Medical School were first affiliated in 1885, so the hospital is commonly known as Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, as well as County USC. It has become one of the largest and busiest public hospitals and medical training centers in the western United States.^

Historical Notes

Little known fact: Marilyn Monroe was born in the charity ward of this hospital on June 1, 1926.^*

Historical Notes

Beginning in 1975, the ABC soap opera General Hospital began using the facility for its exterior shots, appearing primarily in the show's opening sequence, where it still remains. The lower floors of the show's Los Angeles studio are modeled after the actual hospital's emergency room entrance, allowing for the show to shoot outdoor scenes in their own parking lot.^*

Historical Notes

Work began in April of 1930. Tunnels on each end were bored, while the shorter, middle tunnel was dug out and encased in concrete, with earth then replaced on top. The extension was opened up to traffic in the last week of October, 1930.^*

Historical Notes

Prior to the construction of the tunnels, traffic between Los Angeles and Pasadena crossed the Los Angeles River on the congested 1911-built Buena Vista-North Broadway Bridge. The Dayton Avenue Bridge provided another crossing to the north, but the hills of Elysian Park prevented it from being connected to downtown.^*

Historical Notes

The north three tunnels (there are four) opened by November 1, 1931, connecting to North Broadway on the south via Solano Avenue and Riverside Drive on the north. Riverside Drive was an earlier high-speed road along the Los Angeles River to Burbank, and also intersected the Dayton Avenue Bridge, which led to Dayton Avenue (now part of Figueroa Street) towards Pasadena. From opening, the tunnels carried two lanes in each direction, with a 5-foot  sidewalk on the side.^*

Historical Notes

The first three tunnels opened in 1931 as a bypass to a section of North Broadway. The fourth tunnel (the southernmost and longest) opened in 1935, connecting to Figueroa Street downtown. Connections were added in 1937 to the Figueroa Street Viaduct, 1940 to the Arroyo Seco Parkway (known until 2010 as the Pasadena Freeway), and 1953 to the Four Level Interchange. A new alignment for southbound traffic, passing through a cut to the west of the tunnels, opened in 1943.^*

Historical Notes

The first three tunnels opened in 1931 as a bypass to a section of North Broadway. The fourth tunnel (the southernmost and longest) would be opened in 1935, connecting to Figueroa Street downtown.

Historical Notes

The above photo shows seven men climbing six ladders that are set against the cliff between the tunnels. Lumber is stacked between the tracks, and piled on the right. Four or five wooden houses are visible at the top of the hill on the left. A wooden rail fence circles around the excavation area.

Historical Notes

Since the tunnels' incorporation into Arroyo Seco Parkway (now SR 110), Figueroa Street has been discontinuous. It merges into SR 110 at Alpine Street in Chinatown, south of the tunnels, and splits in Highland Park, north of the Figueroa Street Viaduct over the Los Angeles River.^*

Historical Notes

The tunnels would not remain part of Figueroa Street for long. The 1940 opening of the Arroyo Seco Parkway to Pasadena created a chronic traffic jam at the tunnels, where several lanes merged into two. To eliminate the bottleneck, state highway engineers rushed to upgrade Figueroa Street to freeway standards. Blasting through the hills above and to the west of the tunnels, workers built a new open-cut roadway to carry four lanes of southbound traffic through Elysian Park to Castelar (now Hill) Street.^^^*

Historical Notes

Prior to construction of this southbound extension of Arroyo Seco Parkway, the northbound existing roadway handled both directions of traffic. This extension will allow conversion of the existing roadway to all northbound lanes.

Historical Notes

Photo caption reads: “Rushing the work to relieve the bottleneck of the Figueroa tunnels for traffic on the Arroyo Seco freeway that runs between Los Angeles and Pasadena, crews are shown building the new parallel road through Elysian Park. In one section a whole mountain is being moved to fill in dirt for the new relief road for the heavy traffic.” Photo dated March 7, 1941.

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco Parkway became officially known as the Pasadena Freeway in 1954, and it received the numerical designation 110 in 1981. However, it's worth noting that in 2010, the original name "Arroyo Seco Parkway" was restored, although it still carries the State Route 110 designation.

Historical Notes

By 1943, the two-way Figueroa Street Tunnels and Viaduct were repurposed for four lanes of northbound traffic, and a higher southbound roadway was cut into the hills to the west.

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco Parkway became officially known as the Pasadena Freeway in 1954, and it received the numerical designation 110 in 1981. However, it's worth noting that in 2010, the original name "Arroyo Seco Parkway" was restored, although it still carries the State Route 110 designation.

Historical Notes

The Bridge to the right is the Riverside-Figueroa Bridge, previous location of the Dayton Ave Bridge.

