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

Historical Notes

Reseda originated as a farm town named "Marian" (or "Rancho Marian") that appeared in 1912. Its namesake, Marian Otis Chandler, was the daughter of Los Angeles Times publisher Harrison Gray Otis, a director of the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company. H J Whitley was the manager of the Los Angeles Suburban Home Company.

The Western Division of the Pacific Electric Railway 'Red Cars Line' expedited development after the Los Angeles Aqueduct brought water to the City of Los Angeles in 1913. Soon, thereafter, Marian would be annexed by the City.*^

Historical Notes

In 1920, Reseda was named after a fragrant North African yellow-dye plant, Reseda odorata, whose English name is mignonette and which grows in hot, dry climates—replaced Marian as a designation for a stop on the Pacific Electric interurban railway running along Sherman Way. The name "Reseda" was given first to a siding on a branch of the Southern Pacific Railroad in the south San Fernando Valley.*^

Historical Notes

Sunland and Tujunga were originally home to the Tongva people. In 1840 the area was part of the Rancho Tujunga Mexican land grant, but later developers marked off a plot of land known as the Tejunga Park, or the Tujunga Park, Tract. The name Tujunga is assumed to have meant "old woman's place" in the extinct Tongva language, where Tuhu "old woman" is a term for Mother Earth in Tongva mythology.

Tujunga's 1,500-foot elevation and geographic isolation from the San Fernando Valley and the Los Angeles Basin freed it from some of the air pollution that was a problem in many other parts of Greater Los Angeles. Because of this, it attracted many asthmatics early on. Coronet magazine once called Tujunga "the most healthy place in the world." In 1929, the Tujunga City Council set policy to establish zones where "sanitariums and other institutions for the care of tubercular patients" could be established.

Tujunga was consolidated by the city of Los Angeles on March 8, 1932, but only after the third election.^*

Historical Notes

The community of Girard is identified in the center-left of photo near the intersection of the State Highway and Topanga Canyon. In 1945 it became known as Woodland Hills.^*

Originally called Zelzah, the town that we call Northridge today was renamed North Los Angeles on July 1, 1929. In 1938, this area of the San Fernando Valley was renamed Northridge Village. Few evidences of the "village" remain.#^^#

The community of Granada was founded in 1926.  The “Hills” was added 15 years later in 1941.^*

The Ventura Freeway would not be completed across the San Fernando Valley until 1960.^

Historical Notes

The Sepulveda Tunnel opened on September 27, 1930.  Until then, the Sepulveda Pass consisted of just a dirt road and some trails.  Most of the traffic between the Valley and the city moved over Cahuenga Pass and narrow passages like Laurel Canyon and Beverly Glen.^^#*

Historical Notes

Sepulveda Pass was paved and became a state highway route in 1935.^^#*

Historical Notes

The Arroyo del Jardin de los Flores was a stream that flowed from the location of today's Wilshire Country Club through Hancock Park, joining another creek that eventually drained to Ballona Creek near La Brea and St. Elmo Drive. The majority of this creek was piped and filled; a portion of it remains above ground at the Wilshire County Club, and a creek running through Brookside Estates also shares this name. Third square on right bottom (dark looking ravine), possibly the continuation of Arroyo del Jardin de los Flores.^

Historical Notes

The new 28-story high-rise was replacing the old 1888-built City Hall located on Broadway between 2nd and 3rd Streets. That building had replaced a one-story adobe City Hall, formerly the old Rocha House, on the northeast corner of Spring and Court Streets.

Historical Notes

For most of the 20th century, the hotels, boarding houses, and apartment blocks along the single block of Weller Street housed hundreds of Little Tokyo’s down and out. During the interwar years, the Salvation Army maintained its primary hotel for poor industrial workers at 127 Weller Street, visible on the left of the top photograph. After waves of Japanese families began returning to Los Angeles from internment camps after the war, many of the old buildings served as homes for those needing temporary lodging, and eventually, for those with nowhere else to go.*

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Weller Street.

Historical Notes

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

◆ 1928 - moved to current City Hall Building

Historical Notes

The Broadway Tunnel was a tunnel under Fort Moore Hill, downtown, extending North Broadway (formerly Fort Street), at Sand Street (later California Street), one block north of Temple Street, northeast to the intersection of Bellevue Avenue (later Sunset Boulevard, now Cesar Chavez Avenue), to Buena Vista Street (now North Broadway).

The tunnel was closed in 1949, and was demolished for the construction of the Santa Ana Freeway. The route cut through Fort Moore Hill and made it necessary for a Broadway overpass to be built across the freeway and the old tunnel site.*^

Historical Notes

At 28 stories and 454 feet high, the Los Angeles City Hall was the tallest building in Los Angeles from its completion in 1928 to 1964.

