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

Historical Notes

The International Savings & Exchange Bank Building (also known as the International Savings Building), was built in the Spring Street Financial District of Los Angeles in 1907. Standing ten floors, it was designed in the Renaissance Revival and Italianate styles by architect H. Alban Reaves, who had previously designed several structures in New York, including what is now the south building of the historic Schuyler Arms.*^

Historical Notes

The International Building stood at 226 North Spring Street, the intersection of Temple and Spring, (sometimes referred to as Temple Square) across from the Main Post Office and was featured in several postcards from the 1920s.*^

Historical Notes

Not a single building in the above photograph survived. The building on the left is the Temple Block, the old Hall of Records is background left, then the International Bank Building, the Sandstone Courthouse on the back right, and finally the Federal Post Office on the far right.

Historical Notes

In 1928, the building was dwarfed by the new 30-story Los Angeles City Hall, and soon after calls for its demolition increased, resulting in its razing. But that didn't happen until sometime after 1954. The portion of Spring Street that its front entrance faced no longer exists.*^

Historical Notes

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

Historical Notes

The 1893-built Stimson Building, a six story Richardsonian Romanesque office building with an observation tower, stood on the NE corner of Spring and 3rd streets until 1963…today a parking lot.

Historical Notes

The Stimson Building was designed by Carroll H. Brown in 1893 for Thomas D. Stimson, a lumber magnate from Michigan. The building is six stories tall and was one of the first high-rise buildings in Los Angeles at the time it was built. The building was one of the most expensive residences when built, costing about $150,000. The Stimson Building is a grand Romanesque Revival office block.

Historical Notes

The 1893-built Stimson Building, a six story Richardsonian Romanesque office building with an observation tower, stood on the NE corner of Spring and 3rd streets until 1963…today a parking lot.

Historical Notes

Built between 1909 and 1912 to relieve overcrowding next door in the county’s red-sandstone courthouse, the Hall of Records consolidated most county offices under one lavishly ornamented roof—a showy headpiece that featured finials, pyramidal gables, and copper ribbing. Architects Frank Hudson and William Munsell divided its upper floors into two pairs of wings, which joined at a central elevator shaft, and clad the walls in brick and terra cotta above a granite base.*

Historical Notes

Los Angeles County's 12-story Hall of Records Building was utilitzed by the County of Los Angeles from 1911 until 1976. Designed by the Los Angeles tandem of Hudson and Munsell, Architects, the skyscraper government building cost approximately $1.5 million to erect.

Historical Notes

Opened on September 24, 1905, the Court Flight was built by Attorney R. E. Blackburn of the McCarthy real estate firm and Samuel G Vandegrift, to serve the wealthy residents of Bunker Hill. The line was entirely double tracked, using a pair of thirty-inch gauge counterbalanced cars, and ran for a distance of 180 feet up a 42 per cent grade between Broadway and Court Streets, in the middle of the block between Temple and First Streets. A fire on October 20, 1943 damaged the line and put it out of commission.*

Historical Notes

It appears that somewhere along the line there was an addition to the Westmoore Hotel with included a new structure between the Greek-style columns of the original building and the front property line at 7th Street.

Historical Notes

The original Shrine Auditorium was built in 1906 and served as the Shriner's Al Malaikah Temple until it burned in 1920 and was replaced by the current incarnation.*

The Shriners, or Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (A.A.O.N.M.S.), were established in the U.S. in 1870 as an appendant body to Freemasonry.^*

Historical Notes

The Al Malaikah Shriners built the original Shrine Auditorium to serve as a civic center as well as their home base and clubhouse. The building was designed by Frank D. Hudson and William Munsel who also designed the Museum of Science and Industry, the first museum built in the city's Exposition Park.^*

Historical Notes

In 1920 a fire burnt the building down in just 45 minutes. With plans to add an attached expo hall, The Shriners began rebuilding almost immediately. In January 1926 the new Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall opened and quickly became the center of entertainment in Los Angeles.^*

Historical Notes

Engine Company No. 9, formed on November 27, 1899 and was located at 916 S. Santee Street until 1960 when It was relocated to 430 E. Seventh Street. It has operated from that location since then. Engine Company No. 23 and Squad #23 moved into the building formerly occupied by No. 9.*

Historical Notes

Late in September, 1910, the new engine house for Co. 23 was finished and dedicated.  It contained three stories, and on the ground floor, in addition to space for the new auto truck with 65-foot ladders (which had not arrived) it had ten stalls for horses--the reason for having quarters for horses when the equipment was to be motorized not being clear either at that time or now.^##*

Historical Notes

Fire Station No. 23 remained an active firehouse from 1910-1960. When it opened, it was manned by fifteen firefighters and ten horses. The original equipment included a horse wagon, chief's buggy, and a pumper that used a vertical tube boiler. The company's first major call was a fire in the old Byrne Building that took ten hours to extinguish.^*

Historical Notes

Fire Station No. 23 was built in 1910 as an operating fire station. It was also the Los Angeles Fire Department's headquarters until 1920 and the residence of every fire chief from 1910-1928. When it opened, it spawned a political firestorm due to the ornate interior and expensive imported materials, leading to its being called the "Taj Mahal" of firehouses.

Through the 1960s and 1970s, the station deteriorated. The surrounding neighborhood became part of the city's Skid Row and the station became "a hangout for the street people." Looters stole most of the copper tubing and brasswork, banisters, doorknobs, firebells, and even the five brass firepoles.

By the mid-1970s, concerns were raised that the building had become a hazard, and some proposed tearing it down. However, in 1979, the Fire Commission announced plans to restore the rooms back to their 1910 condition and turn the station into a museum. The City Council placed the station under control of the fire department, but provided that no city funds were to be used in creating the museum.

In 1981, officials of the fire department set up a nonprofit organization called Olde 23 to raise funds to build the museum, but sufficient funds were never raised. The projected cost of the museum, even in 1982, was $1 million, and critics questioned the wisdom of building a museum in Skid Row. In 1988, the city settled on a different location for the Los Angeles Fire Department Museum—Engine Co. No. 27 in Hollywood.^*

Historical Notes

In 1966, the station was declared a Historic Cultural Monument by the Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Commission; at the time of the declaration the Los Angeles Times called it the "Taj Mahal of fire stations." A Library of Congress survey of 250 firehouses concluded that Station 23's interior was "unmatched in its beauty." It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.^*

Fire Station No. 23 is currently being repurposed as a community arts center by City of LA Cultural Affairs Department.

Historical Notes

Engine Company No. 24 and Water Tower 1 opened August 16, 1910. The 13,800 square foot site had an 11,140 square foot floor area. Cost of the land was $16,000 and the building cost was $30,464. This station moved to its new home at 9411 Wentworth Street in Sunland on July 10, 1969, and has operated from that location since.*

Historical Notes

The Snow was opened by Frank C. Finkle in December 1910.  It was designed by architect H. M. Patterson, best known for his churches, especially Immanuel Presbyterian (that imposing Gothic structure at Wilshire and Berendo.

Rooms rented rooms for $1.00-$2.00 without bath (for 1-2 people) and $1.50-$2.50 with bath (1-2 people).

Historical Notes

The seven-story stucco building had Spanish style Gothic Revival trim along roofline and penthouse. The mixed-use building had a barber shop, beauty parlor, and grocery store on ground floor.

Originally the Hotel Snow, it was renamed Southland in 1916.

Historical Notes

The Southland Hotel met its end in 1971 and was replaced by the William L. Pereira-designed Pacific Financial Center.

Historical Notes

The building went by the name of Blanchard Music Hall but was also known as the H. Newmark Building as it was built by and on the site of Harris Newmark's former residence.

Harris Newmark  emigrated to the United States in 1853 from Germany.  He sailed from Europe to New York City to San Francisco, and finally settled in Los Angeles. The Newmark clan was one of the founding families of the Los Angeles area.

Newmark developed several successful businesses, which employed most if not all of a near-inexhaustible list of Newmark family members. Newmark was chiefly a grocer and dry goods merchant, but he also dabbled in other fields. He even tried sheep farming, but he was preoccupied with the burgeoning real estate opportunities to be had in the Los Angeles area. Newmark bought and sold properties throughout southern California, and made a fortune in the process.^*

Historical Notes

The building had a large hall (Blanchard Music Hall) with a seating capacity of 800. It was used for chamber music concerts and other programs. There was another smaller hall seating 150 and a banquet hall for 300. There was also an "Assembly Hall" of unknown capacity. There was also space in the Music and Art Building for studios for 150 musicians and artists as well as a fourth floor art gallery.

Blanchard Music Hall was named for Frederick W. Blanchard, who had been influential in the music business in Los Angeles and went on to become the first president of the Hollywood Bowl.

The building went all the way through to Hill St. On the 1910 Baist Real Estate Survey map the Hill St. end of the skinny building is marked "Blanchard Hall Bldg." while the Broadway end is labeled "Newmark Bldg."

Historical Notes

Blanchard Hall contained the first art gallery west of Chicago.

The building went all the way through to Broadway (previous photo). On the 1910 Baist Real Estate Survey map the Hill St. end of the skinny building is marked "Blanchard Hall Bldg." while the Broadway end is labeled "Newmark Bldg."

Historical Notes

The three-story Grand Central Hotel at 326 North Main Street was completed around 1877. Major construction came to its climax on the 300 blk of Main Street in the following year with the opening of the Baker Block, on the left. The slim, three-story building nestled between the Baker Block and Gand Central Hotel was developed by the ever active Governor Downey, and finished around 1878. +#

Historical Notes

Well into the 20th century, the old buildings on the 300 block of North Main Street were a vivid testament to Los Angeles’ early history, from its humble beginnings to its astonishing growth during the Reconstruction years. Behind the “Azteca” sign on the right side of the top photograph is the Bella Union Hotel, considered to be the city’s first hotel. Completed sometime during the 1840s, it was one of downtown’s greatest landmarks for several decades, and was later expanded to two, then three stories. The two-story building to its left is the Pico Building, built by Pio Pico in 1868 (two years before the Pico House). In 1871, the building became home to the Farmers & Merchants Bank, the first incorporated bank in the Los Angeles, directed by former California Governor John G. Downey. +#

Historical Notes

Don Francisco Avila, a wealthy cattle rancher and one-time Mayor of the pueblo of Los Angeles, built the Avila Adobe in 1818. The Avila Adobe, presently the oldest existing residence within the city limits, was one of the first town houses to share street frontage in the new Pueblo de Los Angeles.*

Historical Notes

The above photo of the Avila Adobe house was taken just after Olvera Street was converted to a colorful Mexican marketplace - as made evident by the small vendor stands. The original porch was given a much-needed face-lift with the addition of a long veranda and steps and a short brick planter the length of the house.*

Historical Notes

In 1847, this adobe became the temporary headquarters for Commodore Robert Field Stockton and General Stephen Watts Kearny during the American occupation of Los Angeles.*

Click HERE to see more in Early LA Plaza.

