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

Historical Notes

The Miracle Mile is an area in the Mid-Wilshire and Mid-City West regions consisting of a 1.5-mile stretch of Wilshire Boulevard between Fairfax and Highland Avenues.  The May Company Building, now LACMA West, marks the western border of Miracle Mile's "Museum Row".^*

Historical Notes

The May Company Building has a Streamline Modern style with gold corner towers. Built in 1940. Architects: A.C. Martin, S.A. Marx.^

In 1992, the building was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 566 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

May Company California was established in 1923 when May acquired A. Hamburger & Sons Co.(founded in 1881 by Asher Hamburger). The company operated exclusively in Southern California until 1989 when May Department Stores had dissolved Goldwater's, based in Scottsdale, Arizona and transferred its Las Vegas, Nevada store to May Company California.^*

Historical Notes

Developer A. W. Ross saw potential for the area and developed Wilshire as a commercial district to rival downtown Los Angeles. Ross's insight was that the form and scale of his Wilshire strip should attract and serve automobile traffic rather than pedestrian shoppers. He applied this design both to the street itself and to the buildings lining it.^*

Historical Notes

Arthur Murray launched his third business in 1925 by selling branded dance lessons through franchising. He trained dance instructors for the Statler Hotel chain, who then went to various hotels and gave lessons; Murray kept some of the profits from each franchise.

This business was expanded more widely in 1938, when an Arthur Murray dance studio franchise was opened in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Others followed. His slogan was: "If you can walk, we teach you how to dance", and the company guaranteed that the pupils learn to dance in ten lessons.

After WWII, Murray's business grew with the rise of interest in Latin dance, and he regularly taught and broadcast in Cuba in the 1950s. Murray went on television with a dance program hosted by his wife, Kathryn Murray, The Arthur Murray Party, which ran from 1950 to 1960, on CBS, NBC, DuMont, ABC, and then on CBS.

The Murrays retired in 1964; but they continued to be active for some time, appearing as guests on the Dance Fever disco show in the late 1970s. By then, there were more than 3,560 dance studios bearing his name. In 2007, about 220 Arthur Murray Studios remained in operation. Arthur Murray Dance Studios claims to be the second-oldest franchised company (the first, A&W Restaurants, began in 1919). *^

Click HERE to see more on the Moderne-style Arthur Murray Dance Studio Building (seen above) designed by Stiles O. Clements (1941).

Historical Notes

The Prudential Building (aka Prudential Square) opened in 1948, housing more than 1,200 employees of the western office of Prudential Insurance Company. It was designed by famed architects Walter Wurdeman and Welton Becket in the International Style and was the tallest and largest privately owned building in the city when it opened. The duo also designed the Pan-Pacific Auditorium.

In 1993, Screen Actors Guild moved its national headquarters into the building and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artist’s followed in 1997.

In 2015, the historic Miracle Mile building at 5757 Wilshire Blvd. was renamed SAG-AFTRA Plaza.

Historical Notes

As a lawyer, Henry Hancock worked for the Rocha family to aid them with their efforts to prove their claim to Rancho La Brea. The Rochas finally won their claim, but like so many other rancheros, their legal expenses left them broke. In 1860 Jose Jorge Rocha, the son of Don Antonio Jose Rocha, deeded Rancho La Brea to Henry Hancock. Click HERE to see more in early views of La Brea Tar Pits.

Historical Notes

Park La Brea was originally conceived as an entirely low-rise development. Construction began in 1941, but building restrictions during WWII halted work in 1945 with only the western half of the site completed. By the time construction resumed in 1948, the continued demand for postwar housing had prompted builder, MetLife, to dramatically revise the project to provide greater density and site amenities. The second phase of development included 18 towers rising to the city’s 13-story height limit in addition to three groups of two-story buildings matching those already built.

Historical Notes

The building on the NW corner of Wilshire and Hauser was originally called the Western Auto Supply Co. Building  It was built in 1931 and designed by Carl Lindbom.

Historical Notes

Designed by Wurdeman and Becket and built in 1948, the Prudential Building was later renamed Museum Square.

Historical Notes

Ohrbach's department store was housed in the Prudential Square complex until 1965, when the store relocated to another Becket design down the street, the former Seibu Department Store (now the Petersen Automotive Museum).

Historical Notes

A. W. Ross gave Wilshire various "firsts," including dedicated left-turn lanes and the first timed traffic lights in the United States; he also required merchants to provide automobile parking lots, all to aid traffic flow. Major retailers such as Desmonds, Silverwood's, May Co., Coulter's, Mullen & Bluett, Myer Siegel, and Seibu eventually spread across Wilshire Boulevard from Fairfax to La Brea. Ross ordered that all building facades along Wilshire be engineered so as to be best seen through a windshield. This meant larger, bolder, simpler signage; longer buildings in a larger scale, oriented toward the boulevard; and architectural ornament and massing perceptible at 30 MPH instead of at walking speed. These simplified building forms were driven by practical requirements but contributed to the stylistic language of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne.

A sculptural bust of Ross stands at 5800 Wilshire, with the inscription, "A. W. Ross, founder and developer of the Miracle Mile. Vision to see, wisdom to know, courage to do." ^*

Historical Notes

The El Rey began its life in 1936 as an independent neighborhood theatre. With a succession of owners and tenants over the decades, the theatre has run the gamut from hosting spiritual services to showing adult films. It stopped showing movies in the 1980s.

From the 1980s to the early 1990s El Rey Theatre was a dance-music club called Wall Street, but since 1994 this theatre has been a live music venue which is now exclusively booked through Golden Voice. The capacity is 771 and it also has a VIP balcony in the back.*^

Click HERE to see more of the El Rey Theatre.

Historical Notes

The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was a chain of grocery stores that ceased supermarket operations in November 2015, after 156 years in business.

From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States (and until 1965, the largest U.S. retailer of any kind).  A&P was considered an American icon that according to The Wall Street Journal "was as well-known as McDonald's or Google is today" and that A&P was "Walmart before Walmart."  Known for innovation, A&P and the supermarkets that followed its lead significantly improved nutritional habits by making available a vast assortment of food products at much lower costs. Until 1982, A&P also was a large food manufacturer.*^

Historical Notes

The once-popular Mullen and Bluett clothing store chain had several stores in Los Angeles, all designed by Stiles O. Clements in a distinct style to complement its neighborhood.

The last of these stores rose on the Miracle Mile after World War II in the California style, bringing the outdoors in with welcoming patios, open display windows, and dozens of flagstone planter boxes scattered throughout the store.

Clements designed every detail of the building, inside and out. A façade of Roman brick was balanced with a geometric grid of plasterwork and flagstone, softened by greenery, punctuated by copper-framed windows, and topped with an integrated sign pylon.

Inside, women's and children's clothing were located on the second floor. Assuming that men would not travel as far as the second floor to shop, menswear and a convenient carousel of women's gift items were located on the first floor.^

Historical Notes

Next door to Mullen and Bluett stood the 1936 Phelps-Terkel department store, designed by Morgan, Walls, and Clements. Together, they helped secure the Miracle Mile's reputation as a shopper's paradise.

Both buildings succumbed over time to insensitive treatment and lack of protection, due largely to the priority placed on preserving the Miracle Mile's Art Deco buildings.