Historical Notes

The Figueroa Street Viaduct opened in 1937, providing a wider and direct Los Angeles River crossing than the Dayton Avenue Bridge. After passing over the river and San Fernando Road, it tied into Dayton Avenue (Figueroa Street) south of Avenue 26.

Historical Notes

July 6, 1937: Five hundred people gathered on the North Figueroa Street viaduct to celebrate the new concrete span across the Los Angeles River -- a construction project that had cost $650,000.

"Los Angeles acquired some closer neighbors yesterday. The opening of the gigantic new bridge across the Los Angeles River, San Fernando Road and the railroad tracks from the Figueroa Street tunnel brought about an eagerly awaited unity," The Times said in an editorial the next day.

"South Pasadena, Pasadena, San Marino and all the other communities in the north and northeast area were drawn in closer to the heart of the metropolis by the time-saving viaduct."

The Times spoke with great optimism about what such easier access would mean:

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco Parkway opened in late 1940 as a freeway from the Viaduct to Pasadena. However, the six-lane parkway narrowed to four lanes at the viaduct and through the tunnels, and had a number of at-grade intersections on its way downtown.

Historical Notes

The two-way Figueroa Street Tunnels and Viaduct were repurposed for four lanes of northbound traffic, and a higher southbound roadway was built to the west. From the split with Hill Street south to near the existing College Street overpass, the four-lane surface road became a six-lane freeway. The new road split from the old at the Figueroa Street interchange, just south of Avenue 26, and crossed the Los Angeles River and the northbound access to Riverside Drive on a new three-lane bridge. Through Elysian Park, a five-lane open cut was excavated west of the existing northbound tunnel lanes, saving about $1 million. The extension, still feeding into surface streets just south of College Street, was opened to traffic on December 30, 1943.

(1931 vs. 1958)

Historical Notes

Constructed in 1932, the Sixth Street Viaduct (also known as the Sixth Street Bridge) was an important engineering landmark in the City of Los Angeles. It was one of a set of fourteen historic Los Angeles River crossing structures, and the longest of these structures.

Historical Notes

The columns above the bridge line were removed less than a year after they were installed.  Due to widespread damage of the 1933 Long Beach earthquake, the city decided that in a future quake, the pylons might collapse onto the street in the middle of the bridge. Which means very few people have actually seen the bridge in it's entire original design as the architects envisioned it when it was completed.*

Historical Notes

Twenty-seven bridges currently span the LA River, from its origin in San Fernando Valley to its terminus in Long Beach. These structures constitute one of the largest concentrations of National Register-eligible bridges in the nation. In 2007, the city’s Cultural Heritage Commission declared thirteen of them, which were built between 1900 and 1938, as cultural monuments.

Several of the bridges are actually viaducts, structures with multiple spans, often connected by a tower.*^*#

Historical Notes

The Sixth Street Viaduct connects the downtown and Boyle Heights areas of Los Angeles.  It currently spans the Los Angeles River, the Santa Ana Freeway (US 101), and the Golden State Freeway (I-5), as well as Metrolink and Union Pacific railroad tracks and several local streets.^*

Historical Notes

The length of the span and approaches of the 6th Street Bridge and Viaduct is 3546 feet, with a roadway fifty-six feet wide. It is the longest and largest of the bridges spanning the Los Angeles River.

Historical Notes

The L.A. River Bed system was still growing back in the 1950s. As it progressed, many sections started growing concrete making it an ideal spot for a semi-secluded meeting point with long straight-aways. Teenagers from all around met up and pitted their best hot rod against rivals and friends alike.

Click HERE to see more in Drag Racing under the 6th Street Bridge.

Historical Notes

The Sixth Street Bridge is known as L.A.’s Most Cinematic Bridge having appeared in numerous films since it was built in 1932, including:

Despite its historical status, the bridge was closed for demolition and replacement in January 2016 due to concerns over seismic instability.

Historical Notes

The 3,500-foot landmark lasted a lifetime. At 84 years old and reinforced with ancient square rebar and hung with steel arches, it was the longest of 14 historic Los Angeles River crossings, connecting the Arts District to Boyle Heights west to east via Sixth Street and Whittier Boulevard. Although built with 1932’s latest engineering technologies, the concrete bridge began deteriorating prematurely, only 20 years after it opened. A chemical process known as an alkali-silica reaction, which created cracks in the cement, was eroding the structure. Costly attempts were made to correct the problem, but all were met with limited success. Restoration attempts proved to have only a Band-Aid effect, and previous plans to scuttle the bridge and build a replica didn’t go far. Los Angeles city officials, citing seismic studies, reluctantly deemed the decaying structure lacked the integrity to withstand a major earthquake, in addition to other safety concerns.*

In November of 2011, the LA City Council voted to put the bridge down and replace the structure due to cracks in the concrete and corroding cement. Construction is scheduled to start in 2015 and take three years, with the federal government footing much of the bill.