Historical Notes

Knapp Park in West Hills is named for these same Knapps.

The men of the Knapp family were stone builders and did much of the stone work at Orcutt Ranch, also located in West Hills on Roscoe Boulevard near Valley Circle Boulevard.

Historical Notes

In 1921 the 1893-built Vogel Block would be demolished to make room for Loew's State Theatre (currently United Building).

Historical Notes

The theater was built in 1910 by Los Angeles theatrical promoter Arthr S. Hyman. Within just one year, 1911, the theater became the Garrick, a motion picture theater. The original facade was by the Los Angeles architect firm, Train & Williams. In 1921 it was remodeled to a design by architect George Edwin Bergstrom. The building was replaced by the Tower Theatre in 1927.*                  

Historical Notes

In 1921, the Garrick Theater was remodeled to a design by architect George Edwin Bergstrom. The building was demolished in 1927 to make way for the Tower Theatre.*

Historical Notes

Opened on May 2, 1910 by Thomas L. Tally, the theatre was constructed in 30 days. Located on the west side of Broadway between 8th and 9th, it was just south of Hamburger's Department Store (later the May Co.) and two doors north of the Majestic Theater.

The 1910 city directory gives a listing at 833 S. Broadway for both Tally's Film Exchange and Tally's New Broadway. Tally had earlier used that latter name for his New Broadway Theatre at 554 S. Broadway, a house he took over in 1905.

In 1911 Tally's Broadway was known as the Kinemacolor Theatre while showing color films in the Kinemacolor process but then went back to the Tally's Broadway name.**^

Historical Notes

An article in Moving Picture World for July 15, 1916 says " The chief feature of this house is the music. It has a splendid orchestra and a simply wonderful organ."  In 1916 the admission prices were 10, 20 and 30 cents. The house manager at the time was Seymour Tally, son of Thomas.  The article noted that the 30 cent price got you a wicker chair back in the elevated loge section.**^

Historical Notes

Just two doors south of Tally's was the Majestic Theater. Across the street was the Mission and later the still surviving  Orpheum. The Mission was demolished for construction of the Orpheum in 1926.

Historical Notes

The building was demolished for a 1928 expansion of the May Co. department store (originally Hamburger's) just to the north.

Historical Notes

The 3rd Orpheum in Los Angeles opened on June 26, 1911 with two-a-day vaudeville.  Sophie Tucker was on the inaugural program. Many famous performers appeared on the stage here including Al Jolson, Sarah Bernhardt (1913), the Marx Brothers, W.C Fields and Will Rogers.

There were four Orpheum theatres in downtown Los Angeles:

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

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

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

◆ 842 S. Broadway -- Orpheum Theatre from 1926 to Today

Historical Notes

Architects G. Albert Lansburgh and Robert Brown Young designed this French renaissance palazzo. Lansburgh would later design the 1926 Orpheum down the street. Sculpture on the striking brick and polychrome terra cotta facade is by Domingo Mora, whose son would later do the sculpture for the Million Dollar Theatre. The four figures on the facade represent the muses of vaudeville: music, song, dance and drama.

The building was designed with fire safety in mind. There are 22 exits and one of the city's first sprinkler systems.

Historical Notes

The cheap seats in the upper balcony were actually benches. While terrific for vaudeville, the section is less desirable for film viewing and hasn't been used since the 1930s. Originally the entrance to the second balcony was from separate stairwells with no access to the rest of the theatre, typical of two balcony theatre construction at the time.**^

Historical Notes

On February 20, 1926 this theatre reopened as the Broadway Palace.  The new Orpheum Theatre had opened down the street February 15, 1926.  The Palace, as a film only operation, was still run by the Orpheum circuit into the summer of 1928. The Variety issue of August 18, 1928 had a little story titled "Orpheum Loses Lemon" noting it had been a big liability for the circuit since their new house had opened.

The Palace was taken over by Harry Strere's Pacific Amusement Co., a firm that also operated the Rialto at the time.  Sol Lesser, long involved with West Coast Theatres (soon to become Fox West Coast) was a minor stockholder in Pacific Amusement. By 1929, Fox West Coast was running the house, calling it the Fox Palace.**^

Historical Notes

Today, the Palace is owned by the Delijani family.  They also own the Los Angeles, State and Tower theatres. The theatre interests are operated by an entity known as the Broadway Theatre Group with Shahram Delijani heading the firm and Ed Baney as general manager. The Palace is currently available for theatrical productions, concerts, film shoots, and special events.

Historical Notes

The theatre unveiled a $1 million restoration to celebrate its 100th birthday on June 26, 2011.  The restoration work was begun in 2007 with cleaning and facade repair of both the Palace and the Tower.**^

Click HERE to see contemporary view.

Historical Notes

Built in late 1910 and opened in 1911, the Liberty Theatre was designed by A. C. Martin (also designed the Million Dollar Theatre). The 540 seat theatre was constructed by the firm of P.J. Bolin and built for proprietors Kaiser, Sturm and Hughes.**^

Historical Notes

The building is described at length in the Moving Picture World article:

The front facade is of stucco and plaster-covered brick, the paneling and cornices outlined in small electric lights at night. The gold leaf statue crowning the cornice is ten feet in height, and, symbolizing liberty, holds aloft an electric torch. At the base of the statue in a laurel leaf gilded shield is the date of erection, 1910. Below this, on the crown of the shell-shaped lobby ceiling, is a second shield in gold leaf with the theater name 'Liberty.'

The theatre is showing four first-run licensed films, and one illustrated song, except on Saturdays and Sundays, when two songs are used. The theater employs ten people. Girl ushers look after the seating arrangements. Five cents admission is charged to all parts of the house.**^

Historical Notes

The Liberty Theatre at 266 S. Main Street closed by 1930.  It is not to be confused with the Liberty Theatre at 136 S. Main Street which had the earlier names of Novelty Theatre and Chinese Theatre and operated into the 1950’s.^^^*

Historical Notes

The triangular building remaining at 3rd and Main (seen above) is what's left of the Liberty Theatre. The angled deco facade is obviously grafted on to a much older building.

The building now houses a wholesale merchandise distributor. The current address of the building is 103 E. 3rd St. as it no longer has much frontage (or an entrance) on Main St. The City Planning Department lists the building as being constructed in 1910 with substantial remodeling in 1926.**^

Historical Notes

George E. Feagans was a jeweler from Illinois, and he established Brock & Feagans in the 1880s with a partner. After the partnership broke up, Feagans opened a new store in the Alexandria Hotel located at 5th and Spring streets.

Historical Notes

The Yamato, Inc., was a Japanese Bazaar that served tea and cake to customers, as early as 1908. One of its famous customers was female impersonator Julian Eltinge. In 1917, the three story building became Harry Fink & Co., an apparel store for women's clothing.^*^#

Historical Notes

In 1887, Dr. Walter Lindley paid $1,825 for the property at 315 West Sixth Street in Los Angeles to open the first California Hospital. Known as Dr. Lindley’s Private Hospital, it had only 6-8 beds and served a carriage trade clientele.

In 1898, Dr. Lindley conceived of a hospital owned and operated by physicians. He erected the first building especially designed for medical purposes in California at 1414 South Hope Street. California Hospital became known as the largest, best-equipped hospital west of Chicago entirely owned and operated by physicians and surgeons.^^^#

Historical Notes

In 1911, construction on a new club building began at Seventh and Olive Streets on the site of the former Hotel Baltimore. John Parkinson and Edwin Bergstrom were the architects. The Beaux Arts building stands twelve stories tall and features pressed brick with a trim of terra cotta. The Los Angeles Athletic Club opened its gym in 1912.***#

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Athletic Club building was notable at the time for being the first building in Southern California to have a swimming pool on an upper floor.

Click HERE to see contemporary view.

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) was formed back in 1880, its first president being James B. Lankershim, its first headquarters in the Arcadia Building on Spring Street. For most of the decade it was the on the Downey Block, after which it relocated to South Spring Street, first at 226, then at 523 ½.  Some of its earlier day members included Harrison Gray Otis, Harry Chandler, Eli Clark, Moses Sherman, Henry Huntington, Edward L. Doheny, Charles Canfield, Senator Stephen White, and Mayor Fred Eaton.***#

Historical Notes

In 1970, the LA Athletic Club Building was designated Los Angeles Historical-Cultural Monument No. 69 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

The Automobile Club of Southern California, one of the nation's first motor clubs dedicated to improving roads, proposing traffic laws, and improvement of overall driving conditions, was founded on December 13, 1900 in Los Angeles.

The Auto Club occupied the ground floor of a three-story building with the Olive Hotel on the upper two floors. The Auto Club moved from this location by about 1917-18, relocating to Fort Moore Hill into a cliff-hanger building at the bend on Hill Street where it goes around the NE corner of the high school. They stayed there until about 1922 when they finally took up permanent residence in their headquarters building at the SW corner of S Figueroa and W Adams Boulevard, which they still occupy. Click HERE to see current headquarters (Figueroa and Adams).