A succession of owners and tenants over the years eventually gutted and subdivided the Mullen and Bluett building, though its façade remained intact. The Los Angeles Conservancy's Modern Committee fought to save both the Mullen and Bluett and Phelps-Terkel building, neither of which was designed in the Art Deco style.

Both buildings were demolished in 2006 and replaced with an enormous apartment complex in a faux Art Deco design. ^

Historical Notes

Because of its height and prime location on the northeast corner of Wilshire and La Brea, the Art Deco E. Clem Wilson Building has attracted prominent signage over the years.  Corporate names that adorned The Wilson Building included (in chronological order): General Insurance, Mutual of Omaha (until 1990), Asashi, and Samsung.

Historical Notes

This stretch of the eastern end of the Miracle Mile has seen dramatic change with building construction. Click HERE to see this same view in 2009. HERE's the same view in 2017.

Historical Notes

In 1948, the Carnation Company hired Beaux-Arts educated architect Stiles O. Clements (1883-1966) to design its new corporate headquarters on Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles. The company decided to maximize on the high percentage (30%) of its employees living in California. Staff in Seattle, Milwaukee and New York were relocated and former branch operations such as accounting, advertising and purchasing were centralized. ^

Click HERE to see more early views of the Carnation Building and Coffee Shop.

Historical Notes

In 1952, on the driving range on the south side of Wilshire between Mariposa and Normandie, the first three 12-story Tishman Plaza buildings were built (they're now known as Central Plaza), designed by Claude Beelman.

Insurance companies began locating their West Coast headquarters in Wilshire Center because of tax incentives provided by the State. Some 22 high-rise office buildings were erected on Wilshire Boulevard from 1966 to 1976 to provide office space for such companies as Getty Oil Co., Ahmanson Financial Co., Beneficial Standard Life Insurance, Wausau, and Equitable Life Insurance. The Chapman Park Hotel, built in 1936, was torn down to make way for the 34-story Equitable Plaza office building erected in 1969. By 1970, firms such as CNA, Pacific Indemnity, and Pierce National Life were starting construction of their own high-rise buildings. Southwestern University School of Law moved from its downtown location of 50 years to a four-story campus just south of Wilshire Boulevard on Westmoreland in 1973.

In the 1970s and 1980s, commerce moved to the city's less congested Westside as well as the San Fernando Valley, and businesses and affluent residents eventually followed. I. Magnin closed, while Bullocks Wilshire held out until 1993. Rental rates in office buildings plummeted from an average of $1.65/sq ft to a dollar between 1991 and 1996; property values dropped from a high of $120/sq ft to $30 or $40 per foot in 1998
Wilshire Center lost most of its remaining original glitter following the 1992 Los Angeles riots and the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Subsequently, the Wilshire Center Streetscape Project used federal funds to rejuvenate Wilshire Boulevard. It was one of the most ambitious and significant urban rehabilitation projects found anywhere in America and in 1999 was awarded the Lady Bird Johnson Award from The National Arbor Day Foundation. New buildings include the Aroma Center on Wilshire, which is topped by a large digital billboard, and a modern retail building facing 6th Street on the former parking lot of the Equitable Building.*^

Historical Notes

The Brown Derby chain was started by Robert H. Cobb and Herbert Somborn (a former husband of film star Gloria Swanson). Bob Cobb is known as the inventor of the California Cobb Salad. He was also part owner of the Hollywood Stars baseball team.

The Brown Derby was moved in 1937 to 3377 Wilshire Boulevard at the northeast corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Alexandria Avenue, about a block from its previous location (and about a block north of the Ambassador Hotel).^*

Historical Notes

The Brown Derby chain also included restaurants in Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and the Los Feliz area. The Los Feliz Brown Derby at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd is the last remaining branch of the chain still extant and in operation.

Historical Notes

Architect A. C. Martin designed the1931 Cord Building located at 3443 Wilshire Boulevard, which featured a sandstone and marble exterior and a 30 foot tower. E.L. Cord, owner of a Fuller Motors dealership and producer of Auburn and Cord automobiles, chose his business initials KFAC for a new radio station, and in 1932 the Federal Radio Commission approved a new location for the station and towers in the penthouse of the dealership. In 1945 Packard-Bell moved in and the building was renamed. The building underwent a major remodel in 1949.^

Historical Notes

Between 1905 and 1928, the Burkhard Residence would stand on the northwest corner of Wilshire and Vermont.  The lot would sit empty for a while and then be occupied by a florist shop and billboard for a short 5 years (1928 – 1933).   The building that went up on the site in 1933 was first occupied by restaurateur Harry Bogen; two years later, it became a branch of the popular Carpenter's Drive-in chain.

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 started to develop the area in 1922.

In 1925, in a deal to get the University of California, Los Angeles built, the Janss Investment Company sold 375 acres to the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills at the bargain price of $1.2 million — about a quarter of its value. The cities, whose voters had passed bond issues to pay for the site, turned around and donated it to the state. While the UCLA campus was being built, Janss Investment Company went to work developing the Westwood Village commercial area and surrounding residential neighborhoods. ^

Historical Notes

Opening in 1929, the original design of Westwood Village was considered one of the most well planned and beautifully laid out of commercial areas in the nation. Harold Janss had hired major architects and instructed them to follow a Mediterranean theme, with clay tile roofs, decorative Spanish tile, paseos, patios and courtyards. Buildings located at strategic points, including theaters, used towers to serve as beacons for drivers on Wilshire Boulevard. Janss picked the first slate of businesses and determined their location in the neighborhood; the area opened with 34 businesses, despite the Great Depression, had 452 in 1939. ^

In 1929, the UCLA campus had four buildings: Royce Hall and Haines Hall on the north, and Powell Library and Kinsey Hall (now the Humanities Building) on the south. The Janss Steps were the original 87-step entrance to the university that led to the quad of these four buildings. Today, the campus includes 163 buildings across 419 acres in the western part of Los Angeles, north of the Westwood shopping district and just south of Sunset Boulevard.^

Historical Notes

When it was dedicated in 1956, it was the largest of the church's temples, though it has since been surpassed by the Salt Lake Temple due to later expansions. The temple serves 41 stakes in Los Angeles, Ventura, Kern, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. Click HERE to see more Early Views of the LDS Church Temple.

Historical Notes

Today’s Expo Line has its origins in a railroad between Los Angeles and Santa Monica that went into service in 1875. The Los Angeles & Independence Railroad later became the PE Air Line (seen above), the direct ancestor of the Expo Line.

Beginning at the Pacific Electric Building at 6th and Main streets in downtown Los Angeles, the line traveled south with other lines alongside what is now Long Beach Boulevard and the Blue Line. At 25th Street, the Air Line turned west onto an exclusive right-of-way alongside Exposition Boulevard toward Santa Monica Beach. The currently abandoned section between the Blue Line tracks and USC is the primary difference between today's Expo Line and Air Line routes.^*

Historical Notes

Built in 1875 as the steam-powered Los Angeles and Independence Railroad, it was intended to bring mining ore to ships in Santa Monica harbor's Long Wharf and as a passenger excursion train to the beach. Eventually purchased by Southern Pacific Railroad, it was leased to the Los Angeles Pacific Railroad for electric passenger and light freight use in 1909. Pacific Electric purchased the line in 1911, along with all the other lines owned by Los Angeles Pacific.^*

Historical Notes

With the (then) sparse population along much of the route, service on the Air Line was reduced as early as 1924 with passenger cars running only during rush hours. At that point most passengers traveled to Santa Monica on a different rail line which ran primarily down Santa Monica Boulevard.