Historical Notes

The Times building seen above is the third Times building. It was built on the same site as the second building after that was blown up in 1910. It co-existed with the State Building for several years until the Times moved into their 4th and current home, and then it was torn down about 1938.**^

Historical Notes

The State Builiding was completed in 1931 at a cost of more than $2 million. It was dedicated the day before the opening of the 1932 Olympics in a ceremony that featured Amelia Earhart.*#

Historical Notes

In 1930, through the efforts of activist Christine Sterling, the Plaza-Olvera area was revived with the opening of Paseo de Los Angeles (which later became popularly known by its official street name Olvera Street).

As a tourist attraction, Olvera Street is a living museum paying homage to a romantic vision of old Mexico. The exterior facades of the brick buildings enclosing Olvera Street and on the small vendor stands lining its center are colorful piñatas, hanging puppets in white peasant garb, Mexican pottery, serapes, mounted bull horns, oversized sombreros, and a life-size stuffed donkey. Today, Olvera Street attracts almost two million visitors per year.^*

Historical Notes

The Sepulveda house was once the private home of one of the most powerful families in early Los Angeles. The Sepulveda House was built by Eloisa Martinez de Sepulveda in 1887, at a time when all predictions were that the population boom of the 1880s would last. However, Señora Sepulveda's hopes for Main Street were not fulfilled and by 1900 the area around her house was mostly industrial. Since the turn of the 20th century, Sepulveda House has been a bordello, a tearoom and the USO canteen during World War II.^*

Historical Notes

The eastern portion of Rancho Country Club became Hillcrest Country Club. The western section became Cheviot Hills Park/Rancho Park Recreation Center. Fox Hills Drive on the Janss Westwood Hills Tract runs parallel with Fox Studios to the west.

Historical Notes

Westwood and UCLA were developed on the lands of the historic 'Wolfskill Ranch', a 3,000-acre parcel that was purchased by Arthur Letts, the successful founder of the Broadway, and Bullock's department stores, in 1919. Upon Arthur Lett's death, his son-in-law, Harold Janss, vice president of Janss Investment Company, inherited the land and developed the area and started advertising for new homes in 1922.^*

Historical Notes

Westwood Village was created by the Janss Investment Company, run by Harold and Edwin Janss and their father, Peter, in the late 1920s as an autonomous shopping district and headquarters of the Janss Company. Its boom was complemented by the boom of UCLA (which selected the Westwood Hills as its new home in 1926), developed as a shopping district not just for the residents of Westwood but also for the university.^*

Historical Notes

In 1919 UCLA obtained university status and became the Southern Branch of the University of California, located at 855 N. Vermont Avenue. In 1927 the name was changed to the University of California at Los Angeles. On May 31, 1929 the university opened its new campus in Westwood on land sold for $1 million dollars. In 1958, the name changed slightly again when the "at" was dropped, and became simply University of California, Los Angeles or UCLA.^

Even before it was situated on the Vermont campus, UCLA was evolving from another school, California State Normal School, founded in 1881. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of UCLA.

Historical Notes

In May 1927, ground was broken at UCLA’s new Westwood campus and the first priority was to construct a bridge to cross the deep arroyo. The bridge was necessary for transporting construction supplies over the ravine that divided the east and west parts of the site.

In the summer of 1947, the gully was filled to increase the amount of useable property on the campus. Today, the bridge’s arches remain hidden underground at Dickson Plaza.^*^*^

Historical Notes

The Malibu Pier was originally built in 1905 to support the operations of Frederick Hastings Rindge's Malibu Rancho. Hides, grains, fruit, and other agricultural products were shipped from the pier either directly or by transfer to larger vessels. Building materials and other Rancho necessities arrived at the pier. The Rindge private railroad, used for freight movement within the ranch, had a terminus near the pier.

In 1934, the pier was opened to the public for pier and charter fishing. Fishermen were also shuttled back and forth from the pier and the barge Minnie A. Caine anchored a mile off shore. After the bankruptcy of Marblehead Land Co. (the Rindge's land operation) in 1936, the Malibu Pier was taken over by bondholders who had helped finance Malibu development. The pier was extended to its current 780-foot length, and the first small bait and tackle shop building was constructed at the ocean end by 1938. #++

Historical Notes

Malibu Movie Colony began in the late 1920s when the widow of an oil and electric company magnate, May Rindge (“Queen of the Malibu”), owned all 27 miles of a then almost-unreachable and deserted coastline. Finding herself in financial trouble after lengthy legal battles, she decided to rent space on one secluded mile to Hollywood celebrities. It was instantly dubbed the Malibu Movie Colony.

The studios loaned out set designers to construct shacks where folks like Clara Bow, Ronald Colman, Barbara Stanwyck, and many more could enjoy privacy, a place to conduct their illicit liaisons, and have some athletic fun. There is still a photograph along the wall of the first tennis court built there, of Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford, racquets in hand.

