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

Historical Notes

In 1900, 8,065 horses called Los Angeles home, one for every 12.7 people. Inside the city, stables, saddlers, and blacksmiths occupied prime real estate along L.A. streets. Outside the city, farmers planted countless acres with the oat and alfalfa that fueled these animal engines.

And the horse-drawn vehicle was hardly a zero-emissions machine. In fact, though Southern California's millions and millions of internal combustion engines have added up to an environmental disaster, the urban horse made the automobile look like a clean technology by comparison. A single animal produced 15-30 pounds of manure and a quart of urine each day, much of which festered on the city streets, attracting flies, soiling shoes, and mingling with dirt to form noxious mud when wet and eye-stinging dust in dry weather. And when draft animals collapsed from over-exertion, their drivers often left their carcasses to rot in the roadway -- a sight that disturbed humans and spooked other horses, occasionally triggering mad stampedes through crowded streets.

City officials struggled to keep this public health menace in check, contracting with street sweepers and dead animal removers, but ultimately it took the replacement of equine by automobile power to clean up L.A.'s streets.

Historical Notes

The above photograph features the following buildings: From north-west corner of Broadway and First Street: Tajo Building (1894-1938), Tally-Ho (circa 1894-1939, adjoining Tajo to north), Watauga Hotel (four-story, two buildings north of Tally-Ho), Brotherton Building, Franklin Hotel (far lower right, top of T, Broadway at Franklin Street) and Los Angeles Police Central Division (west of, and partially behind Tajo, across First Street); South of First Street: Hough Block (unknown-1956, 2nd from SW corner), Yosemite Hotel (left of the Hough Block), Newell and Rader Block (the shorter building left of Yosemite Hotel), Newell and Gammon Building (a taller building with "Smith Premier" sign), Roanoke Building (built in 1886 as Millar Building, left of Newell), C.H. Frost Building (built in 1898, north-west corner of Broadway and Second Street), California Hotel (First and Hill Streets), Hotel Lincoln (with white cupola, Hill Street at First and Second Streets), Crocker Mansion (at Bunker Hill - just above and left of Lincoln cupola, south-east of Olive Street and Third Street); South of Second Street: California Bank Building (built in 1887, south-west corner), YMCA Building (built ca.1887, left of the California Bank), B.F. Coulter Building (built ca.1888, left of YMCA Building), Bicknell Building (built in 1892, left of the Coulter Building), H. Newmark Building (left of Bicknell), Boston Dry Goods Store (built ca. 1896, J. W. Robinson's, left of Newmark), Fred J. Byrne Building (at north-west corner with Second Street). From the left side Broadway: Second Los Angeles Times Building; South of First Street: Culver Block (at south-east corner of Broadway and First Street), Hayes Block (just east of the Culver Block), Larronde Block (at north-west corner of Spring and First Streets), Schumacher Block (just north of the Larronde Block), Nadeau Hotel (First and Spring Streets), Wilson Block (north-east corner of Spring and First Street); South of Second Street: Hellman Building (north-east corner of Broadway and Second Street), Bryson-Bonebrake Building (north-west corner of Spring and Second Streets), Hollenbeck Hotel (1884-1931, south-west corner of Second and Spring Streets), Wilcox Building (1896 - shortened in 1971, south-east corner of Spring and Second Streets), Third City Hall (1888-1928); South of Third Street: Bradbury Building (built in 1893, south-east corner of Broadway and Third 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

Built in 1893, the Bradbury Building was commissioned by LA mining millionaire Lewis L. Bradbury and designed by local draftsman George Wyman.

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Bradbury Building.

Historical Notes

The Crocker Mansion was designed by architect John Hall and erected in 1886.  The ornate residence was built at a cost of $45,000 for Mrs. Margaret E. Crocker, widow of Edwin Bryant Crocker, a California Supreme Court Justice.  Later it was called the Crocker Mansion Rooming House and became the site of the Elks Club, and finally the Moose Lodge.^

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Crocker Mansion.

Historical Notes

This exclusive residential area, most of it built during the 1880's, was at its zenith in 1900.***#

Historical Notes

By 1900, Los Angeles' population swelled to 102, 500. This was double the City's population of only 10 years earlier (1890).*^

The Van Nuys Hotel was built by Isaac Newton Van Nuys, businessman, real estate developer, banker, and agricultural entrepreneur. He founded the community of Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley in 1911. As a major figure in regional history and development, there are schools, streets, libraries, and a Liberty Ship with the name of Van Nuys.*^

Historical Notes

When built in 1901, the Angelus Hotel was advertised as the tallest building in Los Angeles.  The Hellman Building, built in 1903, would surpass it at eight stories.

Historical Notes

The Hellman Building still stands today. In 2002 it was dedicated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 729.