Passenger service on the Air Line was completely discontinued on September 30, 1953, however freight service remained. Because the Air Line route was also connected to the Santa Monica Boulevard line via tracks on Sepulveda Boulevard, it was the only way for freight trains to reach West Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Hollywood warehouses (usually at night due to city regulations).

Track replacement and various construction tasks began in 2006, and the first phase of the "Expo Line" from downtown Los Angeles to Culver City opened in April, 2012. Service for the second phase to Santa Monica began on May 20, 2016.^*

Historical Notes

This is a shot of P.E. Car 1299 on a charted club trip on the former Motor Ave bridge. The light-rail car is heading west and we are looking north on Motor Ave. You can see the gates of Vista Del Mar Orphanage, where the Phase 2 meetings for the Expo Line are held, in the background.

Note the right-of-way crossed Motor Ave where the westboound lanes of the freeway crossed today, and the tracks were near the northern edge of the right-of-way. Hence this former bridge used to be near the northern edge of the freeway. When the freeway was built, this old bridge was removed and the tracks were put along the southern egde of the freeway near Motor Ave, with a new bridge over Motor.*

Historical Notes

“Out of water, I am nothing.” — Duke Kahanamoku

“Surfing’s one of the few sports where you look ahead to see what’s behind.” — Laird Hamilton

“One of the greatest things about the sport of surfing is that you need only three things: your body, a surfboard, and a wave.” — Naima Green

Historical Notes

The California Incline was originally a walkway known as Sunset Trail, which was cut through the bluffs to provide beach access to pedestrians in 1896. It has become a vital street in Santa Monica, linking the PCH with Ocean Avenue, and California Avenue, bisecting Palisades Park. It begins at an intersection with Ocean Avenue and California Avenue, at the top of the palisades, extending to the PCH at the base of the bluffs.^*

Historical Notes

From its completion in 1928 until 1964, City Hall was the tallest building in Los Angeles. It's distinctive tower was based on the purported shape of the Mausoleum of Mausolus and shows the influence of the Los Angeles Central Library, completed soon before the structure was started.^*

Historical Notes

The Central Library Building was constructed between 1922 and 1926. Architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue designed the building with influences of ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean Revival architecture. The central tower is topped with a tiled mosaic pyramid with suns on the sides with a hand holding a torch representing the "Light of Learning" at the apex. Other elements include sphinxes, snakes, and celestial mosaics. It has sculptural elements by the preeminent American architectural sculptor Lee Lawrie, similar to the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, also designed by Goodhue.^*

Historical Notes

Originally named the Central Library, the building was first renamed in honor of the longtime president of the Board of Library Commissioners and President of the University of Southern California, Rufus B. von KleinSmid. The new wing of Central Library, completed in 1993, was named in honor of former mayor Tom Bradley. The complex (i.e., the original Goodhue building and the Bradley wing) was subsequently renamed in 2001 for former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, as the Richard Riordan Central Library.^*

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as the Pasadena Freeway or State Route 110, was a pioneering project in highway construction and the first freeway built in the western United States.

Click HERE to see more of Construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco Parkway was the first freeway in California and the western United States. It connects Los Angeles with Pasadena alongside the Arroyo Seco seasonal river. It is notable not only for being the first, mostly opened in 1940, but for representing the transitional phase between early parkways and modern freeways. It conformed to modern standards when it was built, but is now regarded as a narrow, outdated roadway.

Historical Notes

The Parkway was designed with two 11–12 foot lanes and one ten-foot shoulder in each direction, with the wider inside (passing) lanes paved in black asphalt concrete and the outside lanes paved in gray Portland cement concrete.

Historical Notes

The initial 6-mile segment from Pasadena to Los Angeles was completed in 1940 at a cost of $12 million.

It required building 18 new bridges and traffic separation structures to allow uninterrupted traffic flow.

Existing bridges like at Avenue 26 and Pasadena Avenue were reconstructed to increase their spans.

Soil from tunneling under Figueroa St provided fill material for the project.

Historical Notes

Before the Parkway was built, cottonwoods filled the Arroyo Seco at Avenue 26. The first known survey for a permanent roadway through the Arroyo was made by T.D. Allen of Pasadena in 1895, and in 1897 two more proposals were made, one for a scenic parkway and the other for a commuter cycleway.

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco Parkway design, state-of-the-art when built, included tight "right-in/right-out" access with a recommended exit speed of 5 miles per hour and stop signs on the entrance ramps; there are no acceleration or deceleration lanes.

Historical Notes

Adobe Street (seen above) was envisioned as an early terminus point during the initial construction phases in the late 1930s/1940s, the parkway was ultimately extended beyond that point to connect with LA's growing freeway network.

The Adobe Street exit was converted into the Dodger Stadium/Hill Street exit, and the on-ramp on the top/adjacent side was shut off and converted into Stadium Way).

Historical Notes

The state legislature designated the original section, north of the Figueroa Street Viaduct, as a "California Historic Parkway" (part of the State Scenic Highway System reserved for freeways built before 1945) in 1993. The American Society of Civil Engineers named it a National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1999, and it became a National Scenic Byway in 2002 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

Historical Notes

Today, the Arroyo Seco Parkway remains the most direct route between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena despite its flaws; the only reasonable freeway alternate (which trucks must use) is the Glendale Freeway to the west, which is itself not easily reached by trucks from downtown Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Between 1954 and 2010, Arroyo Seco Parkway was officially designated the Pasadena Freeway. In 2010, as part of plans to revitalize its scenic value and improve safety, Caltrans renamed the roadway back to its original name. All the bridges built during parkway construction remain, as do four older bridges that crossed the Arroyo Seco before the 1930s.

Historical Notes

The Red Car trolley line to Pasadena made its last run in 1950. The caption for the Oct. 3, 1950 photo read: "Its days are numbered. After Sunday, no more P.E. Oak Knoll Red Cars will rumble from Sixth and Main (above) to Pasadena".^

Historical Notes

Built in 1914, the Southwest Museum was Los Angeles’ first world-class museums that had an immense collection of Native-American and Pre-Columbian artifacts (collected by Charles Lummis during his travels throughout the Southwest and South America).  Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

On April 21, 1962, Distribution Station No. 2 was designated Los Angeles Historical-Cultural Monument No. 558 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more Early Power Distribution Stations.

Historical Notes

The York Theatre, located in the Highland Park district, opened in 1923. It became a Korean Church in about 1985.

Historical Notes

The Glendale Southern Pacific Railroad Depot (now known as Glendale Amtrak/Metrolink Station) was designed in the Mission Revival Style by architects Maurice Couchot and Kenneth MacDonald, Jr. and built by the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1923; replacing an older one that dated as far back as 1883. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 2, 1997 - #97000376, and has undergone an extensive renovation since then. The Glendale train station is located at 400 Cerritos Avenue.^

Historical Notes

The Pharmacy building is still there, now George’s Liquor market. The houses up the street just beyond the old pharmacy building are gone; the land was taken over by the Betty Plasencia School for new class rooms. The land Where the streetcar, lady and the gas station are was excavated away to create the trench for the 101 freeway. Where the photographer was standing is now over the south bound fast lane of the 101. The building to the right of the old pharmacy is also still there but has been stuccoed over and painted off white.