By the mid-1930s, Rindge allowed the stars to actually purchase their homes, which, as the decades moved on, grew more and more expansive (though most houses were, and remain, on 30-foot lots). The stars kept coming: Bing Crosby, Gary Cooper, Merle Oberon. Eventually, the musical world invaded, with former singer turned producer Peter Asher hosting everyone from Joni to James for all-day sing-alongs. Neil Diamond owned for a long time, Ronnie Wood rented, as did Linda Ronstadt, who jogged the beach with her boyfriend, Gov. Jerry Brown. Even rapping rivals Shug Knight and Tupac Shakur rented one year…at the same time. ^x^

Historical Notes

The pier opened to the public in 1934. Big stars including Buster Crabbe and Cesar Romero were among those who fished for halibut and barracuda from a barge anchored offshore. After the Rindges' land-development venture, Marblehead Land Co., went broke in 1936, bondholders took over the pier and extended it to its current 780-foot length. ^

Historical Notes

During World War II, the pier served as a U.S. Coast Guard lookout until a storm in the winter of 1943-44 demolished much of the structure. Businessman William Huber then bought it for $50,000 and rebuilt it. After the war, he constructed the twin buildings at the seaward end for a bait-and-tackle shop and restaurant. ^

Historical Notes

The Malibu Beach Sports Club Restaurant opened in 1956 and lasted until 1969.^

Historical Notes

Alice's Restaurant on the Malibu Pier, named for the Arlo Guthrie song, opened in 1972, during the height of the hippy era. The easy-going, eclectic restaurant replaced the more formal Malibu Beach Sports Club Restaurant, and endured for nearly 25 years.*

Historical Notes

Ever since the legendary oil tycoon Edward L. Doheny and his partner, Charles A. Canfield, struck oil northwest of downtown Los Angeles in 1892, extracting petroleum from the land beneath Southern California has been a major part of the Southern California economy and its landscape. That included the beach areas as well.^^^*

Historical Notes

In 1930, oil was discovered on the Venice Peninsula. Within a year, 148 oil wells were producing over 40,000 barrels of oil daily. Jobs were created, but environmental destruction was wide spread and polluting the surrounding residential area and beaches.*#*

Historical Notes

Despite the pollution and problems that came with it, Venice continued to drill as the opportunity was just too good to pass up. By 1931, the Venice Oil Field was the 4th most productive field in the state with 340 wells in use.

Historical Notes

In 1932 the wells were finally tapped and production dropped drastically – it was a good run but a short one, and now there was a big mess to clean up.

Historical Notes

By the end of 1942 the Venice oil field had pumped a total of 47,488,128 barrels, but by then production was only 688 barrels per day.*#*

Historical Notes

The unsightly oil derricks on the Venice Peninsula were slowly removed as people began to settle the promising beach area again. In 1959 only 64 derricks remained and the last one was removed in 1962. There was still oil in the ground, and these remaining oil wells, mostly owned by Graner Oil Company of Signal Hill, still pumped like bobbing grasshoppers a few dozen barrels a week each. As property values rose in the 70's, the land was sold or developed and the last of the oil wells were capped.*#*

Historical Notes

The First National Exhibitors' Circuit was founded in 1917 by the merger of 26 of the biggest first-run cinema chains in the United States, eventually controlling over 600 cinemas, more than 200 of them so-called "first run" houses (as opposed to the "second run" neighborhood theaters to which films moved when their first-run box office receipts dwindled).

Historical Notes

With the success of The Jazz Singer and The Singing Fool, Warner Bros. purchased a majority interest in First National in September 1928. Warner Bros. acquired access to First National's affiliated chain of theaters, while First National acquired access to Vitaphone sound equipment. But the trademarks were kept separate, and films by First National continued to be credited solely to "First National Pictures" until 1936.

Historical Notes

Although both studios produced "A" and "B" budget pictures, generally the prestige productions, costume dramas, and musicals were made by Warner Bros., while First National specialized in modern comedies, dramas, and crime stories. Short subjects were made by yet another affiliated company, The Vitaphone Corporation (which took its name from the sound process).^*

Historical Notes

By 1937, Warner Bros. had all but closed its Sunset studio, making the Burbank lot its main headquarters — which it remains to this day. Eventually the First National company was dissolved and the site has often been referred to as simply Warner Bros. Studios since.^*

Historical Notes

Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood offers visitors the chance to glimpse behind the scenes of the Burbank Warner Bros. Studio lot.  The tour in some form has been open for several decades, but was recently renamed to give the Warner Bros. Studio Tours a more uniform identity after the success of Warner Bros. Studio Tour London in Leavesden. Previously it was known as the Warner Bros. Studios VIP Tour.^

Historical Notes

In the late 1930s the 1.5-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Highland Avenues would be named the Miracle Mile.

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.