Historical Notes

The $482 million dollar project is the largest bridge project in the history of the city. Designed by LA-based architect Michael Maltzan, the viaduct will cross over a new public park.^

Bridge or Viaduct?
The main difference between Bridge and Viaduct is that the Bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles and Viaduct is a type of bridge crossing a valley or a gorge.

Historical Notes

Bridge construction has experienced several years long construction delays and multi-million dollar cost increases. The latest completion date is set for Summer 2022.^

Historical Notes

Some of the construction delays have been attributed to “construction challenges,” including the installation of temporary “shoring and falsework” to support the bridge while under construction.^

Historical Notes

The new 6th Street Bridge / Viaduct will feature ten pairs of arches ranging in size from 30 to 60-feet. The bridge will not only have four lanes of traffic like before, but it will have a bicycle lane on each side, 14-foot-wide sidewalks, and five sets of stairs that let pedestrians exit the bridge at different locations.*

Historical Notes

The Sixth Street bridge features a concrete “Y” column that branches into arches using grade 80 rebar instead of grade 60, which is a first for the state of California, and sliding isolation bearings exceed seismic code. Stairways and bike ramps improve connectivity for pedestrians.

Historical Notes

“The Sixth Street Viaduct isn’t just a connection between our communities – it’s a new landmark that represents the tenacity, beauty, and promise that defines Los Angeles,” -  Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Historical Notes

The Macy Street Bridge designers chose its Spanish Colonial Revival style to commemorate its location along the historic mission road, El Camino Real. The bridge is dedicated to the founder of the California missions, Father Junipero Serra. Constructed during the major bridge building decade, 1923-1933, Cesar Chavez/Macy Street is one of a group of 12 river bridges significant for their role in the transportation history of Los Angeles and their association with Chief Engineer Merrill Butler, a major bridge designer of the era. The Macy Street crossing provided a high water, unimpeded crossing for access to the city from the northern and eastern sections of the rapidly developing city.^*#

On August 1, 1979, the Cesar Chavez-Macy Street Bridge was designated Los Angeles City Historic-Cultural Monument No. 224 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Before the building of the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge there was a wooden bridge occupying where it now stands. The bridge that was built around 1910 served as the main entrance to Atwater Village. After a large flood in 1927 the old wooden bridge collapsed into the water.^*

Historical Notes

The Glendale-Hyperion Bridge was constructed in 1927 by vote of the citizens that lived in Atwater Village at the time, and was completed in February 1929. The bridge spans 400 feet over the Atwater section of the Los Angeles River and has 4 car lanes. The bridge has become more widely known because of existence of a small-scale replica of it at Disney California Adventure Park in Anaheim, California.^*

Historical Notes

Frequently asked question:  Is it a bridge or viaduct?  The answer is that its both a Bridge and a Viaduct.

Bridges are structures which are built to cross physical obstacles like a valley, water, or road.

Viaducts are a type of bridge that are made of multiple small spans. They have arches in a series. All arches are of almost the same length.

Historical Notes

Merrill Butler, Engineer of Bridges and Structures for the city’s Bureau of Engineering from 1923 to 1961, gets the credit as designer of the monument. The total length of the main portion is close to 1,400 feet. Crews used more than 35,000 cubic yards of concrete and 6,000,000 pounds of reinforcing steel in the total construction. They also drove about 1500 wooden and 3200 concrete piles to support the piers and abutments. There are thirteen arches: two are 135-feet each; eight are forty-eight feet; one is sixty-eight feet; and two stretch 118-feet.

Historical Notes

The black and white shot, above, from the USC Digital Archive, is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, most obviously, it's pre-5. The freeway would go on to plow under one of the bigger arches shown, the one on the right. Also, you can see the Pacific Electric bridge at the far right.

Historical Notes

In 1929 the Pacific Electric Railway constructed a line next to the Hyperion Bridge that would have Red Cars cross the Los Angeles River and down Glendale Boulevard. Up until 1959 the Red Cars would routinely cross the Los Angeles River next to the Hyperion Bridge. The line was shut down in 1959 in favor of Freeways. Today the concrete walls that held up the Red Car tracks still stand although the tracks have since been dismantled.^*

Historical Notes

Originally an alluvial river that ran freely across a flood plain, the Los Angeles River's 51-mile path was unstable and unpredictable with the mouth of the river moving frequently from one place to the other. In March of 1938 there was a great storm that flooded one third of the city of Los Angeles killing 115 people. Later that year, due to public outcry, the Army Corps of Engineers began the 20 year project to create the permanent concrete channel which still contains most of the of riverbed today.

Click HERE to see more in Los Angeles River - The Unpredictable!