Click HERE to see contemporary view.

Historical Notes

At 4,255 units, the complex with its octagonal street layout is the largest housing development west of the Mississippi. Thirty-one 2-story garden apt. buildings opened in 1941 and eighteen 13-story towers opened in 1948.

Historical Notes

Park La Brea represents something of a historical anomaly, having been built at a time when most visions of Los Angeles' development were dominated by low-rise tracts of single-family houses along freeway corridors. The street layout was created in a masonic pattern as a reference to the masonic heritage of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, which built the complex toward the end of World War II and immediately thereafter (1944 - 1948).*

Historical Notes

Park La Brea was originally conceived as an entirely low-rise development. Construction began in 1941, but building restrictions during WWII halted work in 1945 with only the western half of the site completed. By the time construction resumed in 1948, the continued demand for postwar housing had prompted MetLife to dramatically revise the project to provide greater density and site amenities. The second phase of development included 18 towers rising to the city’s 13-story height limit in addition to three groups of two-story buildings matching those already built.

Historical Notes

Park La Brea is the largest housing development in the U.S. west of the Mississippi River. It sits on 160 acres of land and has  4,255 units located in 18 13-story towers and 31 2-story "garden apartment buildings"

Historical Notes

In the 2000s, Park La Brea had become a desirable rental community with its own community center, health club and pool, beauty parlor, and drycleaner in addition to its convenient proximity to local museums, Farmers Market (Los Angeles), and The Grove at Farmers Market shopping complex. In recent years, additional improvements have been made, such as adding new pools.

The complex completed another $8 million renovation in 2010.

Historical Notes

The entire park was demolished and excavated in 1952 to build an underground parking garage. In its place was concrete topped by a thin layer of soil with a broad expanse of lawn.

Historical Notes

The Temple Baptist Church in the distance, built in 1906 and remodeled in 1964, was also known as the Auditorium Building and Philharmonic Auditorium for many years. Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

California Street (originally Sand Street) was located one block north of Temple Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is where the 101 Freeway is today.

Historical Notes

California Street would be completed gone by the early 1950s when the Hollywood Freeway (CA-101) through downtown was constructed.

Historical Notes

Photo note reads:  Historic Bunker Hill is 'going into history' as workmen push construction of the Hollywood Freeway. The sound of shovels and tractors is roaring heavily these days along North Figueroa Street, between Sunset and Temple. In this area workmen are busily cutting away sections of Fort Moore Hill or Bunker Hill to make way for the construction of the Hollywood Freeway and the four-level bridge. This view shows the area, with historic Bunker Hill almost "gone." Photo dated: May 11, 1948.

Historical Notes

The Four Level Interchange in Los Angeles was constructed in multiple stages:

Construction began in 1948 at a cost of $5.5 million, making it the most expensive freeway project in the country at the time.

The reinforced concrete structure was designed by a team of engineers and built by the James I. Barnes Construction Company. It was completed in 1949.

However, the interchange sat unused for several years after completion in 1949 while the connecting freeways (Hollywood Freeway, Harbor Freeway, and Santa Ana Freeway) were still under construction.

The Four Level Interchange opened in successive stages, but it was not until September 22, 1953 that motorists could drive on all 22 of its lanes and over all seven of its bridges. This marked the full opening of the interchange to traffic.

In summary, while the physical structure was completed in 1949, the Four Level Interchange did not become fully operational and open to traffic until September 1953 after the connecting freeways were finished. The construction spanned from 1948 to 1953.

Historical Notes

Figueroa became Boylston, Pearl (previously Grasshopper) became Figueroa, the right-hand Beaudry became Fremont and most of Bellevue became Sunset Blvd. At the rightmost edge of the tract map, Philadelphia became Grand Ave.

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Freeway’s segment through Hollywood was the first to be built through a heavily populated area and requiring the moving or demolition of many buildings, including Rudolph Valentino's former home in Whitley Heights. The freeway was also designed to curve around KTTV Studios and Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Much of the rubble and debris from the buildings removed for the freeway's construction was dumped into Chávez Ravine, the current home to Dodger Stadium.

Historical Notes

The Four Level Interchange was the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of Downtown it connects U.S. Route 101 (Hollywood Freeway and Santa Ana Freeway) to State Route 110 (Harbor Freeway and Arroyo Seco Parkway).^*

Historical Notes

The Hill Street Tunnel had two sections: the first connected 1st Street with Temple Street (Tunnel #1) and was used for both automobile and streetcar traffic, while the second connected Temple Street to Sunset and was used exclusively by Pacific Electric streetcars (Tunnel #2). In the above image, you can see the southern portal of the second section at the center right. Construction of the Hollywood Freeway cut the tunnel in half. The south half was demolished, but the north half was reused for textbook storage by the Los Angeles Unified District for almost 60 years, until mid-2014 when the new development in that area destroyed the century old bore. Today, no trace of either tunnel can be found.

Historical Notes

The so nick-named "Stack" was virtually completed in 1949, but it took a few years for all the Freeways to connect up. The first was the Hollywood Freeway (1950) and the last the Pasadena Freeway (1953).

Historical Notes

Only the top level was used for the Hollywood Fwy (US-101) when it was completed in 1950-51. The rest of it opened in late 1953. The last section of the 101 Freeway through Downtown Los Angeles was completed in 1954. 

Historical Notes

Only the top level was used for the Hollywood Fwy (US-101) when it was completed in 1950-51. The rest of it opened in 1952-1953.

Historical Notes

Diverging from the common looping cloverleaf design of other freeway intersections being built around the country early on in the interstate highway system, the Four Level was relatively compact and, as the name implies, built in overlapping layers. The idea for the space-saving stacked interchange is attributed to WH Irish, a location engineer with the California Division of Highways in the 1940s. His idea has since been replicated in cities across the US and the world.

The Four Level connects US Route 101 (the Hollywood–Santa Ana Freeway) and Route 110 (the Arroyo Seco Parkway–Harbor Freeway), crossing perpendicularly on the fourth and second levels, respectively. The first and third levels accommodate transfer between the two. An average of more than 425,000 automobiles drive on, over or through these four levels of freeway every day on their way to downtown LA, Hollywood, Long Beach, Pasadena and beyond.

Historical Notes

The last section that completed the Hollywood Freeway through Downtown Los Angeles opened on April 16, 1954.

Historical Notes

The large gas holders seen in the distance commonly known as ‘Gasometers’ were common before the 1960s.  Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

By the mid-1950s, Aliso Street, seen above, would be replaced by the Hollywood Freeway (U.S. 101).

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 (seen above).  

Historical Notes

The Lindbergh beacon was installed on top of City Hall in 1928. Originally white, the light was replaced with a red light in 1931 after the U.S. Department of Commerce deemed the bright beacon a hazard to air safety. During WWII the light was turned off, and relit just a few of times more before being removed in the early 1950s.

The Lindbergh beacon was rediscovered in the early 1990s. After restoration, it was put on display in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX and relit for the first time in 45 years on April 22, 1992. The beacon was reinstalled on top of City Hall in 2001 and is lit on special occasions.^*

Historical Notes

The 1907-built International Bank Building would be razed in 1954, same year as the photo above.

Click HERE to see more Early Views of City Hall.