Historical Notes

The Westminster Hotel was a large Victorian brick building with a six-story tower. It was designed in 1887 by Robert B. Young and was considered the grandest hotel in the city. In about 1870, this area was the site of a Chinese market. By the mid-1930s the hotel was in decline. It, however, continued to operate until 1960 when the building was razed to make room for new development.^^

Historical Notes

Two highly influential figures in 1880s Los Angeles, John Bryson, Sr., the 19th mayor, of LA and Major George H. Bonebrake, President of the Los Angeles National Bank and the State Loan and Trust Company, commissioned John Cather Newsom to erect this 126-room bank and office building. It's cost was projected to be $224,000, a staggering sum at the time. Bonebrake was one of the richest men in the city at the time, and he could afford making such an investment. He located the main headquarters of his bank in the Bryson-Bonebrake Block.*##*

Historical Notes

The Hollenbeck Hotel was constructed in 1884 at Spring and Second streets.  The hotel was named for its owner, John Hollenbeck, a prominent investor, banker, and owner of large landholdings in the Boyle Heights area.  A leading hotel in its day, it was designed by Robert Young, an architect responsible for several early downtown hotels, including the Lankershim, the Lexington, and the Westminster.^^*

Historical Notes

In 1900, the Burbank Theatre was leased to Oliver Morosco and became known as Morosco's Burbank Theatre.  Morosco was later involved in the Majestic Theater on Broadway (which opened in 1908) and got a house named for himself when he opened the Morosco on Broadway (now the Globe) in 1913. **^

Historical Notes

President McKinley, after his second inauguration on March 4, 1901, went on a six-week tour of the United States. Traveling by train, McKinley arrived in Los Angeles on May 8. On May 10, McKinley’s train headed north with stops in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo.

Historical Notes

This photo was published in the Jan. 3, 1950, Los Angeles Times Mid-Winter Edition as part of a photographic history of Los Angeles. The accompanied headline announced, “Century’s Early Years Brought Trolleys, Traffic and (Ah!) Fashion.” *##

Historical Notes

Elysian Park is the city's oldest public park and, at 575-acres, the second largest after Griffith Park. It is home to numerous historic sites, including the Los Angeles Police Academy and Barlow Hospital, that are linked by miles of walking trails.

In 1769, Gaspar de Portola and Father Juan Crespi camped on the river bank opposite Buena Vista Hill near the North Broadway Bridge entrance to Elysian Park. Yang-Na Indian villagers from the creeks of Solano Canyon and the current location of the Los Angeles Police Academy greeted the Spaniards with native refreshments.

In 1781, the Pueblo of Los Angeles was officially established by Spanish California Governor Felipe de Neve with the Royal Grant of 4 square Spanish leagues (translated into 28 square miles or about 17,000 acres) of Pueblo Lands. Of this public land grant, the approximately 575-acre Elysian Park is the last remaining large piece. All else has been auctioned off or given away. Los Angeles even had to buy back the site of the present City Hall. One of the first American official acts was the Ord Survey of 1849 to record the boundaries of these Pueblo Lands so they could be auctioned to produce city revenue.

Elysian Park was then known as Rock Quarry Hills for the building stone mined in the area. But instead of being sold, the Rock Quarry Hills area were "reserved" for public purpose and withdrawn from public auction.**^

Historical Notes

In 1886, the Mayor and City Council of Los Angeles dedicated the Rock Quarry Hills as a city park forever, and renamed it Elysian Park (Elysian is derived from the Greek word paradise). Subsequent city charters have protected dedicated park lands and their use for park purposes in perpetuity.**^

Historical Notes

After beautification, improved access was a top priority. The extension of Buena Vista Street to the park's Fremont Gate entrance brought the park within a short carriage ride of the central city, and in 1893 a former burro trail became a trans-park road. Further improvements in 1896 -- funded by a $20,000 subscription drive and performed by an army of unemployed workers -- laced the park with footpaths and added basic facilities like restrooms.**#

Historical Notes

The park became even more colorful in 1893, when the Los Angeles Horticultural Society created the City Arboretum in Chavez Ravine. A haphazard planting of rare trees from around the world, the arboretum transformed Elysian Park's western canyon into an exotic forest. Some of the arboretum's trees, still growing today, remain the only representatives of their species in Los Angeles..**#

Historical Notes

Around 1895, Elysian Park received its most recognizable tree planting with the creation of the Avenue of the Palms, an allee of date palms (Canary Island Date Palms) along present-day Stadium Way.**#

Historical Notes

A fatal fungus – Fusarium wilt  – that has killed off Canary Island palms from Spain to Santa Monica has also spread to the Elysian Park trees. Faced with the prospect of a forest of dead palm trees, the Citizens Committee to Save Elysian Park, a nonprofit park support group, came up with a proposal to plant disease-resistant palms. The new palms and irrigation system were paid for with a fund earmarked for Elysian Park improvements.