Historical Notes

The 56-ft. wide, 1,370-ft. concrete arch Glendale-Hyperion Bridge was designed by Merrill Butler and completed in 1929; it was originally named the Victory Memorial Bridge, in honor of the men who had served in World War I. It crosses over the Los Angeles River, Riverside Drive, between Ettrick Street and Glenfeliz Boulevard, and since the 1950s, the Golden State Freeway. It is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #164.

Historical Notes

Today the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge still serves the people of Los Angeles and Glendale by serving as a crossing point between the cities. In 2004 multiple murals were painted on the old Red Car walls. Because of that the area underneath and around the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge is now named "Red Car Park". Prior to 2011, the area underneath the bridge served as an encampment for the local homeless. In 2011, all homeless people were removed as well as all of their belongings.

On May 12, 2015, Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O'Farrell announced that a permanent pedestrian/bicycle bridge would be built atop the old Red Car Pylons, connecting the two banks of the L.A. River. The project was expected to begin in 2018 after the design phase is completed, and will coincide with a retrofitting for the Glendale-Hyperion Complex of Bridges.^*

Historical Notes

Originally called the "Tropico Bridge" when it opened in 1925, the Los Feliz Boulevard Bridge was damaged in the floods of 1938, and soon thereafter re-worked. Its ornamental concrete railing was replaced with the bland metal railing you see today. From the upstream deck you can see the Army Corps of Engineers 1938 plaque attached to the elongated piers below.^^^*

Historical Notes

Sinai Temple was the first conservative congregation in Southern California, established in 1906.

Historical Notes

Over the course of several months in 1931, workers cleared a wide swath through three dense downtown blocks, demolishing buildings, tearing up foundations, and filling in basements—all to extend an automobile thoroughfare, Wilshire Boulevard (renamed from Orange Street after street widening), from Figueroa Street to Westlake.

The widening of what had been Orange Street left wounds. Workers either tore down structures fronting the street, or, in the case of the Rex Arms apartment building (seen above), cleaved off the fronts of the buildings to accommodate the wider road.*

Historical Notes

The Haussmannesque project was part of a larger effort to extend Wilshire, which was then emerging as L.A.'s preeminent commercial corridor, into the central business district. Previously, Wilshire dead-ended 1.5 miles west of downtown at Westlake (MacArthur) Park. There, the city built an earthen causeway through the park's recreational lagoon. It also widened and renamed Orange Street, a narrow retail strip that ran between the park and Figueroa Street.*

Local residents protested, and the dispute made its way to the state supreme court, which eventually allowed the construction to proceed.

Historical Notes

Despite enormous costs, the city completed the downtown portion first. Beginning in late 1930, workers demolished buildings, took up foundations, and filled in basements to extend Wilshire Boulevard three blocks between Figueroa and Grand. By the time it opened in September 1931, the 971-foot extension had cost $3.2 million -- all but $67,000 spent on demolishing the buildings that stood in the way and compensating their owners.

After widening, Orange Street was renamed Wilshire Boulevard between Alvarado and Figueroa streets.

Historical Notes

More painful, if not more expensive, than widening Orange Street was Wilshire's extension through Westlake Park, one of the city's oldest outdoor retreats. When public officials gathered to celebrate the completion of Wilshire's extension on December 7, 1934, the causeway they stood upon had split the park's signature lake in two (the smaller of these two rump lakes has since been filled in) and injected the once idyllic scene with the steady hum of automotive traffic.  Click HERE to see more on the Wilshire Extension through Westlake Park.

Historical Notes

The Dominguez-Wilshire building (also called the Myer-Siegel Building) was designed in 1930 by architects Morgan Walls and Clemens.  The Art Deco building is located at 5410 Wilshire Boulevard in the Miracle Mile district.  The property was named after its developers, the Dominguez family, the heirs to the first land grant given in California by King Carlos III of Spain.^*

Historical Notes

In 1886, Myer Siegel opened his first store at Second and Main in Los Angeles. The Wilshire store located in the Dominguez-Wilshire Building in the Miracle Mile was the third store in the chain following stores in Downtown and Pasadena.  Additional stores would follow in Beverly Hills and Westwood.  These Myer Siegel stores offered better women’s apparel.  The company closed in the late 1950s.^

Historical Notes

Not to be confused with today’s McDonald’s fast food restaurants, McDonnell’s Restaurant and Drive-in sandwich stands were part of a chain of restaurants found in LA during the 1930s.

The McDonnell's restaurants throughout Los Angeles were: McDonnell's Monterey (7312 Robertson Boulevard); McDonnell's Wilshire (Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue); McDonnell's Fairfax (Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard); McDonnell's Gates Hotel (Sixth and Figueroa streets); McDonnell's Hill Street (454 S. Hill Street); McDonnell's Figueroa (4012 S. Figueroa Street); McDonnell's Adams and Figueroa (2626 S. Figueroa Street); and McDonnell's Pico Street (Pico and Hope streets).