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

Wilshire Tower was the first Art Deco landmark tower on the street. Over the years stores such as Desmond's and Silverwoods occupied the ground floor while doctors and dentists had offices in the eight-story tower. Located at 5514 Wilshire Boulevard, the Zig-Zag Moderne building was designed by architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood and built in 1928.^

Note the ornate streetlights on Wilshire Boulevard, often referred to as 'Wilshire Specials'. Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Streetlights.

Historical Notes

Silverwood's was founded in 1894 by Francis Bernard ("Daddy") Silverwood, Los Angeles clothier, merchant, and businessman, originally from Canada, near Lindsay, Ontario. The first store was located at 124 South Spring St. in Los Angeles, and soon moved to larger quarters at 221 South Spring St. The flagship store was established in 1904 at Sixth & Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.^#*^

Hartmarx, one of the nation's largest clothing manufacturers and retailers, bought Silverwood's in 1941 and kept thee name. The Silverwood's chain of clothing stores folded in the 1990s.^*

Historical Notes

The Wishire Tower Building was declared Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 332  in 1987 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

The gas station was demolished the following year to make way for the construction of the E. Clem Wilson Building.

The brick-clad building facing La Brea Avenue in the left background housed an office and switching station for the Southern California Telephone Company, completed in 1925 to serve the city’s western neighborhoods. It was enlarged from three to five floors in 1942 and given a complementary Art Deco facade by architects John and Donald Parkinson. It continues to operate today under the ownership of AT&T. #^+

Historical Notes

Built in 1929 - 1930, the E. Clem Wilson Building was designed by architects Meyer and Holler in Art Deco (Zigzag) Moderne style. It is also known as the Wilson Building. Corporate names that adorned the Wilson Building included (in chronological order): General Insurance, Mutural of Omaha (until 1990), Asashi, and Samsung.^

Historical Notes

The Fox Ritz Theatre at 5214 Wilshire Boulevard (S/E corner of Wilshire and La Brea) was designed by architect Lewis A. Smith.  The 1600-seat theatre opened in 1926 and was demolished in 1977.^

Historical Notes

This theatre at the corner of Wilshire and Mansfield opened in 1932 as one of several theatres commissioned by United Artists and Fox West Coast Theatres. It was designed by the renowned firm of Walker and Eisen, with Clifford Balch as architect. The theatre reopened in 1933 as the Four Star Theatre.

Historical Notes

At one time Simon's Drive-Ins dominated the Southern California drive-in restaurant craze. The Simon brothers had operated a chain of successful dairy lunch counters in downtown Los Angeles, and in 1935 decided to capitalize on the growing car culture of Los Angeles by opening auto friendly locations in the emerging commercial centers of Wilshire Boulevard, Sunset and Ventura Boulevards. #^*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of LA Drive-in Restaurants.

Historical Notes

In 1908, architect John C. W. Austin was hired by by Ida Hancock, widow of Major Henry Hancock, to create Villa Madama, which was based on Florence’s Villa Medici. In 1909, the Villa Madama was by built in a subdivision called Shatto Place.^

Hancock Park was developed in the 1920s by the Hancock family with profits earned from oil drilling in the former Rancho La Brea. The area owes its name to developer-philanthropist George Allan Hancock, who subdivided the property in the 1920s. Hancock, born and raised in a home at what is now the La Brea tar pits, inherited 4,400 acres, which his father, Major Henry Hancock had acquired from the Rancho La Brea property owned by the family of Jose Jorge Rocha.^*

Historical Notes

Associated with a number of successful Los Angeles businesses and very active in community affairs, Louis Maurice Cole was a member of the extended Hellman banking family, several of whom built houses within two blocks of each other on Wilshire Boulevard. Cole's wife, née Frida Hellman, was the sister of Marco of 3350 Wilshire and of Mrs. Sollie Aronson—Amy—of 3325.++*

Historical Notes

As Wilshire Boulevard cemented its status as Los Angeles’ premier highway during the 1920s, it also emerged as the locus of high-end commercial development for the city’s affluent and growing west side. This dual identity was exemplified by the California Petroleum Corporation’s flagship Calpet service station (1927-1928) and then Texaco service station (1928-mid 50’s), shown in the photo above at the boulevard’s northeast corner with New Hampshire Avenue. Although the demolished depot has now been largely forgotten, it surely ranks among the most distinctive lost buildings of Wilshire Boulevard.

Prior to 1928, the Texaco Service Station seen above was called CALLPET (California Petroleum) Service Station (Click HERE to see more).

Historical Notes

The beautiful Moorish-style Texaco service station stood until the mid-1950s. In 1956, it was replaced by a Modernist office building and adjacent parking lot, built for the Pioneer Savings and Loan Association. The relatively unremarkable six-story building remained occupied by bank tenants through the late 1980s. Since then, it has served as the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles.* Click HERE to see contemporary view.