As of May, 2014, Elysian Park has been planted with a grove of more than 100 knee-high palm trees that will one day replace the majestic Canary Island Date Palms that are slowly dying from a fatal tree fungus.

The new trees – Chilean Wine Palms, Jubaea chilensis – were planted in between the century-old palms that have risen about 50 feet high along the  Avenue of the Palms. +*

Historical Notes

Echo Park Lake didn’t start out as a man-made lake. Instead, its earliest use by the city was as a reservoir, storing water in a section sometimes known as the city’s “West End.” In those years this area was thought of as the city’s west side.^

Historical Notes

Designed in the rustic style, one of the lake's two bridges (seen above) helped pedestrians reach an island, while a second bridge passed over the lake’s northwest corner, where a ditch delivered water from the Los Angeles River (and lotus now grow).

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Canal and Reservoir Co. formed Reservoir No. 4 in 1868. The company obtained the water by digging a ditch that sent water flowing from the Los Angeles River – in the area now known as Los Feliz – along a zigzag path that merged with the Arroyo de los Reyes and then emptied into the reservoir.*

The Arroyo de los Reyes originates near the Catholic school on Glendale Boulevard – right by the 2 off-ramp.  It flowed southward, along Glendale Boulevard, occupied the area now taken by Echo Park Lake, and continued down to 2nd Street, then crossing through downtown LA, about a block or two south of Pershing Square, where it spread and created a big muddy mess.  These flows eventually connected with the Los Angeles River, when they didn’t seep into the ground first.^

Click HERE to see more Early LA Water Reservoirs.

Historical Notes

In the late 1880s, a carriage maker turned real estate developer, by the name of Thomas Kelley, teamed up with other investors to purchase about 70 acres that included Reservoir No. 4—what is now Echo Park Lake.  Kelley and his business partners sold off pieces of what they called the Montana Tract to individuals who built the business district along Sunset Boulevard and the densely packed homes and apartments that surround Echo Park Lake.

In 1891, city leaders struck a deal with the men who owned the land around the reservoir. Kelley and his associates – including William LeMoyne Wills, who like Kelley, would later serve on the school board – gave up 33 acres of land around the reservoir so that it could be used as a park. In exchange, the city agreed not to overflow the reservoir land, making the remaining land held by Kelley and his associates – including the street that would soon become Sunset Boulevard – far more valuable. Click HERE to see more on the Grand Opening of Sunset Boulevard.

By 1920, many of the hills surrounding the lake were still untouched. Farm houses lined the northern edge of the lake, while four-unit, Craftsman-style apartment flats ran up Echo Park Avenue and Alvarado Street. Kelley died in 1906, the same year he built a house for his sister at 1467 Echo Park Ave. Within a few years, Kelley’s heirs had sold off much of his land to Henry Christian Jensen, who built the Sunset Pharmacy at Sunset and Echo Park, the motion picture house known as the Globe Theater – now Guadalupana – at 1624 Sunset Boulevard, and the Jensen's Recreation Center at Sunset and Logan Street. *

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Echo Park (1890s).

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. Prior to this, this piece of land south of the lake was a muddy lot and a nuisance to the neighbors. The land was filled in and a 4-acre playground was built upon the fill.

Echo Park was a relatively new district still sparsely settled when construction of the playground began. Its location, adjacent to but separate from an existing park, was a pattern that would be followed elsewhere, most notably with the Griffith Park Playground.

Playground Number Two in Echo Park (seen above) remains today, although in a highly altered form with the Hollywood Freeway (101) bisecting its grounds.^

Historical Notes

Los Angeles was, in 1904, the first major city in the country to establish a separate Playground Commission. As with many of the Progressive innovations of the day, it came with support of upper- and middle-class women’s organizations. The most important advocate was Mrs. Arabella Rodman, with the backing of the Ebell Club and similar groups.

The original playground plans called for a gymnasium, a club house, and a residence for the director. The club house also contained a meeting space with a raised platform. (In 1925 the club house was moved to a new location nearby and later become L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument No. 950.) Soon there followed similar playgrounds, such as the 1907 Solano Playground in Solano Canyon, the 1910 Slauson Playground in Southeast Los Angeles, and the 1911 Hazard Playground, between Boyle and Lincoln Heights.