Interesting Auto Club Facts:

1900 - The Auto Club was founded. Within a few years, 13 southern counties in California became the Auto Club’s service territory.
1903 - Auto Club sponsored races at Agricultural Park, now Exposition Park.
1906 - Auto Club started posting directional signs on California roads.
1908 - Auto Club began issuing license plates as an agent of the State of California.
1909 - Auto Club issued its first maps in a guidebook of routes in and near Los Angeles. Touring Topics, the member magazine, began publishing in February.^

Historical Notes

When the Auto Club moved out of the ground floor of the Olive Hotel, it became a succession of restaurants and bars until, in the late 30s, when it became the Crown Grill Cocktail Lounge, reportedly a popular watering hole for the up-and-comers and down-and-outers of the south civic center. Some sources say it is into the Crown that Elizabeth Short appeared on the night of her murder. It is a persistent story which is not supported by the police investigation nor by Larry Harnisch who, is the preeminent authority on the Black Dahlia case. In any event, the Crown Grill Cocktail Lounge lasted into the 60s and is now a Dunkin Donuts. The Olive Hotel is still in business on the upper two floors. And Elizabeth Short's murder remains unsolved.^

Click HERE for contemporary view.

Historical Notes

In 1868, the City of Los Angeles approved a franchise water agreement on a 30 year lease basis with the private Los Angeles City Water Company.

In 1899, after the end of the lease, a $2.09 million bond measure for the purchase of LA City Water Co.’s system was approved by city voters by a margin of nearly eight to one.  After over two years of litigation the City of Los Angeles finally regained control of its water system on February 13, 1902. A new department was created called the Los Angeles Water Department.

Click HERE to see more in Water in Early L.A.

Historical Notes

The two-story brick building which in 1902 was large enough to house the entire executive and clerical forces of the water works soon was outgrown and the municipal Water Department would move into larger quarters (440 S. Hill Street). As both the City and the utility continued to grow, the Water Department (later DWP) would move several more times until settling into their current home (GOB) in 1965, located at 111 N. Hope Street.

Click HERE to see more in Construction of the GOB

Historical Notes

Built in 1903-1904, the Plaza Substation was the first and largest of fourteen substations that supplied electric power to the Los Angeles Railway Company’s yellow streetcars – the first mass transportation for Los Angeles. It was built by Henry Huntington, owner of the Los Angeles Railway Company. The trolleys operated from 1896 to 1960.+^

Historical Notes

In May 1903, Henry Huntington, owner of the Los Angeles Railway, announced plans to build a new substation near the old plaza. The Los Angeles Times reported: "Another mammoth electricity substation is to be constructed by the Los Angeles Railway Company. Its location will be on the Plaza, and its completion will mean a long step forward toward the perfection of a system that already is surpassed by few in this country."   The substatin was operating by 1905.^

Historical Notes

The substation is one of the two buildings in the Los Angeles Plaza Historic District that is itself separately listed in the National Register of Historic Places, having been so listed in September 1978 (The Avila Adobe is the other).^

Historical Notes

After being threatened with demolition in the 1970s, the Plaza Substation was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978. Plans now call for the building to become a museum on Los Angeles trolley cars.+^

Historical Notes

In September, 1911, work began on the Beverly Hills Hotel. It was opened on May 12, 1912 by Margaret J. Anderson and her son, Stanley S. Anderson, who had been managing the Hollywood Hotel. The LA Times would call it a "monster hostelry" since it cost $300,000. At the time, lots in the area were selling for around $2,000 each.^*

From 1928 to 1932, the hotel was owned by the Van Noy Railway News and Hotel Company. Its strict resident owner from 1954 until his death in 1979 was former Detroit real estate magnate Ben L. Silberstein, who took it over from Hernando Courtright, later hotelier at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Some of the hotel's owners have been celebrities: Irene Dunne, Loretta Young, and currently Sultan of Brunei.^*

Historical Notes

Two years before Beverly Hills became an incorporated city, the Beverly Hills Hotel opened on May 12, 1912; the hotel initially included the main building and twenty-three separate bungalows in the Mediterranean Revival style, designed by Elmer Grey.*

Historical Notes

A one-trolley car system known as the “Dinky” conveyed guests from a Pacific Electric station at the southwest corner of Santa Monica Boulevard and Canon Drive up Rodeo Drive to the Hotel.

Historical Notes

Will Rogers Park opened in 1915 as the first municipal park in the Beverly Hills, at that time called Sunset Park. In 1926, entertainer Will Rogers was appointed first "Honorary Mayor" of Beverly Hills and, in 1952, the City renamed the Park, Will Rogers Memorial Park.**^^

Historical Notes

In the 1940s, a new wing was added to the east side of the main building. Eighty years after it opened, the hotel closed for two and a half years for a complete restoration.*

Historical Notes

The hotel was named the first historic landmark in Beverly Hills on September 12, 2012.*

Click HERE to see more in Early Views of Beverly Hills.

Historical Notes

The Chateau-style residence was built in 1909 by banker, real estate developer and philanthropist, Rollin B. Lane. The house was designed by architects Lyman Farwell and Oliver Dennis and constructed as a near duplicate of the 1897 Kimberly Crest House and Gardens in Redlands, California that the architects had designed over a decade earlier.^

Historical Notes

The Gothic Renaissance chateau (also referred to as “Holly Chateau”) sits in the middle of what is now historic Hollywood and was originally the personal residence of a wealthy banker, Rollin B. Lane.

Historical Notes

Rollin Lane was a very successful lawyer, banker and real estate investor who helped build Hollywood through property development and participation on the historic Hollywood Board of Trade. He also invested heavily in the early development of the nearby San Fernando Valley and in California’s San Joaquin Valley. ^

Historical Notes

Katherine Lane (Rollin's wife) was a college graduate, published author, teacher and lecturer who worked to improve the quality of life in Hollywood through various community service organizations, even serving a term as president of the Woman’s Club of Hollywood. Later, working with the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and supported by a small army of volunteers, she promoted the planting of the landmark palm trees that line Wilshire Blvd., as well as hundreds of Japanese cherry trees in and around Griffith Park. ^

Historical Notes

Ownership of the building remained in the Lane family until 1955 when it was sold to Thomas O. Glover, whose family still owns the property.

Historical Notes

The Lanes named their home “Holly Chateau” and for thirty years, it was one of the most recognized addresses in Hollywood and a popular location for the area’s social elite. Hundreds of newspaper articles attest to the elegant and elaborate luncheons, teas and musicales held for artists, orphans, community leaders or world travelers, or to raise funds for one of Katherine’s many civic projects. ^

Historical Notes

The 1914 hilltop estate seen behind and above the Lane Residence was built to house the Bernheimers' priceless collection of Asian treasures. In order to have an authentic Japanese design, hundreds of skilled craftsmen were brought from Asia to recreate an exact replica of a palace located in the Yamashiro mountains near Kyoto, Japan. The original Bernheimer structure included a 10-room teak and cedar mansion, where carved rafters were lacquered in gold and tipped with bronze dragons.

Historical Notes

After the Lanes passed away in the 1940’s, the house was divided into a multi-family home. It then became a home for the elderly and was finally transformed into a maze of small apartments. By 1960, the fate of the building was uncertain. Then Milt Larsen met the owner, Thomas O. Glover.

Milt was a writer on the NBC-TV show Truth or Consequences. His office was on the ninth floor of a Hollywood office building that overlooked the Lane residence. Milt’s late father, William W. Larsen Sr., was a renowned magician and had long dreamed of building an elegant private clubhouse for magicians.

The Lane residence would become that club. In September 1961, Milt, his brother Bill (an accomplished magician, publisher of Genii Magazine and the Academy’s first President), Irene (Bill’s wife) and a crew of friends and volunteers began the task of returning this run-down apartment building to its glorious past. After months of scraping and sanding, the rich Victorian elegance began to resurface.  The Magic Castle opened its doors on January 2, 1963. ^

Historical Notes

The Magic Castle was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 406 in 1989.

Historical Notes

Since 1963, the Magic Castle has been a nightclub for magicians and magic enthusiasts, as well as the clubhouse for the Academy of Magical Arts. It bills itself as "the most unusual private club in the world."

Historical Notes

At the turn of the century, after striking it rich in the Nevada silver mines, Dr. Schlosser and his family moved to Hollywood, where the doctor built Glengarry, a copy of his wife's ancestral home in Inverness, Scotland. Soon this castle proved too small for his burgeoning social life and medical practice. So in 1912, he built Schloesser Terrace (Castle Sans Souci) on a three-acre plot across the street (NW corner of Argyle and Franklin avenues).*#

Historical Notes

He was originally called Dr. Alfred Guido Rudolph Schloesser, but during World War I, due to anti-German sentiment, he changed it to Dr. A. G. Castles.

Historical Notes

The Glengarry Castle was demolished in 1959.*

Historical Notes

Dr. Castles originally lived in Glengarry Castle (NE corner of Argyle and Frnaklin). But that 'home' soon proved too small for his burgeoning social life and medical practice. So in 1912, he built Castle Sans Souci on a three-acre plot across the street (NW corner of Argyle and Franklin).

As an investment, the eccentric Dr. Castles, who always wore a frock coat, heavy makeup and top hat, tore down Sans Souci and built Castle Argyle Arms apartments in 1928, attracting a new breed of royalty: movie makers. Guests there over the next two decades were to include Clark Gable, Howard Hughes, Ronald Reagan and Cecil B. DeMille.*#

Historical Notes

The Fremont Hotel, located in the Bunker Hill suburb, was built and designed by the architect John C. Austin and developed by Thomas Pascoe. The plans for building the hotel were developed in November 1901 and initially faced resistance from the next door Olive Street School establishment. It was designed by the architect in the Mission style, and had some 100 rooms. It opened on September 9, 1902 and was named after John C. Frémont. When newly built it was billed as "the newest and most elegantly appointed family hotel in Los Angeles.” The hotel also held dinners in tribute to Frémont. Frémont's widow, Jessie, was the first registered guest. She also designed and executed the hotel's crest. Frémont's motto, "Eternal vigilance is the price of safety" was adopted as the hotel's motto, paraphrased into "Eternal vigilance is the price of success in the hotel business".

The hotel was demolished in 1955 by the Community Redevelopment Agency, and what remained was only the retaining wall next to the Olive Public School.^*

Historical Notes

Constructed in 1910, the Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank building stood on the northwest corner of Spring and 6th Streets.  The building was designed by John Parkinson and G. Edwin Bergstrom, prolific architects who were responsible for numerous Spring Street financial buildings, including the Security Building and the Los Angeles Stock Exchange Building.^^*

In 1922, Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank changed its name to Pacific Southwest Bank.^^*

Historical Notes

By 1910, when the Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank was completed, Spring Street had become the city’s financial and banking center.^^*

Historical Notes

In 1922, Los Angeles Trust and Savings Bank changed its name to Pacific Southwest Trust and Savings Bank.^^*

Historical Notes

In December 1903, William Randolf Hearst commenced publication of the Los Angeles Examiner, the latest in his chain of newspapers.