Historical Notes

Spence Air Photos was a one-man company ~ photographer, "Robert Earl Spence". He began shooting aerials in 1918. In the 1920s he had numerous clients hiring him to shoot homes and businesses. Spence would shoot images at an angle, not straight down, showing many additional building details. Spence was not a pilot, he hired an airplane pilot to fly him overhead while he leaned out from the cockpit with a bulky camera to get angled shots of the landscape. His method captured the details of the homes and their surroundings all the way to the horizon. He continued to photograph homes for 50 years.

In 1971, Spence retired and donated his collection of 110,000 negatives to the University of California Geography Department. He passed away in 1974.****^

At UCLA, the Spence Collection is part of The Benjamin and Gladys Thomas Air Photo Archives.

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Compton.

Historical Notes

Although there are dozens upon dozens of buildings, for decades no building in Los Angeles was allowed to exceed the height of City Hall, until 1957. It remained the tallest building in California from 1928-1964, at 28 stories tall (450 feet).^

Historical Notes

The Ayers Apartments will be demolished with the construction of the Edison Building in 1930-31 and the Baronne, originally the Westonia, will change it's name one last time and become the Engstrum Hotel Apartments.^#^^

Historical Notes

In 1930, Los Angeles' population was 1,238,048. This was more than double its population just 10 years earlier (576,700).^*

Historical Notes

In 1939, Southern California Edison (SCE) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) completed negotiations on the division of territory between the two utilities. SCE would supply the unincorporated areas within Los Angeles County and all other municipalities except for Pasadena, Glendale, and Burbank, while the DWP became the sole electrical service provider for the City of Los Angeles.

Click HERE to see more in First Electricity in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The above photo was taken from the roof of the Central Library, the still under-construction Edison Building is taking shape. Next door to the left is the handsome, symmetrical Engstrom Apartment Hotel and on the corner of Hope Street is a single family residence and behind it the Pierce apartments which will soon give way to the Engsrtrum's need for on site parking. Up Hope Street the white Barbara Worth Apartments shown on the left.^#^^

Historical Notes

Located on the corner of Fifth Street and Grand Avenue the building opened on March 20, 1931 as the Southern California Edison Company corporate headquarters.*

The Edison Company Building was one of the first all-electrically heated and cooled buildings constructed in the western United States. Now known as One Bunker Hill, the Art Deco building located at 601 W. 5th Street was designed by James and David Allison.^

Historical Notes

The church building stands on a v-shaped corner of Occidental Blvd. and Hoover St.  This one of the archdiocese's architectural gems, showing a beautiful rose window above the main entrance. It was dedicated in November 1926.  The Italian Romanesque structure has three rose windows that offer a dim and religious life. Twelve large stained glass windows, six yellow windows and the Stations of the Cross Mosaics are over the nave.^*

Historical Notes

Wilshire Christian Church was the first church on Wilshire Boulevard in 1911. The church property on the northeast corner of Wilshire and Normandie was donated by the Chapman Brothers, owners of Chapman Park Market, whose historic building remains nearby on Sixth Street. In 1927 the original church was replaced by this Northern Italian Romanesque style structure with a 200-foot tower, designed by Robert H. Orr.

Historical Notes

The Gaylord Apartment Hotel was named after Henry Gaylord Wilshire, who founded the famous boulevard; the 14-story building officially opened its doors in 1924. The entire area near the Gaylord became the site of New York style apartment buildings, and many film stars lived in these elegant high rises. Among them were the Ambassador, Asbury, Langham, Fox Normandie, Picadilly, and Windsor. In the mid-sixties, the Gaylord Apartment Hotel was converted into a charming apartment community.^

Historical Notes

In the 1920s, the atmospheric rise of automobile ownership within the city, coupled with Wilshire Boulevard's emergence as a commercial corridor and the development of Western Avenue as a fashionable residential street, transformed the intersection into a recurring traffic jam. In 1928, the city traffic commission recorded nearly 75,000 automobiles and double-decker buses passing through Wilshire and Western on one particular day, making the intersection the nation's busiest, according to the commission's own reckoning.

Chronic congestion inspired traffic engineers to innovate. In 1922 they experimented with a traffic circle that, because of the intersection's small size, only bottlenecked traffic. Two years later they installed some of the city's first automated traffic signals at the crossroads. ^^^*

Historical Notes

Developer Henry de Roulet described the intersection as one of the busiest in the world. In 1930-31 he would build the Wiltern Theater and Pellisser Building complex at southeast corner. The buildings are now on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.**^

Historical Notes

In 1882, Germain Pellisier, a 33-year-old immigrant from the French Alps, purchased the Southern Pacific's 156-acre tract on the intersection's southeast corner for $3,200. At first Pellissier opened a sheep ranch on his new property, but he was less interested in the land for wool production than as a long-term investment; the foresighted Pellissier believed that a growing Los Angeles would soon spill over its city limits and reach his quarter-section of wilderness.