By 1924 the existing club house was considered inadequate. Echo Park residents, whose groups used its meeting space, petitioned the City Council for a new building. In June of that year the City approved the construction of a new club house and awarded the commission to the Allied Architects’ Association, a cooperative that did a good deal of the City’s work. The architects produced a design that the Playground Commission saw as the first of a series of similar structures.^

Historical Notes

The new club house was completed in 1926 and still stands, if somewhat altered. It was described as “an attractive building” in the Spanish Colonial Revival style, and was “the first of several structures to be erected in various parts of the City.” It is constructed of brick covered in stucco and topped by a clay tile roof. Because of the sloping site, it is single story facing Bellevue Avenue and two stories in the rear. The lower level, opening to the playground, contained separate lockers and shower rooms for men and women, while the upper floor had a large meeting room, complete with stage and surrounded by supporting spaces.^

The Echo Park Clubhouse was designated Historical Cultural Monument No. 950. 

Historical Notes

As with the club house, the municipal swimming pool, or plunge as it was popularly known at that time, was a playground facility that served all ages.

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

Initially, the majority of vegetable selling in Los Angeles was done around the circular Olvera Street Plaza, just South of Macy Street, where Caucasian, Japanese and Chinese farmers congregated with their goods. However, the increased presence of wagons and the long hours of the makeshift vegetable market became a nuisance to the city.^^^^#

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

Historical Notes

The City’s demand for fresh produce was only increasing; subsequently, it leased a vacant lot at 9th Street and Los Angeles Street to provide a more regulated space for the vegetable market. This new market, known as the Hughes Market, opened its stalls in 1901, expanding at a rapid rate until it outgrew its bounds and leased another vacant lot from the city at 3rd Street and Central in 1903, establishing the Los Angeles Market Company.^^^^#

In the upper left of the photo can be seen two buildings. The building in front (the one under construction) was the Produce Exchange Building and the one in the back has a sign which reads Towne Produce Co. These two buildings are still there and look like this today.*^^

Historical Notes

Infighting amongst the shareholders and stall vendors led to the creation of two new markets in 1909; one was the City Market of Los Angeles on 9th Street and San Pedro, established by Mr. Louis Quan, while the other remained, in name, the Los Angeles Market Company, established on 6th Street and Alameda (the Southern Pacific railroad, wanting to run track through the 3rd and Central street location, exchanged this land for the lot on 6th street). Both markets grew at a tremendous rate, and while the City Market was able to expand three blocks south to 12th street, and 1 block west from San Pedro to Wall Street, the Los Angeles Market Company soon moved to a larger space on 7th and Central Streets.^^^^#

Historical Notes

Where previously the market was crowded with horses and buggies, this new site was designed to be large enough to accommodate automobile traffic.

In 1926, horses were legally prohibited on streets, making wagons an obsolete method for transporting produce.^^^^#

Historical Notes

A.F. Gilmore and his son, Earl Bell (E.B.) turned their Gilmore Oil Company into the largest distributor of petroleum products in the Western U.S.

E. B. Gilmore appears to have invented the self-serve gas station. He created a “gas-a-teria” not far from Farmers Market where customers saved 5 cents per gallon by filling their own tanks. Those who preferred to have their gas pumped by “professionals” at the gas-a-teria got unusual service for a period of time when young ladies on roller skates would glide to the pumps to gas the cars up.^**

Historical Notes

In 1896, the Pacific Land Company purchased a 225-acre tract and hired S.H. Taft to develop a new town named Barrett, after Gen. A.W. Barrett, local manager of the veterans home situated in the area. When the Pacific Land Company attempted to secure a post office for the new town, the postal authorities objected to the name "Barrett" on account of its similarity to Bassett, California. In 1899, the name of the town was formally changed to Sawtelle (for W.E. Sawtelle who superseded Taft as manager of the Pacific Land Company).

Sawtelle is where the U.S. Government established the National Soldier's Home (now Veterans Administration Hospital).  Click HERE to see more.

Sawtelle existed as a separate city until 1922 when Sawtelle voters decided to join Los Angeles.*^

Historical Notes

Sawtelle existed as a separate city until 1922 when Sawtelle voters decided to join Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Leonis Adobe, built in 1844, is one of the oldest surviving private residences in Los Angeles County and one of the oldest surviving buildings in the San Fernando Valley. Located in what is now Calabasas, the adobe was occupied by the wealthy rancher, Miguel Leonis, from 1880 until his death in 1889. Following Leonis' death, the property was the subject of a legal dispute between his common law wife (Espiritu Leonis), heirs, and a daughter born out of wedlock; the dispute lasted more than 15 years in the courts.*^

Historical Notes

In 1961, the adobe had fallen victim to vandalism, and its owner applied for a permit to raze the structure and erect a supermarket in its place. Preservationists succeeded in having the adobe declared a Historic-Cultural Landmark (the first structure in Los Angeles receiving the designation in 1962 - Click HERE to see the LA Historic-Cultural Monuments List).