Historical Notes

The advertisement seen above is for “Pilsener” beer from Maier & Zobelein. This was the pairing of Joseph Maier and George Zobelein who, together, took over LA’s “Philadelphia Brewery” in 1882 and ran it until their partnership dissolved in 1907, meaning that this ad would have been painted prior to that date.

More interesting is the mention of “sample rooms,”. Apparently, in addition to regular sleeping rooms, high-end hotels used to offer furnished ‘sample rooms’ where salespeople could rent space to display their merchandise for the inspection of buyers for retail stores. Sort of like when sales markets for various industries take over hotels today, converting rooms to office space for a week, with the difference being that these rooms were permanent fixtures and were used/needed regularly. Ultimately, they died out when the automobile became a way of life, and salesmen could more easily visit individual retailers, or bypass them, going door-to-door.^

Historical Notes

The land for Dodger Stadium was purchased from local owners/inhabitants in the early 1950s by the City of Los Angeles using eminent domain with funds from the Federal Housing Act of 1949. The city had planned to develop the Elysian Park Heights public housing project which included two dozen 13-story buildings and more than 160 two-story townhouses, in addition to newly rebuilt playgrounds and schools.

Before construction could begin, the local political climate changed greatly when Norris Poulson was elected mayor of Los Angeles in 1953. Proposed public housing projects like Elysian Park Heights lost most of their support. Following protracted negotiations, the City of Los Angeles was able to purchase the Chavez Ravine property back from the Federal Housing Authority at a drastically reduced price, with the stipulation that the land be used for a public purpose. It wasn't until the baseball referendum Taxpayers Committee for Yes on Baseball, which was approved by Los Angeles voters on June 3, 1958 that the Dodgers were able to acquire 352 acres of Chavez Ravine from the City of Los Angeles. (The Dodgers, from 1958 to 1961, played their home games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.)^*

Historical Notes

The first segment of the Hollywood Freeway built was a one and a half mile stretch through the Cahuenga Pass. That segment opened on June 15, 1940. It was then known as the "Cahuenga Pass Freeway." ^*

Historical Notes

Pacific Electric Railway trolleys ran down the center of the Hollywood Freeway through Cahuenga Pass until 1952.^*

Historical Notes

The second section of the Hollywood Freeway that stretched from the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles opened on April 16, 1954 at a cost of $55 million. The final section, north of the Ventura Freeway to the Golden State Freeway was completed in 1968.^*

Click HERE to see more in early Views of Cahuenga Pass.

Historical Notes

Near the Vermont Avenue exit, there's a seemingly over-wide center strip now filled with trees. This is where the never-built Beverly Hills Freeway was to merge with the Hollywood Freeway. Plans for the Beverly Hills Freeway were halted in the 1970s.^*

Historical Notes

The gore point in the fast lane marked the beginning of the "Bus Only" exit for Vermont. The slow buses used to have to lumber over to the fast lane to use the exit. Then, further to the South, the buses would then have to merge back onto the Freeway into the fast lane and fight their way back to the right. The "Bus Only" exit was finally relocated to the right in the late 1970s or early 1980s. The abandoned left exit and entrance ramps are still there.

Historical Notes

The Four Level Interchange was the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, it connects U.S. Route 101 (Hollywood Freeway and Santa Ana Freeway) to State Route 110 (Harbor Freeway and Arroyo Seco Parkway).

Historical Notes

The Four Level, also known as the Stack, gets its name from its multi-tiered structure that separates traffic heading in each direction into dedicated lanes. On the bottom level are curved ramps for those changing from the 110 freeway to the 101. One level above is the main trunk of the 110 freeway, named the Arroyo Seco Parkway north of the interchange and the Harbor Freeway south of it. On the third level are the arcing flyover ramps carrying traffic from the 101 freeway to the 110. Finally, on the fourth and top level is the main trunk of the 101 freeway, named the Hollywood Freeway to the west and the Santa Ana Freeway to the east.

Historical Notes

The Four Level Interchange, sometimes called “The Stack,” was retrofitted after the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

Historical Notes

The interchange was constructed as a stack interchange because surrounding buildings and terrain made construction of a cloverleaf interchange impractical. The mainline traffic of US 101 is at the top of the interchange, above the ramps, a rarity in stack interchanges. Its distinctive architecture has long made it a symbol of Los Angeles' post-World War II development, and it appears on numerous postcards of the 1950s and 1960s.

Historical Notes

In July 2006, the freeway interchange was officially named in honor of Bill Keene, former KNX and KNXT traffic and weather reporter, although the new name is rarely used. Keene referred to the interchange as "The Stacks" and the "4-H Interchange".

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco Parkway, linking Los Angeles and Pasadena, opened on December 30, 1940, as the first freeway in the western United States. It was renamed the Pasadena Freeway on November 16, 1954, when it became part of State Route 110. Over time, some motorists nicknamed it the "Arroyo Speedway" due to frequent speeding. On December 30, 2010, its original name was restored to honor its 70th anniversary and historical significance. Now officially the Arroyo Seco Parkway, it is a designated Scenic Byway and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, highlighting its role in Los Angeles' freeway system and American transportation history.

Historical Notes

Construction of the Harbor Freeway began at the Four Level in 1949 and gradually pushed south, opening to Olympic Boulevard on March 23, 1954 and Washington Boulevard on May 14, 1954. On March 27, 1956, the highway was extended to 42nd Street, and on April 24, 1957 it reached temporary ramps at 88th Place. Further extensions were made to Century Boulevard on July 31, 1958, 124th Street on September 24, 1958, Alondra Boulevard (which the county widened to carry the load) on May 2, 1960, 190th Street on July 15, 1960, Torrance Boulevard on August 28, 1962, and finally Pacific Coast Highway (SR 1) on September 26, 1962. There it connected with a section that had been open since June 19, 1956, from Pacific Coast Highway south to Channel Street. Along with the Vincent Thomas Bridge to Terminal Island, the final piece in San Pedro opened on July 9, 1970, completing the Harbor Freeway to its present length.

Historical Notes

Initially, the Harbor Parkway was to split at the merge with the Venice Parkway northeast of the University of Southern California, with the East By-Pass and West By-Pass straddling the Los Angeles Central Business District and rejoining at the split between the Arroyo Seco Parkway and Riverside Parkway south of Dodger Stadium. The West By-Pass was soon incorporated into the Harbor Parkway, and the first short piece, by then renamed the Harbor Freeway, opened on July 30, 1952 from the Four Level Interchange south to 3rd Street. (The Arroyo Seco Parkway was completed to the Four Level Interchange on September 22, 1953, and renamed the Pasadena Freeway on November 16, 1954.

Historical Notes

Quaint redwood planter boxes were a common occurrence in early freeway medians. They were scrapped when freeway engineers determined that wind-whipped plants didn't last very long and that median barriers were a better idea.

Historical Notes

The Harbor Freeway gradually pushed south, opening to Olympic Boulevard on March 23, 1954 and Washington Boulevard on May 14, 1954. On March 27, 1956, the highway was extended to 42nd Street.

Historical Notes

The first of the two Hill Street Tunnels was bored through a part of Bunker Hill in 1909 by Los Angeles Pacific (a predecessor of Pacific Electric). It connects Hill Street from First to Temple. In 1913, the second tunnel (on the left) was bored for streetcar traffic.

Historical Notes

The tunnels served several purposes:

The rail tunnel was used by Pacific Electric Railway's "Red Cars".