The first home of the LA Examiner was in a building located at 509 S. Broadway (Click HERE to see more of LA Examiner's first building). But, in less than a decade, the first building proved to be too small for the growing newspaper. Hearst commissioned Julia Morgan, best known for her work on the San Simeon estate, and Los Angeles architects Henke and Dodd, to design a new, larger building to house the offices and production of the paper. Construction of the new Examiner Building at 1111 S. Broadway would begin in 1912 and not be completed until 1914.^*

Historical Notes

The Los Angeles Examiner Building was built between 1912 and 1914 and designed in Mission Revival and Spanish Colonial Revival styles, largely by San Francisco architect Julia Morgan. The building has a tile dome on each corner and towers flanking the entry.

Historical Notes

Over the years, the Hearst Corporation would acquire the Herald and the Express, merging the two in the 1930s.

Historical Notes

In 1931, Hearst merged the Los Angeles Daily Herald with the Los Angeles Evening Express to form the Los Angeles Evening Express and Evening Herald, which was then the largest circulating evening newspaper west of the Mississippi.^##

Historical Notes

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.^*

In 1962 the morning Examiner (founded in 1903) merged with the evening Herald Express (founded approximately 1871) creating the Herald-Examiner newspaper.*

The Herald-Examiner Building was designated historical landmark #178 on August 17, 1977 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

On December 15, 1967, Herald Examiner employees began a strike that lasted almost a decade and resulted in at least $15 million in losses. At the time of the labor strike, the paper's circulation was about 721,000 daily and it had 2,000 employees. The strike ended in March 1977, with circulation having dropped to about 350,000 and the number of employees to 700.

The paper never recovered from the strike. Many veteran reporters left and never returned. As circulation went into free-fall, advertisers were reluctant to buy space in it, causing revenue to fall even further. The unions campaigned effectively to its working-class readership, urging them to cancel subscriptions.

Despite belated efforts to restore some of the paper's luster, the Herald Examiner went out of business November 2, 1989, leaving the Los Angeles Times as the sole city-wide daily newspaper.

The San Fernando Valley-based Los Angeles Daily News and a sister San Gabriel Valley publication have tried to fill some of the gap.^*

Historical Notes

Completed in 1914, the block-long, Mission Revival structure, with its ornate-to-the-point-of-baroque lobby, represents one of only a handful of L.A. buildings designed by the pioneering architect Julia Morgan  — the first woman to be licensed to practice architecture in California.

For more than two decades, it was employed primarily as a filming location. “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “The Usual Suspects” were among the projects filmed at the site.

In 2021, the Herald Examiner building came back from the brink. The building has reopened in a new guise: as a learning center for Arizona State University.*

Historical Notes

Architects at Gensler did a thoughtful job of restoring and preserving the building’s iconic portions: the arched facade, the bright, tiled domes that cap the building, the ornate lobby, with the private elevator that once delivered Hearst to his suite. Other areas were revamped to suit contemporary needs.*

Historical Notes

The Trinity Auditorium Building opened in 1914. The 9-story Beaux Arts style mixed use hotel, office building and auditorium was designed by architects: Thornton Fitzhugh, Frank G. Krucker and Harry C. Deckbar. The auditorium with a seating capacity of 1,600 to 2,500 featured balconies on three sides and a stained glass ceiling.

When it was the Trinity Auditorium Building and being used as a church, three stories of the building were church offices and the hotel portion (325 rooms) was a hotel for men. The auditorium had a huge pipe organ. It was church on Sundays and the auditorium was rented to meetings, conventions, etc. during the week.^

Historical Notes

The L.A. Philharmonic played their first season here before moving to the Temple Theatre, which they re-christened the Philharmonic Auditorium. When the hotel became the Embassy Hotel, the auditorium was known as the Embassy Auditorium.^

Historical Notes

The building was acquired by the University of Southern California in the 1987, when it was used as a residential building and an annex. They sold it to the Chetrit Group, chaired by Joseph Chetrit, in 1998.*

Historical Notes

By 2005, the Chetrit Group decided to remodel the building as the Gansevoort West hotel scheduled for 2006. The new hotel was supposed to be an LA version of the Hotel Gansevoort in New York City. However, by 2007, the project had been cancelled. By 2012, the owners decided to turn it into another hotel called the Empire Hotel, with "183 hotel rooms, a groundfloor restaurant, an outdoor garden, a bar, and an entertainment venue." The remodel was still underway in 2014.*

Historical Notes

In 1914, the Southern Pacific Railroad replaced its Arcade Station (built in 1888) with the Central Station, a larger and more modern railroad passenger depot. The Union Pacific Railroad moved its Downtown Los Angeles passenger terminal to Central Station in 1924 after its original passenger depot just south of First Street on the east side of the Los Angeles River was destroyed by fire.

Historical Notes

Central Station was used by Southern Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads, and was located on Central Avenue at the end of 5th Street.

Historical Notes

The Southern Pacific depot was one of three railroad depots that served the Los Angeles area before the construction of Union Station in 1939. The Southern Pacific Arcade depot was originally constructed in 1888 at 5th and Central streets. 26 years later, in 1914, the station was rebuilt on an adjoining site, and renamed to Central Station. In 1924, the Union Pacific Railroad moved its Downtown Los Angeles passenger terminal to Central Station after its original passenger depot was destroyed by fire. The Central Station, along with the "La Grande" Santa Fe Railroad Passenger Depot, was replaced in 1939 by Union Station and later demolished.

Historical Notes

The Southern Pacific depot was one of three railroad depots that served the Los Angeles area before the construction of Union Station in 1939. The Southern Pacific Arcade depot was originally constructed in 1888 at 5th and Central streets. 26 years later, in 1914, the station was rebuilt on an adjoining site, and renamed to Central Station. In 1924, the Union Pacific Railroad moved its Downtown Los Angeles passenger terminal to Central Station after its original passenger depot was destroyed by fire. The Central Station, along with the "La Grande" Santa Fe Railroad Passenger Depot, was replaced in 1939 by Union Station and later demolished.

Historical Notes

The Central Station, along with the "La Grande" Santa Fe Railroad Passenger Depot (2nd St. and Santa Fe Ave.), was replaced in 1939 by Union Station and later demolished.^*

Historical Notes

Southern Pacific trains known as 'Daylights' ran during the daytime between San Francisco and Los Angeles beginning in 1937. The first 'Daylight' train left at 8:15 a.m. In January 1940 the 'Noon Daylight' train was added to accommodate additional passengers; it departed daily at noon.

Historical Notes

The Central Station, along with the "La Grande" Santa Fe Railroad Passenger Depot (2nd St. and Santa Fe Ave.), was replaced in 1939 by Union Station. The trains moved to Union Staton but the building, with exterior adornments removed, stood until the late 1960s.

Historical Notes

Robinson's Department Store started off life as the Boston Dry Goods Store in 1881 (Boston was a popular name for dry goods stores). It moved from 239 S. Broadway to this location on 7th Street and Grand in 1915 and designed by Noonan and Richards. It was modernized in 1934 by Edward L. Mayberry. Robinson's was acquired by May Department Stores in 1986 and it merged with the May Company in 1993. This store was closed in the early 1990s when Robinson's-MAY was created and moved into the May Company store at Citicorp Plaza. Robinsons-May was bought out by Macy's and this nameplate was retired.*

Historical Notes

When it opened in September of 1915, the seven-story building of beige pressed brick, trimmed in cream and polychrome terracotta, was described in the press as “a retail palace” with “all the conveniences and attractions of a great club and meeting place.” The distinctive building with its corner towers, deeply projecting cornices, and oculus windows featured 10 passenger elevators for vertical conveyance, and two roof gardens on either side of a seventh-floor dining room approached through a foyer “arranged as a palm room."*

Historical Notes

When the Robinson's Department Store first opened, some voices raised criticism over its out-of-the-way location, but by the time it became established along Seventh Street, it helped to establish a high-class shopping district. Robinson’s prosperity at Seventh and Grand was such that a seven-story addition to the south was constructed in 1923, bringing the store’s square footage up to 624,000 sq. ft.*

Historical Notes

The front was "Grecian" (Greek Revival) in style, of light cream brick and terra cotta. It featured an elaborate Corinthian-style cornice crowning the façade. Above it rose a high parapet broken by a high-relief entresol panel. All of this was surmounted by elaborate acroteria. 60-foot-long, 19.5-foot-high plate glass windows illuminated the ground floor.^

Historical Notes

In 1988, the Robinson's Department Store Building was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 357 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Click HERE to see contemporry view.

Historical Notes

The Arroyo Seco branch was completed in 1914. It was the second branch built between 1913 and 1916 with a $210,000 Carnegie grant obtained by Los Angeles in 1911 and designated for six branches. All but one included a basement assembly room and an outdoor reading area.

Historical Notes

The architect, Frederick Ashley, designed the building in the Classical Revival style. The Arroyo Seco branch can be traced back through the old Garvanza and Highland Park branches to the Stimson Memorial Library at Occidental College. The building was demolished in 1959 and the new Arroyo Seco branch built on the same site.*

Historical Notes

The original Classical Revival style Arroyo Seco Branch Library building was replaced by another library building in 1960 and then again in 2003.

Historical Notes

Originally, this piece of land served as an agricultural fairground from 1871 to 1911. Farmers sold their harvests on the grounds, while horses, dogs, camels, and later automobiles, competed along the racetrack (seen). In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the city's most influential families moved into the neighborhood but did not appreciate the racing and gambling that came with it. As a result, this racetrack was transformed into the now-famous Exposition Park Rose Garden.*

November 6, 1913, marked the beginning of a two-week, city-wide celebration that opened Exposition Park and its facilities (also the LA Aqueduct).