Leonis Adobe is also known as one of the most haunted sites in Los Angeles County, and it was profiled in the British paranormal television series "Most Haunted" in 2005. The adobe was restored and is operated as a living museum. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.*^

Historical Notes

In 1542, Juan Rodriquez Cabrillo discovered the "Bay of Smokes". The south-facing San Pedro Bay was originally a shallow mudflat, too soft to support a wharf. Visiting ships had two choices: stay far out at anchor and have their goods and passengers ferried to shore; or beach themselves.

Phineas Banning greatly improved shipping when he dredged the channel to Wilmington in 1871 to a depth of 10 feet. The port handled 50,000 tons of shipping that year. Banning owned a stagecoach line with routes connecting San Pedro to Salt Lake City, Utah and to Yuma, Arizona, and in 1868 he built a railroad to connect San Pedro Bay to Los Angeles, the first in the area.*^

Historical Notes

San Pedro was named for St. Peter of Alexandria, a Fourth Century bishop in Alexandria, Egypt. His feast day is November 24 on the local ecclesiastical calendar of Spain, the day on which Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo discovered the bay in 1542 which would be known as San Pedro. Santa Catalina Island, named after Catherine of Alexandria, was claimed for the Spanish Empire the next day, on her feast day, November 25. In 1602–1603, Sebastián Vizcaíno (1548–1624) officially surveyed and mapped the California coastline, including San Pedro Bay, for New Spain.

The land was granted in 1784 by King Carlos III to Juan Jose Dominguez, a retired Spanish soldier who came to California with the Gaspar de Portolà expedition.

Under United States control after 1848, when the United States defeated Mexico in the Mexican-American war, the harbor was greatly improved and expanded under the guidance of Phineas Banning and John Gately Downey, the seventh governor of California.*^

Historical Notes

Most of the boulders used to construct the breakwater in San Pedro Harbor came from the mountains of west San Fernando Valley. Between 1898 and 1904, Southern Pacific was grading, cutting, and tunneling through the Santa Susana Mountains near Chatsworth Park as they establshed their new Coast Line connection from Ventura to Burbank. This provided San Pedro with an ample supply of boulders for their new breakwater. Click HERE to see more in Early Views of the San Fernando Valley.

Historical Notes

Deadman's Island was one of two islands near San Pedro in the 19th century. The land, sometimes referenced as Dead Man's Island, Isla Del Muerto, and Reservation Point, was dredged away in 1928 as part of a harbor development effort. Rattlesnake Island, the other islet in the area, became Terminal Island.*^

Historical Notes

In 1906, the City of Los Angeles annexed the Harbor Gateway, a long narrow strip of land connecting the city to the coast, and in 1909, the city annexed San Pedro and the adjacent town of Wilmington. The odd shape is still seen in the map of the city.*^

Historical Notes

In 1912 the Southern Pacific Railroad completed its first major wharf at the port. During the 1920s, the port passed San Francisco as the west coast's busiest seaport. In the early 1930s a massive expansion of the port was taken with the construction of a massive breakwater three miles out that was over 2 miles in length. In addition to the construction of this outer breakwater an inner breakwater was built off of Terminal Island with docks for sea going ships and smaller docks built at Long Beach.*^

Historical Notes

This is in Little Tokyo. The building at center left was later replaced by a Buddhist temple, later the Japanese-American Museum. The building further to the left later had a very famous restaurant/cafe within. View is to the northwest..^

Historical Notes

Melrose Avenue was named by ranch owner E. A. McCarthy after his hometown of Melrose, Mass. The McCarthy Ranch occupied most of the area bounded by Western to Wilton and Melrose to Santa Monica Blvd.^*^

Historical Notes

The above farm is where the Hollywood Frwy crosses Melrose Avenue today. Just to the west and out of view is the location of the McCarthy Ranch. In 1887 E. A. McCarthy named Melrose Avenue after his hometown of Melrose, Mass.^*^

Historical Notes

In 1896 Griffith J. Griffith donated over 3000 acres of Rancho Los Felis to the City of Los Angeles to create a public park in his name. Mount Hollywood, the highest peak of the park, rises to an elevation of 1640 feet. Griffith Park was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument  No. 942 in 2009 (Click HERE to see complete listing).^

Historical Notes

The Hollywood area was still very rural in the turn of the century with the first substantial residences built around farmland.

Historical Notes

Hans Jevne, in the grocery business in downtown Los Angeles from 1882-1920, didn’t want to miss a sale. At some point quite early in his operations (perhaps right from the start), he determined that if customers in the vicinity couldn’t come to him—or did come but didn’t want to tote the groceries—he’d have the merchandise delivered to them.

While free home delivery by a grocery store was certainly not originated by Jevne, he eventually provided that service on an exceptionally grand scale.