Events soon proved him right. In April 1885, the Los Angeles County board of supervisors designated one of the roads passing by his tract a county highway, bestowing on it the name Western Avenue. (The other road would later be named Sixth Street before becoming Wilshire Boulevard in 1897.) Pellissier shut down his sheep ranch, and, when Southern California's wild land boom arrived in 1887, parceled out part of his tract, which eventually became known as the Pellissier Square subdivision. By 1905, land that Pellissier had bought for $20.50 per acre was selling for $2,700. ^^^*

Historical Notes

Developer Henry de Roulet, who had grown up not far from the building's site on the former sheep ranch, named the building after his visionary grandfather, Germain Pellissier. ^^^*

Historical Notes

Completed in 1931, the Wiltern was designed by architect Stiles O. Clements of Morgan, Walls & Clements, the city’s oldest architectural firm.

Historical Notes

Wilshire Boulevard Temple, founded in 1862 as Congregation B'nai B'rith, is the oldest Jewish congregation in Los Angeles. One of the country’s most respected Reform congregations, Wilshire Boulevard Temple's magnificent sanctuary, with its famous dome and Warner Murals, is a City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.^*

Historical Notes

Los Angeles Motor Bus Company was formed in 1923 as a joint venture between both the Pacific Electric Railway and Los Angeles Railway to institute a comprehensive new motor bus service for major arteries in the rapidly expanding metropolis.

The even numbered buses belonged to Los Angeles Railway and the odd numbered buses belonged to Pacific Electric Railway.#*

(ca. 1931)+# – View showing a double-decker, open-topped Los Angeles Motor Coach Bus heading east through the intersection of Western and Wilshire boulevards.  The tall building in the distance is the Wilshire Professional Building (3875 Wilshire Blvd).

Historical Notes

Wilshire has an interesting distinction, it was the only street that was banned by the City of Los Angeles from having street rail on it. The elites of early 20th century Los Angeles who built their mansions in the area were the region's first "NIMFYs" (Not in My Front Yard). The clanging bells and masses who rode streetcars were not welcomed on Wilshire, but buses were. #*

Historical Notes

Originally built in 1931, the Wiltern was designed by architect Stiles O. Clements of Morgan, Walls & Clements, the city’s oldest architectural firm.

The Wiltern Theatre was originally designed as a vaudeville theater and initially opened as the Warner Brothers Western Theater, the flagship for the theater chain. Quickly closing a year later, the theater reopened in the mid-1930s and was renamed the Wiltern Theatre for the major intersection which it faces (Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue.)^*

Both the Wiltern Theatre and the Pellissier Building have been named to the National Register of Historic Places and declared a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument by the City of Los Angeles (No. 118). Click HERE to see complete listing.

Historical Notes

Many structures seen above, including the Churrigueresque style commercial building at 3771 Wilshire Boulevard (across from the Wiltern) have since been demolished.^

Historical Notes

The Wiltern Theatre opened its doors on Oct. 7, 1931, as the Warner Theatre -- part of Warner Bros.' chain of first-run movie houses -- with a screening of Alexander Hamilton, starring George Arliss. A brass band played, as movie stars and other stylish guests walked the temporary "Bridge of Stars" across Wilshire Boulevard to the theater's front doors. The bridge was decorated with lights and flowers.*##

Historical Notes

Wilshire has an interesting distinction, it was the only street that was banned by the City of Los Angeles from having street rail on it. The elites of early 20th century Los Angeles who built their mansions in the area were the region's first "NIMFYs" (Not in My Front Yard). The clanging bells and masses who rode streetcars were not welcomed on Wilshire, but buses were. #*

Historical Notes

The Gothic revival style church was designed by Benjamin C. McGougall and is considered to be one of the finest examples of Gothic Revival architecture in Southern California.^

Historical Notes

The Gothic revival style church was designed by Benjamin C. McGougall in the 1920s and the art deco office building at 3875 Wilshire Boulevard was designed by architect Arthur E. Harvey and built in 1929.^

Historical Notes

Barkies Sandwich Shops was a 1920s Los Angeles restaurant chain, featuring a larger than life mascot named “Ponderous Pup.” These types of shops were an early precursor to the mini-mall idea.

Historical Notes

In the 1920s and 30s, as the automobile was becoming the default way to get around Los Angeles, buildings and structures in the area became more unique, often resembling the merchandise or services they hawked.  These “hey-you-can’t miss-me!” buildings (referred to as Novelty or Programmatic architecture) were made to pull automobile drivers right off the road.

Click HERE to see more examples of Early Los Angeles Programmatic Architecture.

Historical Notes

The part of the city called Sonora Town was an old adobe village north of the Plaza and Church of Our Lady, Queen of the Angels. It was Los Angeles' first Mexican quarters, or barrio. The area was named for the numerous miners and families who came from Sonora, Mexico, and may have still been around in the 1930s. Now it is Los Angeles' Chinatown District.^

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Sonora Town.