The Los Angeles Railway (LARY) "Yellow Cars" began using the rail tunnel around 1939.

The automobile tunnel facilitated private vehicle traffic and pedestrians.

Historical Notes

Decline and Closure:

The tunnels' usage began to decline in the 1950s:

In 1950, several Pacific Electric lines using the tunnels were abandoned.

The last use of the tunnel by LARY cars was in late 1947.

Pacific Electric was sold to Metropolitan Coach Lines in 1953, which favored buses over rail.

The Pacific Electric subway closed on June 19, 1955, after 30 years of operation.

Historical Notes

The first of the two Hill Street Tunnels was bored through a part of Bunker Hill in 1909 by Los Angeles Pacific (a predecessor of Pacific Electric). It connects Hill Street from First to Temple. In 1913, the second tunnel (on the left) was bored for streetcar traffic.

Historical Notes

The Hill Street Tunnels were an iconic part of Los Angeles' transportation infrastructure in the early to mid-20th century. The tunnels were constructed to bypass the steep grades of Bunker Hill and improve transportation between downtown Los Angeles and northwestern areas.

Historical Notes

The ornate streetlights seen above was referred to as the Winslow (Five-Globe Llewellyn Electrolier).

The most common of the incandescent multiple globe electroliers of the early 1900s were those manufactured by the Llewellyn Iron Works of Los Angeles.  The firm became so identified with this style of street light that any multiple globe electrolier became commonly known as a Llewellyn.  

Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

Decline and Closure:

The tunnels' usage began to decline in the 1950s:

In 1950, several Pacific Electric lines using the tunnels were abandoned.

The last use of the tunnel by LARY cars was in late 1947.

Pacific Electric was sold to Metropolitan Coach Lines in 1953, which favored buses over rail.

The Pacific Electric subway closed on June 19, 1955, after 30 years of operation.

Historical Notes

Within months of the above photo, construction work to enlarge the Los Angeles Civic Center would begin. By June, 1955, the two Hill Street tunnels were gone.

Historical Notes

Demolition and Aftermath

The end of the Hill Street Tunnels came with the Bunker Hill Redevelopment Project:

In 1954, the entire hill over the tunnels was leveled.

By the end of 1955, there was no trace of the tunnels left.

The rail portion of one tunnel was briefly repurposed for auto and bus use before complete demolition.

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see the Construction and Opening of the Hill Street Tunnel

Historical Notes

The southeast corner of Sprng and 1st streets was once the locatiion of the 1886-built Wilson Block.

Historical Notes

Air pollution reached its worst levels in Los Angeles during the 1940s and 1950s.  Millions of people driving millions of cars plus temperature inversion provided Los Angeles with a near perfect environment for the production and containment of photochemical smog.

Historical Notes

The real cause of L.A. smog wasn’t determiend until the 1950s.  The scientist who solved the smog mystery was Arie Haagen-Smit, a chemist at the California Institute of Technology. He was the first to recognize that ozone was the primary source of the haze. Ozone is created when partially unburned exhaust from automobiles and the hydrocarbons from oil refineries are hit by sunlight.

Historical Notes

On some days, the air was so polluted that parents kept their kids out of school; athletes trained indoors; citrus growers and sugar-beet producers watched in dismay as their crops withered; the elderly and young crowded into doctors' offices and hospital ERs with throbbing heads and shortness of breath.

Historical Notes

By the mid 1950s there was no doubt among scientists that cars were a primary factor in LA’s smog crisis.
However, Los Angeles had no influence over the auto manufacturers. Smog wasn’t yet a national problem and it was very easy to dismiss smog as a quirk of LA geography.

It wasn't until 1975 that the U.S. required new cars to have catalytic converters, teh key piece of technology that allowed everything to change.

Click HERE to see more Smog in Early Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The Four Level Interchange was structurally completed in 1949 but did not become fully operational and opent to all trafic until 1953 after the connection freeways were finished.

Click HERE to see more in Construction of the Four Level Intersection.

Historical Notes

The photograph above depicting traffic congestion on the freeway was an uncommon sight in the 1950s and 1960s. During this era, the freeways in Los Angeles experienced relatively low levels of congestion. This was largely attributed to the rapid expansion of the freeway system during that time, with nearly 100 miles of new freeways constructed annually from the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s.

Historical Notes

By the 1970s the rapid growth in population and development in Los Angeles soon overwhelmed the freeway system, leading to increasing congestion.

Historical Notes

In downtown Los Angeles, the US 101 Freeway officially changes names at the Four Level Interchange. South of this interchange, it is known as the Santa Ana Freeway, while north of the interchange, it becomes the Hollywood Freeway. However, some sources suggest that the Santa Ana Freeway name begins at Alameda Street as it heads out of downtown, which aligns with the local understanding of freeway naming.

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more early views of 'Philippe the Original' Restaurant.

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more early views of Union Station.

Historical Notes

Today's Los Angeles City Hall building would be built in 1928 and be located at center of the above photo. Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

The iconic Los Angeles City Hall was constructed between 1927 and 1928. Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

Los Angeles City Hall was the tallest building in the city for several decades due to a municipal height ordinance that was in place.

In 1905, the city of Los Angeles passed an ordinance that prohibited the construction of buildings taller than 150 feet. This was done for aesthetic reasons, as the city wanted to maintain a "harmonious" and low-rise skyline.

Los Angeles City Hall, which was completed in 1928, became the tallest building in the city at 454 feet tall.  This was an exception to the height limit, as public buildings were not subject to the same restrictions. For over 30 years, from the 1920s to the early 1960s, City Hall remained the tallest structure in Los Angeles' skyline.

The height ordinance was not overturned until 1958, allowing for taller buildings to be constructed.

Historical Notes

The development of Bunker Hill in Los Angeles during the 1950s and 1960s involved the transformation of the historic neighborhood from a residential area to a modern commercial and cultural center.

In the early-to-mid 20th century, Bunker Hill had become a dilapidated area with many Victorian-era mansions converted into low-income housing and rooming houses. The city government and business leaders viewed it as a "slum" that needed to be redeveloped.

In 1945, the California Community Redevelopment Law enabled cities to use eminent domain to condemn and demolish blighted districts. This led the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency to target Bunker Hill for redevelopment.

The CRA argued that Bunker Hill was a "high frequency crime area" and a health hazard, which allowed them to win a court case against the residents and displace many families living there.

Starting in the late 1950s, the city began implementing plans to demolish the existing buildings on Bunker Hill and redevelop the area. This included the construction of Dodger Stadium in the adjacent Chavez Ravine neighborhood, which displaced a Mexican-American community.

Historical Notes

The Music Center and Water and Power Building would not be completed until 1965.

The Harbor Freeway opened in 1952 from the Four Level Interchange south to 3rd Street.

Historical Notes

The redevelopment of Bunker Hill in the 1950s and 1960s transformed it from a residential neighborhood to a commercial and cultural center, with the construction of high-rise office buildings, theaters, museums, and other institutions like the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion and the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Historical Notes

The Natick House Hotel was a historic hotel building located at the southwest corner of Main and 1st Streets in downtown Los Angeles, as part of the larger Bernard Block complex. It was the third major hotel in the city, after the Bella Union and the Lafayette Hotel.

In the 1890s, the Natick Hotel was taken over by the Hart brothers, who were major hotel operators in Los Angeles at the time. They renovated and expanded the Natick, adding a third story.