McDonnell's "Drive-Ins" were located at Beverly Boulevard & Western Avenue, Wilshire and Robertson Boulevards, Yucca Street and Cahuenga Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, and Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.^

Historical Notes

The Wilshire Bowl was a nightclub (and not a bowling alley). It opened in 1933, by 1941 it was the Louisiana Restaurant. Slapsy Maxie's took over around 1943.

Historical Notes

The Wilshire Bowl opened in 1933 and around 1942-1943 it became The Louisiana. Slapsy Maxie's existed in the space from 1943-1947 and was one of the venues that gave Danny Thomas his earliest standup performance opportunities. Eventually, Van de Kamp's Bakeries signed a $1,000,000 lease with Prudential Insurance Co. to convert the former restaurant into a modern coffee shop in 1952. It was demolished in 1982 to make way for a large commercial development.*

Historical Notes

This is Bob's airmail service gas station, which stood at 5453 Wilshire Blvd, at the corner of Cochran Ave. The plane is a 32-passenger Fokker F-32, which was a white elephant of an aircraft that never really worked right. They were probably going cheap so that when in 1934, Bob Spenser got the idea to build a Mobil gas station around one, Fokker probably said, “Here! Take it!” It sure must have been eye catching because in 1934, Bob's Air Mail Service Station sold more Mobiloil and Mobilgas products than any other dealer on the West Coast. #++#

Historical Notes

Bob’s Air Mail Service utilized the twin-prop airplane to top its station, with the wings serving as canopies to shade its General Petroleum pumps. The plane was one of two Fokker F-32 aircraft operated by Western Air Express, circa 1930-31. The four engine F-32 was a design failure due to overheating of the two pusher engines and was only briefly in commercial service.

Historical Notes

The Stock Exchange opened in 1931, in the midst of the Great Depression.

Designed in the Classical Moderne style to impart a sense of financial stability, the building’s imposing, fortress-like street façade rises the equivalent of five stories. A slender twelve-story office tower clad in terra cotta is set back at the rear.

The Stock Exchange became part of the Pacific Stock Exchange in 1956, and it moved out of the building in 1986. In the 1980s, the building was converted into a nightclub called the Stock Exchange. After undergoing an extensive interior renovation, the building reopened in 2010 as Exchange LA, a nightclub and event venue.*^#

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Railway (also known as Yellow Cars, LARy, and later Los Angeles Transit Lines) was a system of streetcars that operated in central Los Angeles and the immediate surrounding neighborhoods between 1901 and 1963. The company carried many more passengers than the Pacific Electric Railway's 'Red Cars' which served a larger area of Los Angeles.

The system was purchased by railroad and real estate tycoon Henry E. Huntington in 1898 and started operation in 1901. At its height, the system contained over 20 streetcar lines and 1,250 trolleys, most running through the core of Los Angeles and serving such nearby neighborhoods as Echo Park, Westlake, Hancock Park, Exposition Park, West Adams, the Crenshaw district, Vernon, Boyle Heights and Lincoln Heights.^*

Historical Notes

The National Air Races were held at Mines Field (now LAX), July 1-4, 1933. Begun in 1920, the National Air Races were an annual, week-long event including formation flying, parachute drops, aerobatic displays, and races. The event included two privately sponsored, closed-circuit speed races: the Pulitzer Trophy race held from 1920 to 1925 and the Thompson Trophy race held from 1930 to 1939. Along with other competitions, the National Air Races fostered the development of aircraft in the 1920s and 1930s but ended during World War II.

Historical Notes

In the foreground can be seen an ornate streetlight, often refered to as the 'Broadway Rose'. It was so named for the distinctive climbing rose design on the post. The Broadway Rose only appeared on Broadway.  Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Streetlights.

Historical Notes

Barker Brothers' fine furnishings was a Los Angeles upscale furniture chain that closed in 1992 after operating for more than 110 years.^*

Historical Notes

The 1925 building, designed in the Renaissance Revival style by Curlett and Beelman, was said to have been inspired by the Strozzi Palace in Florence. The symmetrically developed twelve-story structure is faced in terra cotta and brick, with a monumental three-story round arched center entry. Inside there is a forty-foot-high lobby court with beamed and vaulted ceilings.^

In 1988, the Barker Brothers Building on the southeast corner of 7th Street and Figueroa was dedicated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 356 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

In 1932, life in Long Beach, California was significantly impacted by the Great Depression and the discovery of the massive Wilmington Oil Field. Here are the key points about Long Beach in that year:

The city's economy was buoyed by its thriving oil industry, with the Wilmington Oil Field (the 4th largest in the U.S.) being developed in 1932. This provided jobs and income at a time when much of the country was struggling economically.

Long Beach's population had grown rapidly in the 1920s, reaching 142,032 by 1930, comprised largely of oil workers, auto assembly workers, sailors, and immigrants drawn by industrial jobs. This working-class population was hit hard by the Depression's effects.