Historical Notes

On November 6, 1913, Exposition Park was formally dedicated, and became the home to a state Exposition Building and the county Museum of History, Science and Art. Senator John Works dedicated the fountain as a commemoration of the Owens River/Los Angeles Aqueduct whose grand opening coincided with the opening of Exposition Park. As the Senator left the platform, a jet of water shot up 30 feet.*

Click HERE to see the Opening Ceremonies of the LA Aqueduct.

Historical Notes

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County opened in Exposition Park in 1913 as the Museum of History, Science, and Art. The moving force behind it was a museum association founded in 1910. Its distinctive main building, with fitted marble walls and domed and colonnaded rotunda, is on the National Register of Historic Places.^*

Historical Notes

Exposition Park, originally named Agricultural Park, was developed in 1876 as a showground for agricultural and horticultural fairs. The property became state land in 1880, but during the 1890s it fell into private hands and became victim to deterioration. Late in the decade, USC law professor William M. Bowen and USC President George Finley Bovard garnered the commitments of city, state, and county to develop the land as a public educational, cultural and recreational center.*

Historical Notes

On November 6, 1913 the Museum of History, Science, and Art was formally dedicated and opened in Exposition Park. Additional wings of the museum opened in 1925, 1930, 1960, and 1976. In 1961, it was "divided" into the Los Angeles County Museum of History and Science, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (known as LACMA, since moved to new quarters on Wilshire Blvd).

Years later, the museum was again renamed, becoming the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. It is the largest museum in the western United States, with a collection of nearly 33 million specimens and artifacts covering 4.5 billion years of history. The Natural History Museum, located at 900 Exposition Boulevard between Vermont and Figueroa, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.*

Historical Notes

The Armory Building was designed in by State Architect J.W. Woollett for the California National Guard 160th Infantry. The seven and a half acre Rose Garden, also called Sunken Garden, evolved from the redevelopment of Agricultural Park, and was also completed in 1913.*

Historical Notes

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

On November 6, 1913, a celebration was held as a joint dedication of both the opening of Exposition Park and the Los Angeles Aqueduct. Click HERE to see more in the Opening of the LA Aqueduct.

Historical Notes

In 2003 the California Science Center's Board of Directors voted to rename the historic Armory Building as the Wallis Annenberg Building for Science Learning and Innovation due to contributions toward the renovation and re-invention of the building by architect Thomas Mayne, which reopened in 2004.^

Historical Notes

The State Exposition Building, designed by William D. Coates, Jr., state architect, and N. Ellery, state engineer, opened in 1912 and housed simple, agriculturally based displays of natural resources and industrial products from across the state.*

Historical Notes

Built in 1910, the Beaux Arts/Italian-Renaissance style building was designed by Alfred Rosenheim (who also designed the Cameo Theater in 1910 and the Globe Theater in 1913, both on Broadway in downtown Los Angeles.*

Rosenheim is also responsible for other Los Angeles landmarks, including the nearby Britt Residence, Hamburger’s Department Store, Clune’s Broadway Theatre Building, and the Hellman Building, all of which are LA Historic-Cultural Monuments.

Historical Notes

The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Mary Baker Eddy, author of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, and founder of Christian Science. The church is widely known for its publications, especially The Christian Science Monitor, a weekly newspaper published internationally in print and online.^*

Six-globe streetlights (Llewellyn "Chester" Lamps) as seen above were installed in the West Adams district beginning in 1903.

Historical Notes

The North University Park and Exposition Park Walking Tour brochure describes the architecture of the church as follows: "this Italian Renaissance-style church, with its six magnificent Corinthian columns, evokes the grandeur of the Pantheon. Engineer Albert C. Martin constructed the church's huge copper-clad dome, then the world's largest poured concrete dome. Study the rich details of the exterior decorations, made of white terra cotta ornamentation." The columns are forty feet tall, and the dome, which is seventy feet in diameter, was constructed through a complex design of concrete girders and steel trusses. The church seats more than 1000.^*

Historical Notes

In 1968 the building was declared LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 57 (Click HERE to see complete listing).  It was also placed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1987.  

In late 2009, the Church property was sold to the non-profit Art of Living Foundation. It was restored and is used as a community center, speaking and music venue, and is a center for the Foundation's service work and breathing, meditation, and other programs. While the Art of Living Foundation has been active in Southern California since the late 1980s, it officially opened in this location on April 14, 2010.*

Historical Notes

The Bryson opened in January 1913 as the newest thing in elegant Los Angeles apartment living.

The Los Angeles Times proclaimed the Bryson by far the largest and finest apartment house on the Pacific Coast and on one of the most sightly corners in the fashionable Wilshire-Westlake district.

The Bryson's ninety-six apartments featured mahogany woodwork, tile floors in the bath and kitchen, and a built-in cedar chest in each dressing room. Living rooms doubled as bedrooms, with hideaway wall beds in each unit.
Amenities even included china and silver service for six, champagne glasses, and finger bowls. On the top floor was a ballroom and glass-enclosed loggias that on clear days offered a view of distant Catalina Island. ^

Historical Notes

Developer Hugh W. Bryson believed in constructing affordable large scale residential developments filled with beauty and taste. Born in Memphis, Tennessee, August 1, 1868, ambitious Bryson strove for excellence from a young age. After graduating from high school, he worked as clerk for a cotton brokers, working in banking, and selling real estate, before arriving in Los Angeles in 1902. Bryson joined leading contractor, F. O. Engstrum Co., and within a few years, married the owner’s daughter, Blanche. He was named a general manager and director of the company in 104, focusing on major projects. Recognizing the large migration of East Coast and Midwest residents to sunny LA, Bryson began financing and his own projects under his Concrete Appliances Company.^

Historical Notes

From the beginning, Bryson’s hyperbolic publicity played up the special quality of the building including its classical style entrance, gardens, and fountain. Conveniences and amenities included a ground floor power plant, elevators, staff residences, vacuum and telephone hook-ups in every suite, hot/cold water and steam heat for every apartment, along with maid service. The building contained all luxuries and comforts of a personal residence without maintenance, in a way, an early example of a condominium building.

Historical Notes

Actor Fred MacMurray owned the Bryson for many years, and the building has appeared in numerous films. A placard at the locked entry gate refers interested location scouts to the building's Hollywood agent.

Historical Notes

The 1914 Beaux Arts style Bryson Apartment Hotel was designed by architects F. Noonan and C. H. Kysor. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 and was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 653 in 1998. Click HERE to see complete listing.

Since an award-winning restoration by the Los Angeles Housing Partnership in 2001, the Bryson has served as low-income housing.^

Historical Notes

The J. J. Haggarty Mansion, otherwise known as Castle York, was located at 3330 W. Adams Blvd. in the fashionable West Adams section of Los Angeles. The Castle York, of Norman Gothic architecture, was built at a cost of $100,000. Frontage was of 125 feet on south side of Adams and extended back to a depth of 500 feet. Structure itself was 92x91 feet in size. A tower planned after one of the famous towers of Windsor castle, stood forty feet in height and twenty feet in diameter rising at the northwest corner of the building. A second tower, twelve feet in diameter and fifty feet high, at the northeast corner, was copied after a famous castle in Yorkshire.*

Historical Notes

After arriving in the U.S. in 1887 from his native land of England, John Joseph Haggarty worked as a buyer for several gament department stores in Missouri and Minnesota. In 1902 the promise of Southern California appealed to him and Haggarty relocated to Los Angeles. He immediately became associated with Jacoby Brothers as buyer and manager of their garment department. In a little over three years, he built up a tremendous business in his particular line and saved enough money to go into business for himself on a small scale.^ 

Historical Notes

Haggarty secured a building on Broadway, in the center of the Los Angeles business district, and there laid the foundation for one of the most successful businesses in the commercial history of the city. He called his store the New York Cloak and Suit House, an incorporated institution, in which he was President and chief stockholder. The business was started on a comparatively small investment, but within a short time it had leaped to a leading position in the business life of the city. He also purchased a controlling interest in another large house known as the Paris Cloak and Suit House. He would later open the high-end department store that would carry his name, J.J. Haggarty.^

Historical Notes

The interior of J. J. Haggarty's Castle consisted of a living room, organ loft, dining room, billiard room, sixteen bedrooms, servants' quarters, kitchens, pantries and china closets, along with numerous porches, balconies, gardens, and barns.*

Historical Notes

The Castle was located at the foot of Fourth Avenue, where the Holman United Methodist Church parking lot is now. It suffered a major fire in 1951. The main building was torn down in 1971.

Historical Notes

In 1909, altering the neighborhood permanently, real estate developer Wesley C. Clark, picked up his house at 234 Adams and trucked it one block to 340 W. Adams. Clark immediately redeveloped the vacated lot with a five-story, 70-foot-high apartment building named the Darby, after his mother's family, which stands today as the Grace Apartment Hotel.^

Historical Notes

The Darby's architect was John C. Austin. The "old family residence" at 234 W. Adams, owned by Wesley C. Clark, was moved to 340 W. Adams, where it remained until at least 1950.

Historical Notes

While Wesley Clark's Hotel Darby was strictly genteel, its bulk and transient nature were harbingers of change in West Adams from a thoroughfare of expensive single-family residences to one of boarding establishments from which the affluent would have fled in force by the Depression.*

Historical Notes

At some point between 1943 and 1950, the name changed to the Grace Apartment Hotel. The front has lost some windows but gained some ornamental detail.*

Historical Notes

In 1902 Dr. Barlow founded The Barlow Sanatorium "to care for the indigent tuberculous of Los Angeles county; those who have been residents of the county for one year and who are in no condition for active work." He and his wife had spent many days driving around the Los Angeles area in their horse-drawn carriage until they discovered what looked like the ideal location. It was 25 acres of untouched meadowland set among the rolling hills next to the city-owned Elysian Park on Chavez Ravine Road.

The site turned out to be more ideal for the purpose than was initially apparent. The configuration of the hills in the area is such that clean air always sweeps across Barlow's land, even when Los Angeles itself is plagued with smog - a fortunate climatic quirk that met the fresh air needs of the patients.

Dr. Barlow purchased the 25 acres from J. B. Lankershim for $7,300. He convinced Lankershim to donate back $1,000 of the purchase price, received $1,300 from Alfred Solano, who with his wife (Marion Barlow's remarried mother) would become legendary supporters of the institution, and chipped in the balance of $5,000 himself.