Historical Notes

In the 1890's the Hart brothers, who were major hotel operators in Los Angeles at the time, took over the Natick House Hotel. They renovated and expanded the Natick, adding a third story.

By the early 1900s, the Natick House was doing good business under the Hart brothers' management. Around this time, the brothers turned their attention to expanding their hotel empire, opening the new Hotel Rosslyn and its annex.

Historical Notes

The historic Natick Hotel building would be demolished in 2001. The site is currently occupied by the Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters building, constructed in 2009.

Historical Notes

The LAPD headquarters, also known as the Police Administration Building or the New Parker Center, replaced the previous LAPD headquarters at Parker Center, which was demolished in 2019. The new headquarters building is a 500,000 square foot, 10-story complex that consolidates various LAPD functions previously spread across multiple locations. It includes offices, a café, underground parking, bicycle racks, and a 400-seat civic auditorium. The total cost of the new headquarters complex was $437 million. Completed in 2009, the Police Administration Buiding was designed by AECOM Los Angeles and received a LEED Gold certification.

Historical Notes

In the 1930s, the Civic Center area of downtown Los Angeles was still in a state of flux and development. The new City Hall seen above was built in 1928, however the civic and government buildings that now define the Civic Center were still being planned and constructed during this time period.

The Civic Center was originally centered around the southern end of the historic Los Angeles Plaza, and had grown southward along Main Street, Spring Street, and Broadway by the mid-1890s. However, as wealthier businesses moved further south into the Historic Core area around 1900-1910, the older Victorian-era blocks of the Civic Center became increasingly neglected.

Historical Notes

Shown along Main Street are the Natick Hotel, Central Cafe, Astor Auto Park, City Hall, and the Court House.

Historical Notes

The bay windows building is 137 South Main Street. Next to it is the Kurtz Block at 145 South Main Street, then 149 South Main Street, and the Newell Block hotel is at the corner of 2nd Street. The large building in the background is the Higgins Building.

Historical Notes

Within just a few years of the above photo, Bunker HIll would undergo a major transformation. The hill would be graded to make room for the new Civic Center expansion which would inlcude the construction of new City and County buildings, the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Ahmanson Theatre, and the Department of Water and Power Building.

Historical Notes

The new LA County Courthouse (later renamed Stanley Mosk Courthouse) was completed in 1958 and formally opened on January 5, 1959.

It was designed by the architectural firm of Stanton, Stockwell, Williams and Wilson, in the Late Moderne architectural style.

The courthouse was part of the 1947 Civic Center Master Plan, which aimed to develop a cohesive government and civic district in downtown LA.

The new courthouse was a joint project of the "Associated Architects" group, which included architects like Paul R. Williams and Adrian Wilson.

Historical Notes

It should be noted that the top of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion is about where the bottom of the buildings on the older shot is. They did not just remove the buildings, they also carved off the top of the hill.

Historical Notes

*Junipero Serra State Office Building #1 (aka Ronald Reagan State Office Building), at 109 S. Broadway was built in 1960.  A Los Angeles Times article of 11/20/1960, described the tower's design: "It is so severely plain, functional in its accommodations as to be almost Spartan when compared with many other public buildings." It stated that the new building would be occupied by 26 state agencies, and "...was built at a cost of approximately $4,300 per occupant, as compared to average building costs of around $6,000 per occupant." This new building complemented an older state office building located diagonally across the street. "Heat for both old and new State Buildings will be furnished by boilers in the new building. Each building will operate its own air-conditioning equipment. Steam pipes and electric and telephone wires connect the buildings through a tunnel running diagonally across the 1st St. at Broadway intersection." The lifespan of this building was unfortunately short. The building's spartan aesthetic probably did not win it much popularity over time; low cost construction also may have played into the building's structural deficiencies. Frequent earthquakes had compromised the building's structure, and the 1994 Northridge Earthquake proved the final straw. Engineers condemned the Serra Building's parking garage soon after the 6.7 temblor (which created extreme ground acceleration), and gave five years for employees to clear out of the office tower. They left by 1998, moving into the former Broadway Department Store at 320 West 4th Street, renovated and seismically upgraded during an early-1990s. When employees moved there, the upgraded facility became known as the second Junipero Serra State Office Building in LA.^   

The Junipero Serra State Office Building was razed in 2006. The lot sat empty until 2014 when construction began for the First Street U.S. Courthouse Building.

Historical Notes

Completed in 2016, the New United States Courthouse at 1st and Broadway is a 10-story, 633,000-square-foot building that contains 24 courtrooms and 32 judicial chambers. It houses the U.S. District Court of the Central District of California, accommodates the U.S. Marshals Service, and provides trial preparation space for the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Federal Public Defender.

The $340-million Civic Center building was erected at the site of the old Junipero Serra State Office Building, which was bulldozed in 2006 due to extensive earthquake damage.

Historical Notes

Architects Skidmore, Owings and Merrill designed the new 10-story courthouse to look like a floating cube (it's set atop a stone podium) with a pleated facade made of tempered glass. Its construction included 4,300 tons of steel.^

Historical Notes

The accompanying LA Times article reads:

The city’s first Independence Day celebration — July 4, 1847 — was recalled yesterday in the dedication of 400-foot-long, 45-foot-high Ft. Moore Pioneer Memorial Wall on Hill St. just north of the Hollywood Freeway.

The Memorial Wall, dedicated “to the brave men and women who faced privation and death in extending the frontiers of our country to include this land of promise,” commemorates Los Angeles’ first Independence Day.

It was in 1847 at the newly constructed Ft. Moore on the hill overlooking the little Mexican pueblo that all American troops in the immediate area — the First U.S. Dragoons, New York Volunteers and Mormon Battalion — gathered to participate in the historic Flag-raising ceremony.

The largest section of the huge bas-relief panel of the Memorial Wall depicts that Flag-raising. Three smaller sections illustrate other aspects of pioneer life.

In addition to the ceramic veneer bas-relief panel, the Memorial Wall features an 80-foot-wide, 47-foot-high waterfall, a 68-foot-high pylon in front of the wall supporting an immense ceramic eagle and a towering flagpole.

Participating in yesterday’s dedication ceremony of the $373,887 memorial were city and county officials, descendants of members of the Mormon Battalion, members of the Sons and Daughters of Utah Pioneers and the 72nd U.S. Army Band and a color guard from Ft. MacArthur. ^^

---

The waterfall was shut-down during the drought of 1977. Even though a pump recycled the water, it looked wasteful. It was turned back on in late 2018, but has only been on intermittenly since then.

Click HERE to see a contemporary view of the Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial.

Historical Notes

Groundbreaking for the memorial took place on July 13, 1953 and was completed in 1957. Note that the flag to the right of the monument is at half-staff. ^

Historical Notes

The mural was designed by Henry Kreis and depicts the raising of the American flag on July 4, 1847 at the first Independence Day celebration in Los Angeles. Three other panels depict scenes of agriculture, transportation, and water and power. The site for the Central Los Angeles Area New High School #9 sits just west of the memorial.^

Historical Notes

The Memorial is located at 451 N. Hill Street. Clcik HERE for map showing the exact lcoation.

Historical Notes

The Echo Park Playground opened in 1907 between Bellevue Avenue and Temple Street, and was only the second public playground to be built in the city of Los Angeles. It still remains today, although in a highly altered form with the Hollywood Freeway (101) bisecting its grounds.