The Ford Motor Company had opened a major assembly plant in Long Beach in 1929, providing employment, but likely faced reduced demand during the economic downturn.

Tourism, previously a major part of Long Beach's economy, declined sharply due to the Depression's impacts.
Despite the oil boom, many residents still faced hardship and unemployment from the national economic crisis.

The city's diverse industrial base including fish canning, shipping, vegetable oil production, and soap manufacturing helped cushion some of the Depression's effects.

Daily life was characterized by frugality and an emphasis on inexpensive leisure activities like listening to the radio, playing card games, bicycling, and visiting public beaches and parks.

Historical Notes

The Pike operated under several names. The amusement zone surrounding the Pike, "Silver Spray Pier", was included along with additional parking in the post-World War II expansion; it was all renamed Nu-Pike via a contest winner's submission in the late 1950s, then renamed Queens Park in the late 1960s in homage to the arrival of the Queen Mary ocean liner in Long Beach.

Historical Notes

The Pike reached its peak popularity in the 1930s-1950s, becoming the leading amusement attraction in the Los Angeles area and the 5th largest in the U.S. by 1954.

It featured 218 concessions at its peak, including the famous Cyclone Racer roller coaster that extended over the water.

Other popular attractions included the Loof carousel, pony rides, sideshows, and skill games.

The Pike became a hotspot for sailors on leave, who frequented its bars, tattoo parlors, and adult entertainment. Legendary tattoo artists like Bert Grimm set up shops there.

The Pike was most noted for the Cyclone Racer, a large wooden dual-track roller coaster, built out on pilings over the water. It was the largest and fastest coaster in the U.S. at the time.  They called it 'racer' because there were two trains on two separate tracks that raced one another from start to finish.

Historical Notes

Long Beach played host to the First National Surfing and Paddleboard Championship from November to December of 1938. The rising momentum of Long Beach surfing wouldn’t last, unfortunately. It took a major hit in 1941 with the construction of the Long Beach Breakwater.

Historical Notes

Surfing in Long Beach was short-lived. In 1940, the U.S. Navy moved into the port of Long Beach and in 1941 construction began on the 2.2-mile long Long Beach Breakwater. The breakwater was used by the U.S. Navy as protection for the U.S. Pacific Fleet during World War II. In 1997, the Navy base was closed, but the breakwater still remains to this day.

Historical Notes

The first Long Beach Municipal Auditorium was built in 1905 on the east side of the municipal pier at Seaside and Pine Ave. for a capacity crowd of 6000.

On May 24, 1913, 10,000 people were massed on a double-deck pier in front of the City Auditorium celebrating "British Empire Day”.  A section of the upper floor gave way and 400 were plunged to the beach, forty feet below. Those on the top deck fell upon the hundreds crowded on the lower deck, and all were dashed down a chute of shattered woodwork to the tide-washed sands. Thirty-three people, mostly women, were killed. Fifty more were seriously injured.

The auditorium was replaced in 1932 by the second Long Beach Municipal Auditorium.

Historical Notes

In 1932, the Long Beach Municipal Auditorium was constructed on the beach on 20 acres of landfill. In order to protect the auditorium from coastal erosion, a horseshoe-shaped breakwater with a road on top was constructed around it. Because of its shape it was named Rainbow Pier.

Historical Notes

In 1932, Long Beach became a home port for the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet, hosting a significant number of naval vessels.

The Battle Fleet, consisting of 16 battleships, was homeported in the San Pedro-Long Beach area from 1919 to 1940. Specifically in 1932, the Battle Fleet based in San Pedro Bay included:

16 battleships, including the USS Nevada, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi, Idaho, Tennessee, California, Colorado, Maryland, and West Virginia

2 aircraft carriers - USS Lexington and USS Saratoga

14 cruisers (which had joined from the Atlantic-based Scouting Force)

16 support ships

In total, there were around 31,286 Navy personnel manning these vessels in the San Pedro-Long Beach area by 1934. The overcrowded harbors lacked permanent shore facilities to support the large naval presence, relying on repair ships for minor repairs.

Historical Notes

Oil was discovered in 1921 on Signal Hill, which split off as a separate incorporated city shortly afterward. The discovery of the Long Beach Oil Field, brought in by the gusher at the Alamitos No. 1 well, made Long Beach a major oil producer; in the 1920s the field was the most productive in the world. In 1932, the even larger Wilmington Oil Field, fourth-largest in the United States, and which is mostly in Long Beach, was developed, contributing to the city's fame in the 1930s as an oil town.

Historical Notes

The 8,000-seat Long Beach Municipal Auditorium was built starting in 1931 at the foot of Long Beach Boulevard and extends 500 feet out into the Pacific Ocean. It is surrounded on three sides by a lagoon; the half-circular Rainbow Pier, which is open to the public, arches from Pine Ave. to Linden Ave. surrounding the auditorium and lagoon.