Historical Notes

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

In November 1918, a week after Armistice Day ended World War I, the park was renamed Pershing Square, in honor of Gen. John Joseph "Black Jack" Pershing.^*

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.

The original structure has seen many changes over the years: a North Side addition was built in 1916 by William J. Dodd; a twelve-story structure was built in 1921 by William J. Dodd and his associate William Richards; the Garage Building was added in 1926 by Schultze and Weaver; and the West Side addition was erected in 1929 by Parkinson and Parkinson. The building underwent Moderne remodeling in 1936 by Parkinson and Parkinson.^

The Pacific Mutual Building is still there today, but the facade of the building on the corner has been modernized. It is listed as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 398 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Designed as an office building by James and Merritt Reid, the Douglas Building was completed in 1898.

The Lyceum Theatre, located at 227 S. Spring Street, was designed by J. Lee Burton and opened in 1888 as the Los Angeles Theater. It later became the 2nd Los Angeles Orpheum Theatre, and when it closed in 1941, it was known as the Lyceum Theatre.^

All of the structures seen from the Douglas Building to the right have been demolished.

Historical Notes

By the early 30s the Lyceum Theatre was exclusively a movie theatre. In 1941, the building was demolished to make way for a parking lot.^^*#

Historical Notes

The Angelus Hotel was built in 1901 by G.S. Holmes (also the proprietor of The Knutsford Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah). Advertised then as the tallest building in Los Angeles, the hotel consisted of two, seven-story buildings joined by a central structure with a lobby, dining rooms, meeting rooms and other shared facilities, including a central court yard on top.^^*^

The Bank of Italy was founded in San Francisco, in 1904 by Amadeo Giannini. It grew by a branch banking strategy to become the Bank of America, the world's largest commercial bank with 493 branches in California and assets of $5 billion in 1945.^*

Historical Notes

Fire Escapes date back to the turn of the 20th century, when fire safety became a major concern and building owners were required by law to provide fire escape routes in their new property. The fire escape invention seemed to be a simple and cost-efficient way to address this requirement.

As far as a patented fire escape, the first credited person for such an invention was Anna Connelly in 1887. She invented the exterior staircase, used specifically for a fire escape. Many companies saw advantages to using this system and decided to incorporate that patent into their own buildings. These exterior staircases were cheap to build and could be added to the existing construction very easily, without the need to restructure the walls.*^#*

Historical Notes

Hill Street is at left and is crowded with both vehicle and pedestrian trafic. At center and right are several large buildings, including the Garfield Building and the RKO Theatre, which was formerly the Hill Street Theatre and part of the Orpheum Circuit. A very tall skyscraper is in the foreground at right and legible signs include, "Scott Bros", "Furs", "Foreman & Clark", "Upstairs from coast to coast", "Cost to coast Foreman & Clark World's Largest Makers and Retailers of Men's Clothes", "Gifts for Mother", "Mothers Day May 11th".

Historical Notes

Several large buildings can be seen, including the Garfield Building and the RKO Theatre, which was formerly the Hill Street Theatre and part of the Orpheum Circuit. Legible signs include, from left to right, "Professional Courses in [...] Secretarial Training", "Belasco Theatre", "Hotel", "RKO Theatre", "Herbists Café", "Garfield Building", "Birch Smith Furniture Co.", "Alhambra Bill Haines Marie Dressler", "Hardman Piano", and "Coffee Dan's".

Historical Notes

The 1931-built Art-Deco building seen above was designed by architects Percy A. Eisen and Albert R. Walker, whose Downtown Los Angeles credits include the Fine Arts Building and the James Oviatt Building. It originally housed an outpost of the household goods business F&W Grand Silver Stores. In the middle of the century it held a Hartfield’s Department Store. More recently, the structure served as an office building.

Click HERE for contemporary view.

Historical Notes

The ornate streetlight seen above is also referred 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. 

Historical Notes

Seventh Street and Broadway was a busy junction for the Pacific Electric Railway, with southbound cars leaving on the San Diego Coast Route, stopping at Whittier, Santa Ana, Oceanside, and La Jolla. Westbound trains along Wilshire Boulevard head towards the Santa Monica Bay District and Beach Road North.*#

Historical Notes

The tallest buildings seen above were all 13-stories which was the legal limit in those days. There was a 150’ height limit until as late as 1957.  Also, the first floor usually encompassed a 2nd floor mezzanine, so that there was never a 13th floor.

The Platt Music Company Building was constructed in 1927 and designed by architects Walker + Eisen who also designed the Wurlitzer Building just up the block at 818 S. Broadway. The same firm also designed the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.^

Historical Notes

The Orpheum Theatre at 842 S. Broadway opened on February 15, 1926 as the fourth and final Los Angeles venue for the Orpheum vaudeville circuit.