He employed deliverymen at least as early as 1893. On As of 1889, when “The Illustrated History of Los Angeles County, California” was published, H. Jevne Co. had 13 horses (and employed 27 men). His store, at 38 and 40 North Spring Street, had by then expanded from a single room in the building to both floors, according to the book.

In 1890, Jevne moved to a three-story building at 136 and 138 N. Spring St. (in the “Wilcox Block”), and in 1896 relocated to 208/210 S. Spring Street (in the newly opened “Wilcox Building”). Jevne continued to offer home delivery, shifting from reliance on horse-pulled wagons to motorized vehicles.^^^**

Historical Notes

La Fiesta de Los Angeles which began on April 10, 1894, was a four day festival that the city threw in its own honor celebrating its many different cultures. It continued throughout the 1890s and early 1900s. The event featured parades, floats, many flowers, athletic competitions, a costume ball, and carnival attended by masked revelers. It was conceived of by a local business man as a way to attract tourism at a time when the effects of the 1893 depression were being felt.

The City Hall building as seen above was LA's third. It was built in 1888 and stood until the current city hall was completed in 1928.^

Historical Notes

Founded by abolitionist, suffragist, mother and homemaker Caroline Severance in 1891, the Friday Morning Club (FMC) was the largest single women's club in California, with membership of over 1,800 women by the 1920s. Women's clubs were a mainstay of middle-class women's social and intellectual life across America from the end of the Civil War until the middle of the 20th century, when their numbers declined as opportunities increased for women's equal participation in mainstream business, educational, and social institutions.*^

Historical Notes

The 1903 La Fiesta de la Flores parade was notable because President Theodore Roosevelt was in attendance and watched as it passed this reviewing stand. On each side, flanking the Presidential stand, is the Grand Stand containing the Executive Committee, sub-committees, County and City Officials, and invited guests.  After the Floral Parade, the Presidential party entered the carriages in waiting and with military escort, drove to Sixth Street Park (later Pershing Square).+*+

Historical Notes

Members of Pasadena's Valley Hunt Club first staged the Tournament of Roses parade in 1890. Since then the parade has been held in Pasadena every New Year's Day, except when January 1 falls on a Sunday.

Many of the members of the Valley Hunt Club were former residents of the American East and Midwest. They wished to showcase their new California home's mild winter weather. At a club meeting, Professor Charles F. Holder announced, "In New York, people are buried in the snow. Here our flowers are blooming and our oranges are about to bear. Let's hold a festival to tell the world about our paradise." So the club organized horse-drawn carriages covered in flowers, followed by foot races, polo matches, and a game of tug-of-war on the town lot that attracted a crowd of 2,000 to the event. Upon seeing the scores of flowers on display, the professor decided to suggest the name "Tournament of Roses."

Over the next few founding years, marching bands and motorized floats were added.*^

Historical Notes

Before the Rose Bowl was built, 1923, games were played in Pasadena's Tournament Park, approximately three miles southeast of the current Rose Bowl stadium near the campus of Caltech. Tournament Park was determined to be unsuitable for the larger and larger crowds gathering to watch the game and a new, permanent home for the game was commissioned.*^

Historical Notes

The Broadway Tunnel was a tunnel under Fort Moore Hill, built in 1901, 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).*^

Buildings seen include the Hotel Aberdeen and the Women's Christian Temperance Union building with a rounded corner and a balustrade on the cornice. Signs read: "Hotel Aberdeen" "W.C.T.U, Temperance Temple, Furnished Rooms" and "Sanitarium and Health Office." Multi-story Victorian houses have half-timbering, dormers, and turrets.

Historical Notes

This was Los Angeles High School's second home, built in 1891 on Fort Moore Hill.

Los Angeles High School was founded in 1873 and is the oldest public high school in the L.A. Unified School District. The original building was at Temple and Broadway (the current site of the Los Angeles County Court House). In 1891, L.A. High School moved to its second building at a new location (seen above) on nearby Fort Moore Hill, located on north Hill Street between California (now the 101 Freeway) and Sunset Blvd (now Cesar E. Chavez Ave).^

Early buildings commissioned to house the Los Angeles High School were among the architectural jewels of the city, and were strategically placed at the summit of a hill, the easier to be pointed to with pride. One of the school's long standing mottos is "Always a hill, always a tower, always a timepiece."

In 1917, the school moved to its current location at 4650 West Olympic Boulevard (which incidentally is not on a hill).*^

Historical Notes

Discovered in 1890, and made famous by Edward Doheny's successful well in 1892, the Los Angeles Oil Field was once the top producing oil field in California, accounting for more than half of the state's oil in 1895. In its peak year of 1901, approximately 200 separate oil companies were active on the field, which is now entirely built over by dense residential and commercial development.*^

Historical Notes

The Broadway Tunnel was a tunnel under Fort Moore Hill 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 completed and opened for traffic on Saturday, August 17, 1901. The cost in its construction was $66,000.