In addition to his practice and his sanitorium, Dr. Barlow was professor of clinical medicine at the Los Angeles Medical Department of the University of California and was dean of the school from 1908 to 1914. In 1906 he established the Barlow Medical Library at Los Angeles to aid people of limited means to obtain a medical education and in 1934 donated the property and volumes to the Los Angeles County Medical Society.*^^#

Historical Notes

In 1903, the original hospital of the Barlow Sanatorium was a permanent cottage with 13 rooms, two baths and 12 patient beds. It was built with donations from Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Solano, and was consequently named the Solano Infirmary. In September 1925, the Solano Infirmary burned down. Thankfully, no one died. In 1927 Alfred's wife, Mrs. Ella Brooks Solano, provided for the creation of a new infirmary, the Ella Brooks Solano Infirmary, a building that is still in use as the main hospital today.^*

Historical Notes

Originally tuberculosis patients lived in tent cottages in order to be constantly exposed to free flowing air. As time went on permanent cottages were added to the campus by various donors. The style of these cottages reflected the popular trends of Los Angeles of the time. The architecture of the bungalows is in the California bungalow style. During World War I many servicemen contracted tuberculosis and were sent to the Barlow Sanatorium. Because of this the Los Angeles Chapter of the American Red Cross built and furnished four four-room cottages for military patients, some of which are still in use today.^*

Historical Notes

The Guildhouse was originally the "Men’s Help" quarters, where the men working in the hospital would live. In 1975 the old building was converted into a gift and plant shop. This was funded by the Barlow Guild, a large group of ex-patients dedicated to philanthropy, and the Guildhouse opened in April of that year.

Originally a tuberculosis sanatorium, Barlow Respiratory Hospital, today is a long-term acute care facility that specializes in respiratory diseases and also treats related secondary ailments. The hospital treats approximately 750 patients a year and sets the national benchmark in ventilator weaning at nearly 50%.^*

In 1990, Barlow Sanitorium was deisgnated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 504 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Perched on the hills of the Arroyo Seco, the Southwest Museum opened its doors to the public in 1914. It 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) that rivaled anything in the U.S. #^

Historical Notes

Charles Fletcher Lummis was an anthropologist, historian, journalist, and photographer who created the Southwest Society, which was the western branch of the Archaeological Institute of America. He gained the support of city leaders, and with the financial backing of attorney Joseph Scott and opened the Southwest Museum in 1907. The museum moved from Downtown Los Angeles to its current location in Mt. Washington in 1914, and has been there ever since.^*

Historical Notes

The 1914 building was designed by architects Sumner P. Hunt and Silas Reese Burns. Later additions to the museum include the Caroline Boeing Poole Wing of Basketry (completed 1941), by architect Gordon B. Kaufmann, and the Braun Research Library (1971), by architect Glen E. Cook.^*

Historical Notes

Due to its steep incline and lack of a driveway, a Mayan-inspired entrance was constructed on Museum Drive, which made the Museum accessible via a tunnel and elevator. Set into the walls of the portal tunnel are dioramas illustrating various ways of Native American life.

Historical Notes

In January 2016, an exhibition of contemporary artwork opened in the building's tunnel entrance.

Historical Notes

The museum occupies 17 acres overlooking Sycamore Grove on the northwest side of the Arroyo Seco Valley. It was dedicated as LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 283 in 1984 and became part of the Autry National Center in 2004. The Southwest Museum was also added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 11, 2004.

Historical Notes

The building is now owned by the Autry National Center and houses an archaeological research center, an extensive collection of local historical artifacts, and the Braun Research Library, which contains all of Lummis' writings. #^

Historical Notes

Opened on November 23, 1908 as Hamburger's Majestic with Oliver Morosco as lessee. Morosco was earlier the tenant of the Burbank Theatre on Main St. and in 1913 would move up the street to the Morosco Theatre, a building now known as the Globe. The opening attraction at the Majestic was a Shubert production of "The Land of Nod." Morosco liked the Majestic name as he had a half interest in a successful theatre called the Majestic in San Francisco.

Architects Abraham M. Edelman and Leo W. Barnett of the firm Edelman & Barnett designed the building. Edelman also designed the Belasco/Follies on Main St. and the Empress Theatre, right behind it, on Spring. He was also involved in early phases of the Shrine Auditorium project. Structural engineering for the Majestic was by the firm of Mayberry & Parker. F.O. Engstrum was the contractor.^

Historical Notes

Dutch artist Antoon Molkenboer was responsible for the Majestic's proscenium mural as well as decorations elsewhere in the theatre and its basement cafe. Molkenboer's mural above the proscenium was titled "Cast of Characters" and portrayed sixteen figures in a scale larger than life.^

Historical Notes

Civilization is a 1916 American pacifist allegorical drama film produced by Thomas H. Ince, written by C. Gardner Sullivan and Edward Sloman, and directed by Ince, Reginald Barker and Raymond B. West. The story involves a submarine commander who refuses to fire at a civilian ocean liner supposedly carrying ammunition for his country's enemies. The film was a big-budget spectacle that was compared to both Birth of a Nation and the paintings of Jean-François Millet. The film was a popular success and was credited by the Democratic National Committee with helping to re-elect Woodrow Wilson as the U.S. President in 1916. The film was also one of the first to depict Jesus Christ as a character in a motion picture, leading some to criticize the depiction as in "poor taste."

Civilization is sometimes viewed as one of the first anti-war films. In 1999, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".*

Historical Notes

Originally leased by Oliver Morosco, the 1700-seat Majestic quickly becomes the preferred home-away-from-home to many national touring musical and dramatic productions from Broadway. Future silent film star Ramon Navarro’s first show biz job is as an usher there.

In 1910, the Majestic is the local performance venue of choice for a versatile, LA-based stage performer named Lon Chaney, later dubbed “The Man of a Thousand Faces". *

Historical Notes

In April 1913, during the Majestic’s opening night of the Kolb and Dill show, managed by famous actor Lon Chaney, his wife, Cleva, attempted suicide, ingesting mercury dichloride and running onstage from the wings. She survived but was never able to sing again. The scandal forced Chaney out of live theater and into silent films. There he specialized in creating such fearsome characters as Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and the Phantom in The Phantom of the Opera. Chaney divorced Cleva; his son subsequently took on the name Lon Chaney, Jr.

On the verge of making a successful transition into talking pictures, Lon Chaney died on August 26, 1930, of a bronchial hemorrhage. Meanwhile, the bad publicity resulting from Cleva’s suicide attempt knocked the Majestic out of favor with mainstream touring acts from Broadway. In 1926, the Majestic partnered with Orange Grove Theatre (later the Grand) in the presentation of risqué vaudeville and burlesque shows.

Over the next half-dozen years, the theater was subjected to constant police raids for violation of the city’s Indecent Show ordinance. It was forced to close in 1931, when a police raid results in a number of patrons being trampled.. *

Historical Notes

In 1933, the Majestic was demolished to make way for a parking lot, which eventually becoame the three-story garage that stands on the site today. Click HERE for contemporary view.

Historical Notes

The theatre was opened on July 30, 1914 by pioneer theatreman John A. Quinn.  Earlier (1909 or 1910) Quinn had moved from Arizona and leased the Ideal Theatre (134 S. Spring St.). This was followed by a partnership with G.H. McLain that acquired the Bijou (553 S. Main St.) and the Banner (456 S. Main St.). 

By the end of 1910 the partners had split with Quinn retaining the Banner.  In 1911 Quinn took over the Garrick Theatre (former Hyman Theatre) at 8th & Broadway.

In 1912 Quinn was running Tally's (833 S. Broadway) and was later involved on Broadway in the Rialto Theatre (1917).**^

Historical Notes

With the opening of the Superba, this block on Broadway then had a cluster of four major theatres: Quinn's Superba, Clune's Broadway, Pantages and Tally's New Broadway .**^

Historical Notes

Quinn’s Superba Theatre was located on the site where the Roxie Theatre is today on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles. It was next to Clune's Broadway (later Cameo) and the Pantages.^^^*

The Pantages Theatre (1910), Clune's Broadway (1910), and Quinn's Superba (1914), along with the 1911 Orpheum Theatre (now the Palace) and Tally's New Broadway (1910), put Broadway on the map as the new entertainment street in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The Superba Theater was later sold and converted to a coffee house before being razed in 1931 to make way for the Roxie, which was the last theater built on Broadway.*^^

Historical Notes

Designed by Morgan & Walls, this theater opened on September 26, 1910 as a vaudeville theatre for Alexander Pantages. After Pantages moved to his new theater at 7th and Hill streets in 1920, this theater was renamed Dalton's. Eight years later, it was renamed Arcade in honor of the popular Arcade Building. In the 1940s it was known as the Telenews and the Teleview. It has been closed since 1992.*

Historical Notes

The Pantages Theatre (1910), Clune's Broadway (1910), and Quinn's Superba (1914), along with the 1911 Orpheum Theatre (now the Palace) and Tally's New Broadway (1910), put Broadway on the map as the new entertainment street in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

After Pantages Theatre moved to its new location at 7th and Hill streets in 1920, this theater was renamed Dalton's. Eight years later, it was renamed Arcade in honor of the popular Arcade Building.

Historical Notes

In 1928 the theatre was given the name Arcade to capitalize on the popularity of the Arcade Building nearby. The current marquee is on the building dates from around 1935 when S. Charles Lee did a facade renovation.

Historical Notes

Architect: Alfred F. Rosenheim, a leading Los Angeles architect, who became the first president of the LA chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Among other projects, Rosenheim had done the Arrow Theatre (inside Hamburger's Department Store (1908) and later did the Morosco/Globe (1913).

The theatre was built on a lot owned by Eva Fenyes, a Pasadena resident with fingers in a number of theatrical interests, including once having D.W. Griffith shoot a film on her estate.

