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

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

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Santa Monica

Historical Notes

Before 1929, the Malibu area had limited accessibility with only a few roads leading into it. However, a significant turning point occurred when the state won a court case, paving the way for the construction of the iconic Pacific Coast Highway. This development opened up new possibilities for the region. In 1926, a pivotal moment in Malibu's economic history unfolded with the establishment of a small ceramic tile factory by Mary K. Rindge. This factory became a cornerstone of the local economy, employing over 100 workers and contributing to the community's growth. The Malibu tile produced by the factory gained immense value and popularity, attracting businesses and Los Angeles residents to venture into the area.

The year 1929 marked the construction of the Adamson House, colloquially known as the "Taj Mahal of Tile." This Spanish-style house, situated within Malibu Lagoon State Beach park, showcased intricate tile designs and became a testament to the craftsmanship of the time. Fully adorned with early Malibu tile, the Adamson House is now recognized as a California Historical Landmark, preserving the cultural and architectural heritage of the region.

The onset of the Great Depression in 1932 had a profound impact on Malibu, leading to the demise of numerous businesses, including the once-thriving tile factory. The economic downturn prompted affluent individuals, including tycoons like William Randolph Hearst, to seize the opportunity to acquire vast stretches of Malibu real estate. As a result, these wealthy investors, capitalizing on the depressed property market, purchased significant portions of land. Post-Depression, individuals like Hearst played a crucial role in shaping the current landscape of Malibu, establishing the neighborhoods that define the area today. The echoes of this historical evolution can still be witnessed in the cultural and architectural richness that characterizes Malibu.*

Historical Notes

The Malibu Trading Post post was located along the 101 near Trancas Canyon Road, and was operated by Harry Canfield who started it with Malibu local Art Jones around 1930. Fifteen years later, it seemed to become a very popular lunch spot for beachgoers, as they suddenly started advertising in all the papers, and business remained good up until it burned down in 1949.*

Historical Notes

Malibu Trading Post burned down in 1949. It was replaced by the Trancas Restaurant and today is also the location of a Starbucks.*

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. ^

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. *

Historical Notes

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

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

The long, white building in the earlier photo is the Engine Barn for the Hueneme, Malibu & Port Los Angeles Railroad. It is often mistaken for May Rindge's ill-fated Malibu Potteries Tile Works Building which was located further south where Nobu Restaurant is today.

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 Pier, an iconic landmark with a rich history, was originally built in 1905 to support the operations of Frederick Hastings Rindge's Malibu Rancho. It was used to ship agricultural products and building materials to and from the property. In 1934, it opened to the public for pier and charter fishing, and after World War II, it became a popular spot for sports fishing and social gatherings. The pier has undergone various transformations over the years and is now known for its exceptional restaurants, shopping, and as a tourist attraction, offering stunning views of the coast. Today, it continues to attract fishermen, birders, surfers, and visitors from around the world, serving as a cherished historical landmark and a symbol of Malibu's past.

Historical Notes

Since the 1920s, pioneering surfers had been going to great lengths to ride the three legendary point breaks at Surfrider Beach. Swim club lifeguard Tom Blake, with his friend Sam Reid alongside him, is considered by many to have been the first to catch a Malibu wave in 1926.

By the early 1950s, Surfrider Beach was the domain of a small, rag-tag group of surfing pioneers who could be found in the waves from the early morning to late at night.

Historical Notes

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

Alice's Restaurant opened in the same spot in 1972 and it last until 1994.

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

The Big Rock Beach Cafe--later known as Canfield's Big Rock Cafe--occupied the Moonshadows location on the Pacific Coast Highway, between Big Rock Drive and Las Flores Canyon. It was owned by Harry Canfield, whose Malibu Trading Post Cafe--at the other end of Malibu--burned down in 1949. This photo postcard shows an eastern-looking view of the Cafe before the later expansion of the restaurant's "Poop Deck."*

Historical Notes

Big Rock Café burned down. Mooshadows, for years one of the best restaurants in Malibu, was built in 1966 on the same piling foundation that originally supported the Big Rock Cafe built in 1949.

Historical Notes

The “Malibu Road” to Las Flores canyon opened to the public by a court order in 1909.

The photo is looking at the Big Rock rock/point, from about 1/4 mile east ("south"). Some people think it looks a bit like Carbon Pt because the sharp ridge line was still there -- However, it got snarfed off, first in the 1920's when the two-lane Roosevelt Highway got made, then more during the expansion to four lanes. There is no other surf zone rock between SM and Mugu that has that same profile and size.

Historical Notes

The sharp ridge at the point is no longer there. It got cut off, first in the 1920's when the two-lane Roosevelt Highway got made, then more during the expansion to four lanes.

Historical Notes

This coastline dirt road would become Roosevelt Highway and later Pacific Coast Highway. The Malibu segment of the Roosevelt Highway was the last to open, and was completed on June 29, 1929.

Historical Notes

The Malibu segment of the Roosevelt Highway was the last to open, and it was completed 1929. It was renamed Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1) in 1941.

Historical Notes

The Las Flores Inn was located at the intersection of the coast highway* and Las Flores Canyon Road, just east of the guarded Rindge Ranch fence (which prevented westward development beyond Las Flores Canyon Road at this time).

*The Roosevelt Highway, which later became the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), was built through Malibu and opened in 1929. The highway was part of a 1,400-mile road that traced the western margin of the United States. The Malibu segment of the Roosevelt Highway was the last to open, and it was completed on June 29, 1929.

Historical Notes

The inn was located at the intersection of the Pacific Coast Highway and Las Flores Canyon Road, just east of the guarded Rindge Ranch fence (which prevented westward development beyond Las Flores Canyon Road at this time).

Historical Notes

The Las Flores Inn would later become the Malibu Sea Lion, which went through several iterations on this spot over the ensuing decades--due to either expansion or fire. In 1996, it became Duke's Malibu restaurant. Roosevelt Highway (later Pacific Coast Highway) was so name in 1929.

Historical Notes

The Las Flores Inn, a legendary seafood restaurant on the Pacific Coast Highway, is seen here in its original--but expanded--form in the late 1940s, shortly after it was purchased by proprietor Chris Polos. Polos kept the Inn's seal tank (seen here center-left), and barking seals greeted patrons as they parked their cars. The named changed to The Sea Lion Inn in the early 1950s, and went through several iterations on this spot over the ensuing decades--due to either expansion or fire. In 1996,  this site opened as Duke's Malibu restaurant.

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.

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