Third Street Tunnel under Bunker Hill was also completed in 1901.*^

Historical Notes

The Broadway Tunnel was 760 feet long, 40 feet wide and 22 feet high, with a grade of 6 in 100, falling toward the east.*^

Historical Notes

On June 2, 1949, the Broadway Tunnel was demolished for the construction of the 101 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

A bridge now stands where there once used to be the Broadway Tunnel. Not only was the entire hill removed, but a freeway crossing was excavated beneath the level of Broadway at exactly the point where the tunnel used to be.^#^

Historical Notes

At the end of Temple Street can be spotted one of Los Angeles' earliest streetlights. They were carbon-arc lamps mounted on 150-foot tall poles. Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Streetlights.

Historical Notes

Constructed in 1891, the Los Angeles County Courthouse stood where the city’s first high school, Los Angeles High School, had been located. The high school was there from 1873 until 1886 when it was moved to North Hill Street to allow for construction of the courthouse.^

Historical Notes

On July 3, 1893, residents and taxpayers presented a petition to the Los Angeles City Council asking that a tunnel be created to connect those who lived in the Crown Hill neighborhood with the business district located on this side of Bunker Hill. Their plans called for a tunnel 1080 feet long, with a twenty-six foot roadway and eight foot sidewalks. Nothing happened for five years.

In 1898 the City Council ordered the City Attorney to draw up an ordinance putting tunnel bonds in front of the public via a special election. That election was held on July 6, 1898, and funds were approved for both the Third Street and Broadway tunnels.

On January 21, 1900, a serious disaster struck. Thirteen men were "entombed" in the tunnel dig after a massive cave-in on the western end. Several were killed in the collapse, but others were trapped inside with only the air in the tunnel. Frantic efforts were made to dig into their position. Ten men were rescued, while three perished.

In March of 1901 the tunnel was opened to the public. It was unpaved and unlit. Gutters weren’t installed until 1902.*#

Historical Notes

Sign above tunnel entrance reads:  "Notice, $50.00 fine for riding or driving through this tunnel faster than a walk".

Historical Notes

Built in 1901 with financing from Colonel J.W. Eddy, as the Los Angeles Incline Railway, Angels Flight began at the west corner of Hill Street at Third and ran for two blocks uphill (northwestward) to its Olive Street terminus.*^

An observation tower and a 'Camera Obscura' were also constructed on top of the hill adjacent to the Crocker Mansion .

A Camera Obscura (Latin: "dark chamber") is an optical device that consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside, where it is reproduced, rotated 180 degrees (thus upside-down), but with color and perspective preserved. The image can be projected onto paper, and can then be traced to produce a highly accurate representation.*^

Historical Notes

Brochure reads: "It is in the heart of the city--Hill and Third Street, Los Angeles, Cal. The ride is inspiring and perfectly safe. The view from the tower--'Angel's View'--is grand beyond compare, overlooking city, sea and mountains. The Camera Obscura, the most perfect in existence, puts a beautiful living picture of Third Street and vicinity on canvas before you.

Fares 4 cents, three for 10 cents, ten for 25 cents, 100 for $1.00.  Angel’s View with Camera Obscura and Field Glasses 5 cents, 3 for 10 cents.  Best Pavilion, “Angel’s Rest,” overlooking city, Kiddy Park and Fountain Free.  Easy chairs.  Search Light at night.  Come and bring your friends and enjoy yourselves.**#**

A Camera Obscura was also installed in Santa Monica in 1898. Click HERE to see more.

Historical Notes

Angels Flight consisted of two vermillion "boarding stations" and two cars, named Sinai and Olivet, pulled up the steep incline by metal cables powered by engines at the upper Olive Street station. As one car ascended, the other descended, carried down by gravity.*^

For at least 25 years after Angels Flight opened, there was an observation tower adjacent to the incline railway from which one could take in a breathtaking overlook of downtown Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

When the construction on the Third Street tunnel began in 1900, Mrs. Crocker filed a petition claiming that the mansion was endangered by the street tunnel which was “unsafe, improperly constructed and a veritable death trap.” According to the Los Angeles Times, “the walls of her house are settling, the foundations giving way and the plaster is falling off…Unless something is done, the building is liable to topple into a hole.” The house never did topple and was alive and well in 1902 when Angels Flight began operating and dropping riders off practically on the Crocker doorstep.

The Victorian building was razed in June 1908 and the cornerstone for the Elk’s Annex was laid the following September.*^#*

Historical Notes

When Angels Flight - "the shortest railroad in the world" - first opened in 1901, there was only a small shelter at the top; in 1910, a larger and permanent depot was built.