Historical Notes

Completed in 1932 from plans drawn by J. Harold McDowell, the auditorium replaced Long Beach's first Municipal Auditorium. It stood until 1975 when it was demolished to make way for the Long Beach Convention & Entertainment Center.

Historical Notes

The Rainbow Pier extended more than a quarter-mile into the cold Pacific before arcing back to shore. The 3,800-foot-long structure resembled a giant horseshoe, or a rainbow -- hence its name.

It was the first of its kind designed explicitly for the automobile. Built atop a granite breakwater, the pier's roadway could easily support the weight of a motorcar. And the fact that the road returned to shore eliminated the need for awkward turnarounds.

Historical Notes

The Egyptian Theatre was built in 1922 by showman Sid Grauman and real estate developer Charles E. Toberman, who subsequently built the nearby El Capitan Theatre and Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. Grauman had previously opened one of the United States' first movie palaces, the Million Dollar Theatre, on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles in 1918. The Egyptian Theatre cost $800,000 to build and took eighteen months to construct.^*

Called the Pig 'N Whistle, the name inspired by its fanciful logo of a dancing pig playing a flute. A side entrance to the new family restaurant opened right out into the grand courtyard of the Egyptian Theatre, so movie-goers could easily move from the restaurant to the theatre and vice versa.

From July 22, 1927 to the late 1940's, the Pig 'N Whistle served a loyal Hollywood audience and became something of a Hollywood landmark, surviving both the Great Depression and World War II. By 1949, the Pig 'N Whistle was closed, it's wooden booths purchased by the nearby Miceli’s Italian Restaurant. The Pig 'N Whistle reopened in March of 2001.^*

Historical Notes

Cord was the brand name of an American automobile company from Connersville, Indiana, manufactured by the Auburn Automobile Company from 1929 through 1932 and again in 1936 and 1937.*^

People still fondly remember the Currie’s chain and its “mile-high cone” whose replica was often displayed billboard-style on roofs. The chain was started in 1927 by three brothers named Kuhns. After WWII they sold it to the Good Humor Company who later sold it to Lipton in the 1960s. In 1964 the chain opened its 87th store, in North Hollywood. Although Currie’s anticipated launching units in every community in Southern California, only three outlets were listed in the 1967 Los Angeles phone book and the chain had disappeared by the 1980s. *##

Historical Notes

AUBURN Boattail Speedsters--built in very limited numbers for just a couple of years during the height of the Great Depression--were featured prominently in many magazine ads and movies.

Historical Notes

The sign was first erected in 1923 and originally read "HOLLYWOODLAND". Its purpose was to advertise the name of a new housing development in the hills above the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. H.J. Whitley had already used a sign to advertise his development Whitley Heights, which was located between Highland Avenue and Vine Avenue. He suggested to his friend Harry Chandler, the owner of the Los Angeles Times newspaper, that the land syndicate in which he was involved make a similar sign to advertise their land.^*

Historical Notes

* Few know that a giant white dot (35 feet in diameter, with 20-watt lights on the perimeter) was constructed below the Sign to catch the eye. The Sign itself featured 4,000 20-watt bulbs, spaced 8 inches apart.

At night the Sign blinked into the Hollywood night: first “Holly” then “wood” and finally “land,” punctuated by a giant period. The effect was truly spectacular.^

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 was opened in 1935. The building was torn down in early 1938.**^

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

Historical Notes

In 1935 the Los Angeles Times moved into its current building located on 1st and Spring, its 4th building since it started publishing in 1881.

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the LA Times.

Historical Notes

The theatre above is the First Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, later the Grand Theatre. It opened December 31, 1894, and inaugurated the Orpheum as a circuit.

There were four theaters named Orpheum. The first at 125 S. Main Street; the second at 227 S. Spring Street; the third at 630 S. Broadway; and the fourth (and present one) at 842 S. Broadway.^

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. *#*^

Historical Notes

By the early 1930s, the U.S. Hotel was still owned by the Mesmer family and lodged only men, many on public assistance.*#*^

Historical Notes

A gaunt ghost of bygone gaiety of the early days of Los Angeles, the old United States Hotel is shown as it is being torn down to make room for a more modern building. New sadness accompanied its demolishment when Mrs. Matilda M. Mesmer, widow of its manager for many years, Louis A. "Tony" Mesmer, died. She was the sister-in-law of Joseph Mesmer, prominent pioneer, who was the owner of the historic landmark. Photo dated: March 25, 1939.^

Historical Notes

The Central Oil Field as seen above is situated just south of the largest producing oil field in the history of the Southland called the Los Angeles Oil Field.

The Los Angeles Oil Field is a large oil field north of Downtown. Long and narrow, it extends from immediately south of Dodger Stadium west to Vermont Avenue, encompassing an area of about four miles long by a quarter mile across. Its former productive area amounts to 780 acres.