Earlier Orpheum theatres in downtown Los Angeles included:

◆ 110 S. Main St. -- Grand Opera House was the home of Orpheum vaudeville from 1894 to 1903.

◆ 227 S. Spring St. -- The Los Angeles Theatre, later called The Lyceum, was known as the Orpheum from 1903 to 1911.

◆ 630 S. Broadway -- Now the Palace Theatre -- this was the Orpheum between 1911 and 1926.

Historical Notes

The 13-story Wurlitzer Building, built in 1924, was was billed as "the world's largest music house" (Click HERE to see more).

Historical Notes

*In 1932, the entire length of the 10th 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 Liberty Theatre was described at length in a Moving Picture World article:

The 'Liberty' is one of the city's eight first-class moving picture theaters. The selection of the theater site was chosen with exceptionally good judgment. The theater is located in the heart of the business district at 266-68 South Main Street, near the intersection of Third and Main Streets.^^*#

Historical Notes

The huge tanks seen above were known as "gas holders" (aka gasometers), and helped supply natural gas to the city. They rose or sank in height depending on the amount of gas being stored.

The gas holders were in fact laughably large and towered over their surroundings. When one gas holder was built in 1906 its 210 foot height was 35 feet greater than the tallest building in Los Angeles. *

Historical Notes

The above 300-foot tall gas holder or silo (aka gasometer) was located at the corner of Ducommon and Center, east of the Civic Center. It was built in 1912 by the LA Gas and Electric Corp. and it's not clear when it was torn down. Shots of Downtown up through 1960 seem to show these structures in the background.#^^*

Historical Notes

In 1936 Los Angeles city voters approved a charter amendment authorizing the Bureau of Power and Light to issue revenue bonds in the amount of $46 million and purchase the electric system of Los Angeles Gas and Electric Corporation, the last remaining privately-owned system in LA. Click HERE to see more in Los Angeles Gas and Electric Corporation.

In 1937, the Gas component of Los Angeles Gas and Electric was sold to what is now Southern California Gas Company.*^

Historical Notes

If you lived in Los Angeles in the 1950s  you would be familiar with the two prominent features of the skyline (excepting the fact there was no skyline).  The City Hall of course was the tallest building and the most identifiable but the other dominant structures were the storage tanks (also called gasometers) of the Los Angeles Gas Company.  The L.A. Gas Company supplied natural gas to Southern California from a distribution center located just east of downtown. This was in an industrial area next to Union Station and became known as the gas works.  

By the 1960s the tanks were no longer needed as new pipelines from gas fields of  West Texas could meet all demands.  The tanks were removed at great relief to fire officials who worried about the potential disaster with these tanks near downtown.*

Historical Notes

The last section of the 101 Freeway (aka Hollywood Frwy) through Downtown Los Angeles was completed in 1954.  It ran in line with what used to be Aliso Street.  Click HERE to see Before and After images.

Historical Notes

Los Angeles installed its first automated traffic signals in the 1920s.  These early signals, manufactured by the Acme Traffic Signal Co., paired "Stop" and "Go" semaphore arms with small red and green lights. Bells played the role of today's amber or yellow lights, ringing when the flags changed—a process that took five seconds.

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. #*^#

Historical Notes

The above freight-switching facility was called Taylor Yard. It was used by the Union Pacific and later the Southern Pacific railroads from the 1920s until 1985.^*

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

Shortly after World War I, the Southern Pacific Railroad outgrew its Midway Yard facility and moved to this yard. Operations at the railroad complex slowed in the 1960’s when rail facilities opened elsewhere.

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

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

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

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

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

Photo caption reads:  “Construction of the $2,437,000 Arroyo Seco freeway through Elysian Park, a section of which is shown above, today entered the national defense picture. Frank W. Clark, state director of public works, has asked federal authorities for priorities on steel and cement to complete the project on the grounds that it is of strategic value in the national defense program around this city."

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 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

Each column will be equipped with triple friction pendulum bearings, which will allow the entire bridge to move 30 inches in either direction during a seismic event.*

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

One of the main highlights of the bridge will be the 3 level helical ramp that pedestrians will be able to walk or bike down from the deck level of the bridge.

Historical Notes

Once the Sixth Street Viaduct is completed, the Bureau of Engineering will begin construction on the new 12-acre Sixth Street Park (Parks, Arts, River and Connectivity Improvements), which will rest at the base of the bridge. It will feature soccer fields, basketball courts, a dog park, adult fitness areas, children's playgrounds and splash pads, a skate park, picnic and garden areas, and an amphitheater.*

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

This federally-funded $588 million landmark, known as the ‘Ribbon of Life’ Bridge or ‘Puente del Pueblo’ in Spanish, reconnects Boyle Heights to Downtown Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The Sixth Street Viaduct officially opened on July 9th, 2022 but had to be shut down for a while due to vandalism.

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.^*