A skate park is planned to be built (2019) where the now empty public swimming pool is located next to the 101 Freeway onramp at Echo Park and Bellevue avenues.

Historical Notes

In the lower right quadrant of the photo, the last remnants of Bunker Hill are holding on. The Rex Apartments can be seen just west of Figueroa. The 1st Street bridge over Figueroa is easy to pick out, Diamond Street is just to the north of 1st Street (to the left) and runs at a little bit of an angle. The Rex Apartments is the only elongated four story building on the street. #*

Historical Notes

The Music Center and DWP Building on Hope St. between 1st and Temple (Bunker Hill) have yet to be built (left-center of photo). Click HERE to see more in Construction of the LA DWP Building.

Historical Notes

In the mid-1800's, this area was a swampland. MacArthur Park, created in the 1880s under the name Westlake Park, was later renamed in honor of General Douglas MacArthur. By the 1890s, it was a vacation destination surrounded by luxury hotels; in the early part of the 20th Century, the area became known as the Champs Elysees of Los Angeles. MacArthur Park has been designated City of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No.100 (Click HERE to see complete listing).^

Historical Notes

Click HERE to see more early views of MacArthur Park when it was call Westlake Park in the 1880s.

Historical Notes

The Bay Theater originally opened in 1948 and was designed by architect S. Charles Lee, known for his work in the Streamline Moderne style.

The Bay Twin Theatres closed in late 1978 and were subsequently converted into a Norris hardware store by 1980.

In November 2018, a new Bay Theatre opened at a different location on North Swarthmore Avenue, featuring a replica of the original theater's sign.

This new theater was initially operated by Cinepolis and later taken over by Netflix in 2021, which uses it to screen classic films, Netflix originals, and host special events.

Click HERE to see more early views of the Bay Theatre.

Historical Notes

The House of Lee Chinese restaurant in Pacific Palisades was a notable establishment during the 1950s. Founded by Ah Wing Young, it became a beloved local spot known for its unique character and cultural significance in an otherwise predominantly white community. The restaurant featured a distinctive Wing Ding Room bar, which was a popular hangout for celebrities such as James Arness, Richard Widmark, Anthony Quinn, and Steve McQueen. The Wing Ding Room was known for its velvet paintings, red vinyl booths, and a family-free zone separated by strung beads, making it a "rite of passage" for locals turning 21.

Historical Notes

Ah Wing Young, owner of the House of Lee Chinese restaurant, was a respected community figure, earning Citizen of the Year honors in 1958 for his contributions, including efforts to establish the Legion building on La Cruz Drive. He sold the restaurant to his cousin, Jimmy Fong, in 1973. The House of Lee continued to operate until 2000, when it was sold and transformed into the Pearl Dragon restaurant. Despite the changes, the famous Wing Ding Burger from House of Lee remains on the Pearl Dragon's menu, preserving a piece of its legacy.

Historical Notes

Construction of the 405 Freeway (originally California State Highway 7) began in 1957 with the first section, mostly north of LAX Airport being completed in 1961.  The section of the 405 that would connect western Los Angeles to the San Fernando Valley was part of a 12-mile, $20 million project, then the most expensive California highway project to date.^

Historical Notes

California State Highway 7 began construction through the West Los Angeles area in 1957. In the above image the highway is cutting a swath from Olympic Ave (bottom cross street) to out of sight distance up the hill past Sunset Blvd. By the time of it's many sections opening in 1964/5 to and through the San Fernando Valley, it was christened with an Interstate designation of 405 for the entire built and soon to be completed route.

Historical Notes

The Mulholland Drive Bridge is a significant landmark in Los Angeles' infrastructure history. The bridge was built by Peter Kiewit Sons Co., the same contractor responsible for its later demolition and reconstruction. The bridge was part of a larger project aimed at developing the San Diego Freeway (I-405), which was crucial for connecting West Los Angeles with the San Fernando Valley through the Sepulveda Pass.

The original Mulholland Drive Bridge in Sepulveda Pass was constructed in 1960, over two years before the 405 freeway it would eventually span was completed. It was constructed in a unique "top-down" method, with the bridge deck built first before digging out the ground beneath it for the freeway. This unusual construction method was necessary due to the challenging terrain of the Sepulveda Pass canyon.

Historical Notes

Before the freeway, the switchback was legendary for it's accidents as it climbed (from right of picture to left), extended south about 1/8' of a mile and switched back on the western slope of the pass, climbing towards the old tunnel below Mulholland Drive.

Once the cement mixing plant and other construction sites were removed, Sepulveda Blvd from the south remained WEST of the new freeway alignment on a steep climb to meet the old Sepulveda east of the Mulholland tunnel. The switchback was then graded over and buried under the new freeway alignment.

Historical Notes

This Mullholland Dr. Bridge was constructed like no other, from the top down. The bridge was completed over two years before the freeway that connected West L.A. to the San Fernando Valley would open.

Historical Notes

The original Mulholland Drive Bridge was designed by M.A. Shulman with the California Division of Highways. It was an early example of concrete box girder bridge construction, a design that was innovative at the time. The bridge featured a 235-foot central span, which was the longest of its type in the Western United States when it was built. This design choice was significant for its ability to support substantial vertical loads without the need for a central bent, allowing for a clear span over the freeway below.

Historical Notes

On Monday, April 4, 1960, the same day the 1959 Academy Awards were held at RKO's Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, Peter Kiewit Sons Co. completed the Mulholland Drive Bridge across the Sepulveda Pass.

In June 1960, bids were opened for a $14-million contract to extend the San Diego Freeway 7.4 miles from Brentwood to Valley Vista Blvd. in the San Fernando Valley. Mulholland Dr. Bridge would finally span a freeway.

Historical Notes

At the time of its construction, no freeway existed beneath it yet. The San Diego (405) Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass was still under construction, with that section not completed until December 1962. The bridge was essentially built in anticipation of the future freeway.

Historical Notes

The Mulholland Bridge was constructed in a unique "top-down" method, with the bridge deck built first before digging out the ground beneath it for the freeway. This unusual construction method was necessary due to the challenging terrain of the Sepulveda Pass canyon. It was completed in December 1962.

In 1996, the bridge underwent seismic retrofitting to enhance its resilience against earthquakes, a necessary upgrade given Los Angeles' seismic activity. However, by the early 21st century, the bridge required further modifications to accommodate the widening of the I-405 freeway and the addition of a high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lane. This led to the decision to demolish and reconstruct the bridge to meet modern seismic standards and traffic demands.

In 2012, over 50 years after its original construction, the Mulholland Drive Bridge was demolished and reconstructed as part of the I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project to widen the freeway below it. The new bridge was widened by approximately 10 feet to accommodate the widened 405 freeway.

Historical Notes

In 2012, 52 years after it was originally built, the Mulholland Dr. Bridge was demolished and reconstructed to accommodate the widening of the I-405 freeway. The new bridge was widened by approximately 10 feet and designed to the latest seismic standards.*

Historical Notes

The freeway's congestion problems are legendary, leading to jokes that the road was numbered 405 because traffic moves at "four or five" miles per hour, or because drivers need "four or five" hours to get anywhere. Indeed, average speeds as low as 5 mph are routinely recorded during morning and afternoon commutes, and its interchanges with the Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101) and with the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) each consistently rank among the five most congested freeway interchanges in the United States.