Discovered in 1890, and made famous by Edward Doheny's successful well in 1892, the 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 overbuilt by dense residential and commercial development.

The fortunes made during development of the field led directly to the discovery and exploitation of other fields in the Los Angeles Basin. Of the 1,250 wells once drilled on the field, and the forest of derricks that once covered the low hills north of Los Angeles from Elysian Park west, little above-ground trace remains today.^*

Historical Notes

Originally named Agricultural Park in 1876, the 160-acre site was developed and served as an agricultural and horticultural fairground until approximately 1910, at which point it was re-named Exposition Park. On November 6, 1913, Exposition Park was formally dedicated, and became the home to a state Exposition Building and the county Museum of History, Science and Art, later broken up and renamed the Natural History Museum.

The Armory Building was designed in 1912 by State Architect J.W. Woollett for the California National Guard 160th Infantry. In 2003 the California Science Center's Board of Directors voted to rename the historic Armory Building as the Wallis Annenberg Building for Science Learning and Innovation due to contributions toward the renovation and re-invention of the building by architect Thomas Mayne, which reopened in 2004.^

Historical Notes

The seven and a half acre Rose Garden, also called Sunken Garden, evolved from the redevelopment of Agricultural Park, and was completed in 1928. In 1991, the Exposition Park Rose Garden was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^

Historical Notes

The Pacific Mutual Building, located at 523 W. 6th Street, are actually three interconnected buildings built between 1908 and 1929. The original structure was designed and built between 1908-1912 by John Parkinson and Edwin Bergstrom. It has undergone many changes since it was built.

In 1974, the building underwent an extensive restoration by Wendell Mounce and Associates, with Bond and Steward, which brought it back to its Beaux Arts revival. And in 1985, the entire building was renovated again by the Westgroup, Inc.^

The Pacific Mutual Building is listed as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 398. Click HERE to see complete listing.

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Pacific Mutual Building.

Historical Notes

On October 9, 1936, the switch was thrown and electricity generated at the new Hoover Dam arrived in Los Angeles.   Los Angeles threw a big party.  The “Light on Parade” proceeded down Broadway, nicknamed “the Canyon of Lights.”

Historical Notes

Writer Thomas Treanor reported in the Oct. 10, 1936 Los Angeles Times:

Astride the power of 115,000 horses, with burning plumes outspread, the Giant of Hoover Dam–Electricity–rode into Los Angeles last night, casting a heretofore unseen and magnificent glare on more than 1,000,000 persons who crowded the downtown district from end to end.

A tumult of yelling and whistling and screaming greeted the giant with an exuberance and spontaneous feeling that has not been observed since the demonstration the day the World War ended…

On the site of the old Courthouse at Temple and Broadway, a platform had been erected. On the Courthouse grounds sat 10,000 persons in folding chairs.

The speakers had finished their speeches, the massed chorus had ended its song, and the prayer had been said, when the young woman–Miss Elizabeth Scattergood–stepped forward.
She read for a moment in a choked voice, a simple little speech full of feeling. Then she reached out her finger and touched a key. There was a tense moment of quiet.

A sputtering sound as the northeast corner of the Courthouse grounds. Brilliant as an explosion, lavender light washed away the half-darkness. In a great wave it swept across to the City Hall, to the Federal Building and to the Hall of Justice and Hall of Records…

The day after this event, the Electrical Age Exposition opened at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium for a nine-day run.  For the next 50 years the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power and Southern California Edison operated the Hoover Dam powerhouses. In 1987 they were turned over to the Federal Bureau of Reclamation.^^

Historical Notes

Theodore J. Van de Kamp and brother-in-law Lawrence L. Frank were the owners and originators of the Van de Kamp Bakeries. Fondly known as the "Taj Mahal of all bakeries". Van de Kamp and Frank also founded both the Tam O'Shanter's (1922) and Lawry's The Prime Rib (1938) restaurants.^*

Historical Notes

In 1928, when Fletcher was paved, the original timber bridge was replaced with a steel structure mounted on concrete footings (seen above). The newer structure soared more than 60 feet above the street and remained in place until 1959, when it and the nearby Riverside Drive Viaduct at Glendale Boulevard were demolished.^^^*

Today these concrete footings and bridge pylons are still there and have been designated as LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 770 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Fletcher Viaduct.

Please Support Our Cause

Water and Power Associates, Inc. is a non-profit, public service organization dedicated to preserving historical records and photos.  We are of the belief that this information should be made available to everyone—for free, without restriction, without limitation and without advertisements.

Your generosity allows us to continue to disseminate knowledge of the rich and diverse multicultural history of the greater Los Angeles area; to serve as a resource of historical information; and to assist in the preservation of the city's historic records.