W. H. Clune (Billy) was a pioneer exhibitor and filmmaker. The Clune Studios in Hollywood at Melrose and Bronson still exists -- known today as the Raleigh Studios. ++^

Historical Notes

Opened as Clune’s Broadway Theatre October 10, 1910, it was an original nickelodeon theatre and is a rare example to survive today almost unaltered. Its operator William H. (Billy) Clune was an early pioneer film producer and exhibitor. Architect Alfred F. Rosenheim designed a Beaux-Arts interpretation of Italian Renaissance Revival style. Its original roof-top electric sign and ‘digital’ clock were Downtown landmarks for many years. In 1921 it was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ Style 185, Opus 397. In 1925 until 1926 it was operated by Universal Pictures chain and renamed Cameo Theatre. In the late-1920’s it was operated by H.L. Gumbiner (who soon was to build the Tower Theatre and Los Angeles Theatre further along South Broadway) who replaced the sign and clock with a large 24-sheet billboard. ^^^*

Historical Notes

The interior of the building was specifically designed as a ‘picture playhouse’ and had decorations which featured marble, plaster, leaded glass and a profusion of electric lights.

A 1912 ad for Clune's boasted "When one speaks of low-priced theater attractions the name CLUNE comes first to the mind because it is an uncontested fact that the CLUNE THEATERS in Los Angeles and Pasadena set the pace in these popular public attractions." ++^

Historical Notes

The Clune's Broadway had an orchestra of 10 pieces to accompany the films.

Historical Notes

The 1910 Pantages Theatre, 1910 Clune's Broadway, and 1914 Quinn's Superba, along with the 1911 Orpheum Theatre (now the Palace) and 1910 Tally's New Broadway, put Broadway on the map as the new entertainment street in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

In 1925 until 1926 Clune’s Broadway Theatre was operated by Universal Pictures chain and renamed Cameo Theatre.

The Clune’s Broadway Theatre's original roof-top electric sign and ‘digital’ clock were Downtown landmarks for many years. In 1921 the theatre was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ Style 185, Opus 397.

In the late-1920’s it was operated by H.L. Gumbiner (who soon was to build the Tower Theatre and Los Angeles Theatre further along South Broadway) who replaced the sign and clock with a large 24-sheet billboard. ++^

Historical Notes

Minor alterations were carried out by architect Simeon Charles Lee in 1949. In 1987 it was repainted and redecorated by the then owners Metropolitan Theatres. In its later years it was screening Kung-Fu and exploitation films and was closed in 1992. It was the longest continually operating movie theatre in California at that time. The front entrance has been converted into retail use, while the auditorium is used for storage. ^^^*

In 1991, the Cameo Theatre (formerly the Clune's Broadway Theatre) was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 524. Click HERE to see complete listing.

Historical Notes

Paramount Pictures dates its existence from the 1912 founding date of the Famous Players Film Company. Founder Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor, who had been an early investor in nickelodeons, saw that movies appealed mainly to working-class immigrants. With partners Daniel Frohman and Charles Frohman he planned to offer feature-length films that would appeal to the middle class by featuring the leading theatrical players of the time (leading to the slogan "Famous Players in Famous Plays". By mid-1913, Famous Players had completed five films, and Zukor was on his way to success.

In 1916, Zukor maneuvered a three-way merger of his Famous Players, the Lasky Company, and Paramount. The new company Lasky and Zukor founded, Famous Players-Lasky Corporation, grew quickly, with Lasky and his partners Goldwyn and DeMille running the production side, Hiram Abrams in charge of distribution, and Zukor making great plans. Famous Players-Lasky and its "Paramount Pictures" soon dominated the business.^*

Historical Notes

Zukor signed and developed many of the leading early stars, including Mary Pickford, Marguerite Clark, Pauline Frederick, Douglas Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson, Rudolph Valentino, and Wallace Reid. With so many important players, Paramount was able to introduce "block booking", which meant that an exhibitor who wanted a particular star's films had to buy a year's worth of other Paramount productions. It was this system that gave Paramount a leading position in the 1920s and 1930s, but which led the government to pursue it on antitrust grounds for more than twenty years.^*

Historical Notes

Paramount films emphasized stars; in the 1920s there were Swanson, Valentino, and Clara Bow. By the 1930s, talkies brought in a range of powerful new draws: Miriam Hopkins, Marlene Dietrich, Mae West, W.C. Fields, Jeanette MacDonald, Claudette Colbert, the Marx Brothers (whose first two films were shot at Paramount's Astoria, New York, studio), Dorothy Lamour, Carole Lombard, Bing Crosby, band leader Shep Fields, famous Argentine tango singer Carlos Gardel, and Gary Cooper among them. In this period Paramount can truly be described as a movie factory, turning out sixty to seventy pictures a year.

In 1933, Mae West would also add greatly to Paramount's success with her suggestive movies She Done Him Wrong and I'm No Angel. However, the sex appeal West gave in these movies would also lead to the enforcement of the Production Code, as the newly formed organization the Catholic Legion of Decency threatened a boycott if it was not enforced.^*

Historical Notes

Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world behind Universal Studios, Nordisk Film, Pathé, and Gaumont Film Company. It is the last major film studio still headquartered in Hollywood.^*

Historical Notes

Hulett C. Merritt, described by the Dec. 11, 1910 Los Angeles Herald as a "millionaire and financier" in an article about the planned Merritt Building in downtown Los Angeles.  At the time, Merritt was pushing city leaders to waive building height restrictions from 180 feet to 233 feet.  Merritt is reported as saying he would scrap plans for the Italian Renaissance-style monument to his family unless he was allowed the height variance, otherwise "its beauty will be marred and I want to build for the artistic value more than for any profit I may get out of it."  Originally from Minnesota, Merritt had sold his interests in the Merritt - Rockefeller syndicate in 1891 for more than $81 million.

When the Merritt Building opened in 1915 it looked quite nice. Merritt’s request to construct a 23-story edifice was turned down by the City Council. He scaled back his plans and ended up with a ten-story design that set a rendition of Minerva's Temple on top of a three-story base.*^#*

Historical Notes

The Merritt Building housed various retail stores on its ground floor and offices above, with the top floor set aside for Mr. Merritt himself.*^#*

Historical Notes

In 1957, the Merritt Building would see a change. Home Savings & Loan Association had bought the building in December of 1956 and had plans for a redesign. They took out many of the building's lower windows and created an ornate entrance on Broadway. The view above is the building before the change.

The new look was designed by artist Millard Sheets, the man responsible for the look of many Home Savings branches over the years (later Washington Mutuals).*^#*

Historical Notes

John’s Pipe Shop was open for decades, starting in 1908 and lasting well into the 1980’s. They had pipes made for them by European companies, one of which was Comoy’s.  Their “Exclusive Brands” included Wilshire, Rosemore, Extra, Fairmont, Silvermont and Avalon. There were two shops, one at 524-524 1/2 S. Spring Street and the other at 6725 Hollywood Blvd.

To further advertise his goods, “John” had a little cart in the shape of a meerschaum pipe, drawn by a diminutive pony, which paraded the streets of Los Angeles, frequently giving away samples of new tobacco, as well as cards containing the name and address of his shop.*^

Historical Notes

One store is on the ground floor of a two-story, brick building. The other store, a one-story, wooden structure, is next door. The storefront advertises California wines as well as imported and domestic groceries. The store's telephone number is prominently displayed. Early automobiles, one a Peluffo delivery car, and a truck are parked in front and pedestrians, customers and drivers are all posing for the camera. Two children, one on a tricycle and the other in a toy car, are playing while a watchful adult shops. Sacks and cartons of merchandise lie at the curb.*

Historical Notes

The Huntington Hotel was built in 1906 by General Wentworth, a Civil War veteran, and designed by Charles Frederick Whittlesey in Spanish Mission Revival-style. It opened in February 1907 as the Hotel Wentworth, but closed its doors after its first season.  It was purchased by Henry E. Huntington in 1911 and reopened in 1914 as The Huntington Hotel after redesign by the architect Myron Hunt. The hotel remained under Huntington's management until 1918.^*

Historical Notes

California's first outdoor Olympic-size swimming pool was added in 1926, when the hotel, formerly a winter resort, began opening year-round. The hotel was later owned by Stephen W. Royce, who sold it to the Sheraton Corporation in 1954. It was subsequently renamed The Huntington Sheraton.^*

Historical Notes

Cahuenga Branch is the third oldest branch library in the Los Angeles Public Library system. Located at 4591 Santa Monica Boulevard in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, it was built in 1916 with a grant from Andrew Carnegie. Architect C.H. Russell designed this Italian Renaissance style building.  He was also associated with Norman F. Marsh in building the Venice canals.^*

One of three surviving Carnegie libraries in Los Angeles, it has been designated as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 314 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Click HERE to see the complete list of LA Historical Cultural Monuments.

Historical Notes

In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem. He had bought Metro Pictures Corporation (founded in 1916) and Goldwyn Pictures (founded in 1917) to provide a steady supply of films for his large theater chain, Loew's Theatres. However, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York to oversee the theaters. Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 16, 1924. Because of his decade-long success as a producer, Mayer was made a vice-president of Loew's and head of studio operations in California, with Harry Rapf and Irving Thalberg as heads of production. For decades MGM was listed on movie title cards as "Controlled by Loew's, Inc."^*

Click HERE to see more Early Views of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios.

Historical Notes

In 1916, the first electrical energy sold and distributed by the Los Angeles Bureau of Power and Light was obtained from the Pasadena municipal system. Things would change quickly, though. In 1917, the San Francisquito Canyon Power Plant No. 1 was completed. It harnessed the energy from water running down the recently completed LA Aqueduct and generated enough power to meet the needs of the fast growing City of Los Angeles. There was also enough excess power that now could be sold back to the City of Pasadena (Click HERE to see more in Electricity on the Aqueduct).

The first operator at Distribution Station No. 2 was B. F. Goodwin.

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

On March 18, 1917 the San Francisquito Power Plant No. 1, Unit 1 was placed in service and energy was delivered to Los Angeles over a newly constructed 115 kV transmission line. The 200 kilowatts generated by Unit 1 were the first commercial kilowatts generated by the Los Angeles Bureau of Power and Light.

The LA Bureau of Power and Light now had a source of low cost electricity and more than enough power to meet the City's needs.  It would sell its excess San Francisquito generated power to Pasadena over two newly constructed 34 kV lines between the two cities. By 1917, World War I had forced the price of fuel oil to rise making the new lower cost hydroelectric power extremely desirable.