Historical Notes

An archway labeled "Angels Flight" greeted passengers on the Hill Street entrance, and this name became the official name of the railway in 1912 when the Funding Company of California purchased the railway from its founders.*^

Historical Notes

The wide avenue in the background pointing almost straight at us is Aliso Street, which today is the alignment of the 101 freeway east of the Civic Center. It turns slightly to the viewer’s left then and becomes The Slot as it passes through the site of the Baker Block - that long building at center-left with the three large cupolas, located on the 300 block of Main Street.

Down at the lower right can be seen a portion of Temple Square - the "Times Square" of old L.A. And at the extreme right edge you can just barely see a corner of the Temple Block - one of the most important buildings in the early political and commercial life of the city.^^#

Historical Notes

A Mr. Sturdevant put in a notice calling the first meeting; only three showed up. Then Carl K. Broneer put in another notice, and ten camera enthusiasts showed up at the office of the Los Angeles and Pasadena Electric Railway, 222 West 4th Street, where he was office boy. Then Mr. Valentine, assistant to Frank Wiggins, director of the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce, moved the meeting to the chamber director's office. From that time on the club grew by leaps and bounds and signed a lease for the top floor of the Wright & Callender Building on Hill Street.^

Historical Notes

By the turn of the century, America was prosperous and cars, now available in steam, electric, or gasoline versions, were becoming more popular. The years 1899 and 1900 were the high point of electric cars in America, as they outsold all other types of cars. One example was the 1902 Phaeton built by the Woods Motor Vehicle Company of Chicago, which had a range of 18 miles, a top speed of 14 mph and cost $2,000. Later in 1916, Woods invented a hybrid car that had both an internal combustion engine and an electric motor.#*

Historical Notes

Electric vehicles had many advantages over their competitors in the early 1900s. They did not have the vibration, smell, and noise associated with gasoline cars. Changing gears on gasoline cars was the most difficult part of driving, while electric vehicles did not require gear changes. While steam-powered cars also had no gear shifting, they suffered from long start-up times of up to 45 minutes on cold mornings. The steam cars had less range before needing water than an electric's range on a single charge.#*

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Examiner was founded in 1903 by William Randolph Hearst as a union-friendly answer to the Los Angeles Times. At its peak in 1960, the Examiner had a circulation of 381,037. It attracted the top newspapermen and women of the day. The Examiner flourished in the 1940s under the leadership of City Editor James H. Richardson, who led his reporters to emphasize crime and Hollywood scandal coverage.*^

Historical Notes

The Herald Examiner would move into a new, larger building in 1914, located at the southwest corner of Broadway and 11th Streets. Click HERE to see the Examiner's 2nd buidling located at 1111 South Broadway.

Historical Notes

In 1967, Herald Examiner employees began a strike that lasted almost a decade and resulted in at least $15 million in losses. The paper never recovered from the strike and went out of business November 2, 1989, leaving the Los Angeles Times as the sole city-wide daily newspaper.*^

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.^^*^

Historical Notes

According to The American Globe, Independent Illustrated Monthly of 1909, The Angelus was sold circa 1903 to the Loomis Brothers, who were experienced hoteliers.

The Angelus had a Turkish-themed room in its early days, along with a bowling alley, billiards, a buffet and hair dressing parlor. Under the Loomis Brothers, the hotel later offered onsite "progressive tailoring" services by Eisner & Company.^^*^

Historical Notes

Sunset Boulevard had its grand opening on May 14, 1904.  A parade of a dozen or so automobiles — accompanied by horse-drawn carriages, tally-hos, and electric rail cars — puttered over the freshly macadamized roadway that now connected Los Angeles with the then-independent city of Hollywood. Crowds of well-wishers gathered along the route. **#

Historical Notes

Property owners in the hilly area now known as Silver Lake and Echo Park soon realized that the road would catalyze development and boost the value of their holdings. In 1892, led by the Los Angeles and Pacific Railway and a Confederate Civil War veteran named George H. Smith, they petitioned the city to open Sunset Boulevard through their land. The city council mapped out a route the following year, tracing the path of the defunct Ostrich Farm Railway. Actual work, however, didn't begin in earnest until April 18, 1903, when contractor Charles Stansbury and his workers began carving the boulevard's meandering path into the area's soft sandstone hills. **#

Historical Notes

When the new boulevard finally opened in the spring of 1904, its future as one of L.A.'s iconic automobile routes might have seemed unlikely. The road surface was uneven in places, and there had been no effort to plant shade trees — an oversight that celebrants hastily remedied by fastening palm fronds to telegraph poles. Furthermore, the boulevard didn't yet extend to the sea and wouldn't until 1934, when sinuous Beverly Boulevard was remade into the westernmost stretch of Sunset. **#

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