Historical Notes

Biola University was founded in 1908 as the Bible Institute Of Los Angeles by Lyman Stewart, president of the Union Oil Company of California (subsequently known as Unocal and later purchased by the Chevron Corporation), Thomas C. Horton, a Presbyterian minister and Christian author, and Augustus B. Prichard, also a Presbyterian minister.^*

In 1912, the school appointed R. A. Torrey as dean, and in 1913 began construction on a new building at the corner of Sixth and Hope St., in downtown Los Angeles, which included a 3,500-seat auditorium, two large neon signs on top of the building proclaiming "Jesus Saves", and a set of eleven bells on which hymns were played three times each day.^*

Historical Notes

The Central Library was built between 1924 and 1926 on the site once occupied by the State Normal School (which evolved into UCLA).

Historical Notes

The State Normal School was demolished in 1924 to make room for the Los Angeles Central Library (completed in 1926).

Historical Notes

Originaly financed by Union Oil magnate Lyman Stewart, the Bible Institute Church was to be strictly non-denominational, though Evangelical.

Stewart also founded the Pacific Gospel Mission (now the Union Rescue Mission) in 1891.^*

Historical Notes

The Bible Institute building was designed by Walker & Vawter in Renaissance Revival style and had an auditorium that seated 3,500. It was flanked by two thirteen-story dormitories. A large 1935 neon sign which says, "Jesus Saves," sits at the top of the building. The building was constructed in 1915 and demolished in the late 1980s after the church moved to Glendora (1985).*

Historical Notes

Despite efforts led by the late William Eugene Scott to prevent the building from being sold to developers and to have the building saved as a historic landmark, the building could not be saved because it was so damaged in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake that it was declared unsafe and the cost of repairs deemed prohibitive.

The historic "Jesus Saves" sign from the original building can now be seen atop the Los Angeles University Cathedral. It was relocated there by the late William Eugene Scott, the owner of the building at the time of earthquake, who took it with him when his church relocated following the earthquake.^*

Historical Notes

In 1917, Westinghouse introduced its first all-electric kitchen range. It advertised its new ranges as follows:

These are full size cooking ranges for domestic use, and have reached their high perfection in convenience and economy through many years of experimenting and experience.  In addition to the cleanliness, safety, saving in food, and general desirability of cooking with electricity, they have the further advantage of saving a great deal of care, trouble and expense by the aid of the Westinghouse exclusive economical features of full automatic control by attached clock and thermostats.*#*^

Historical Notes

Congregation Talmud Torah Synagogue (also known as Breed Street Shul) is in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. It was the largest Orthodox synagogue in the western United States from 1915 to 1951, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The Congregation began in Downtown Los Angeles in 1904 but moved to Boyle Heights in 1913 as large numbers of Jews settled there. In 1915, a wood-framed building was dedicated for use as a school and chapel and became known as the "Breed Street Shul." The Jewish population grew from a few hundred in 1910 to 10,000 in 1930.^

Historical Notes

As the size of the Talmud Torah congregation grew, a new synagogue was built, designed by the architectural firm of Edelman and Barnett. The original wood structure was moved to the back of the lot to make room for the new brick structure which opened in 1923. The new synagogue was built from unreinforced masonry with veneer brick and cast stone embellishments on the facade. The facade includes alternating bands of dichromatic brickwork, "dense prickly foliage carving, other organic motifs and Stars of David in bas relief cast stone detail.^

Historical Notes

The main brick building was vacated in the mid-1980s due to seismic retrofit requirements. Services were moved to the original wooden structure at the rear of the lot for several years, by 1996 services ceased at Breed Street Shul, and the buildings have been vacant since that time

In 1988, the building was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 359 (Click HERE to see complete listing). The building fell into disrepair in the 1990s, the City of Los Angeles foreclosed on the property after recording an assessment for barricading and protection. In 1998, Hillary Clinton visited the Shul as part of her Save America's Treasures campaign. In July 2000, the City quitclaimed the property to Breed Street Shul Project, Inc., a subsidiary of the Jewish Historical Society of Southern California. The organization plans to rehabilitate the buildings as a county museum, educational and cultural center. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001..^

Historical Notes

The century-old Breed Street Shul in Boyle Heights is getting a new lease on life thanks to millions in dollars championed by California’s Jewish and Latino lawmakers to renovate the historic landmark. Nearly $15 million in state funding was announced on August 10th, 2021 to transform the historic, cultural monument into a multipurpose space and highlight the rich and diverse immigrant history of the Latino and Jewish communities in the Boyle Heights neighborhood.*

Historical Notes

Bernal H. Dyas was born in New York in 1883 and his family wound up in Los Angeles in 1907. In 1919 he purchased Los Angeles’s largest department store, Ville de Paris, at Seventh and Olive Streets and it became the home of the B. H. Dyas Company with 21,000 square feet of floor space.*#**

Historical Notes

The Seventh and Olive street store, referred to as a “sportsman’s paradise” included a rifle range, handball court, and log cabins. At the time, B. H. Dyas Company was the largest west of Chicago. In 1928, Dyas opened a second store in Hollywood, however, the company could not survive the effects of the Depression.*#**

Historical Notes

In 1913 the Rosslyn Hotel constructed its new building at the northwest corner of 5th and Main Streets, a major expansion of the hotel from its earlier home on Main Street between 4th and 5th Streets.

The Hotel Rosslyn has a history unique in all of the city of Los Angeles.  Once the tallest building in LA, the 12-story Rosslyn boasted in it's large rooftop sign as being the "Fireproof Million Dollar Hotel."

At that time, the area around Main Street was truly the center of Los Angeles. Through the teens and twenties, the financial, commercial, and entertainment center of Southern California was based in Downtown Los Angeles, and the Rosslyn Hotel was one of its premier destinations.**##

Historical Notes

In 1923, as a result of the prosperity enjoyed by the Rosslyn and the surrounding district, the Rosslyn Annex was built across 5th Street, and today is still called the Rosslyn Hotel. The two buildings were connected by an underground marble tunnel, portions of which survive to this day.**##

Historical Notes

The Hotel Rosslyn Annex was built in 1923 across the street from the original 800-room Rosslyn Hotel built in 1914. Designed as a twin, both were topped by mammoth glowing signs featuring the names surrounded by a heart, the shape acknowledging the Hart brothers who owned the hotels.^*

Historical Notes

Both buildings were designed by architect John Parkinson, who was one of the most prolific architects in Downtown Los Angeles, responsible for much of the area's finest architecture, including Union Station, Bullock's Wilshire, the Title Guarantee Building, the Continental Building, the Alexandria Hotel, the Los Angeles Athletic Club, Security Bank (now the Los Angeles Theatre Center), the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, and Los Angeles City Hall.**##

Historical Notes

The New Rosslyn went into decline and closed in 1959. It reopened in 1979 as two hotels, the Rosslyn on the south side, and the Frontier on the north side.

Historical Notes

Renamed the Rosslyn Lofts in 2006, it currently provides both market-rate lofts and low-income housing.

Historical Notes

Both the Hotel Rosslyn and Hotel Rosslyn Annex are topped by mammoth glowing signs featuring the names surrounded by a heart, the shape acknowledging the Hart brothers who owned the hotels.*

Historical Notes

The Million Dollar Theater at 307 S. Broadway in downtown Los Angeles is one of the first movie palaces built in the United States. It opened in February 1918. It is the northernmost of the collection of historical movie palaces in the Broadway Theater District and stands directly across from the landmark Bradbury Building.*

Historical Notes

The Million Dollar was the first movie house built by entrepreneur Sid Grauman. Grauman was later responsible for Grauman's Egyptian Theatre and Grauman's Chinese Theatre, both on Hollywood Boulevard, and was partly responsible for the entertainment district shifting from downtown Los Angeles to Hollywood in the mid-1920s.*

Historical Notes

Among the famous names who attended the opening night were: Jesse L. Lasky, Thomas Ince, Mack Sennett, Hal Roach, Cecil B. DeMille, D.W. Griffith, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe ‘Fatty’ Arbuckle.*

Historical Notes

The initial tenant of the office building was the Edison Co. Later the Metropolitan Water District occupied the office building.

(1931)* - Million Dollar Theatre located at 307 S. Broadway in Downtown LA.  It was one of the first movie palaces built in the United States.

Historical Notes

Sculptor Joseph Mora did the elaborate and surprising exterior Spanish Colonial Revival ornament, including bursts of lavish Churrigueresque decoration, multiple statues, longhorn skulls and other odd features. The auditorium architect was William L. Woollett, and the designer of the twelve-story tower was Los Angeles architect Albert C. Martin, Sr. (also designed the Liberty Theatre).*

Historical Notes

For many years the office building housed the headquarters of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. The building also housed the Municipal Water Department of the City of Los Angeles, predecessor to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) as well as housing offices of William Mulholland.

Historical Notes

After serving as the home of a Spanish-speaking church for some years, as of 2006 the Million Dollar theater was empty, although the office building had been recently renovated and converted to residential space. In February 2008, the theater re-opened, once again showing live Spanish theatre. It continues to draw large crowds, and there are plans to begin screening major motion picture premieres.*

Historical Notes

The twelve-story building was designed by Albert C. Martin, Sr., one of the most important architects in Los Angeles at the time and founder of one of the city’s most prominent architectural firms. The exterior of the building exemplifies the elaborate Churrigueresque (chur-rig-ur-esk) style, named after the eighteenth-century Spanish church architect and sculptor Jose de Churriguera, whose designs favored this type of architectural embellishment.*

Historical Notes

In 1957 it was owned by the L.A. Times who demolished it in March 1959. In the 1980's this corner held the Times Mirror garage. Building architects, Morgan & Walls.

Historical Notes

In 1872, Samuel Calvert Foy purchased the property from Los Angeles Mayor Thomas Foster for $1,000. Foy moved to Los Angeles in 1854 and operated a successful harness business at 217 Los Angeles Street, which was the oldest business establishment in the city at the time of his death. Foy also served as the city's Chief of Police for a time. He built the Foy House at the corner of Grasshopper (now Figueroa) and 7th Streets in either 1872 or 1873, and it was there that Foy and his wife, Lucinda Macy Foy, raised their son and four daughters. The house was reportedly "the first three-story building in the city." At the time the Foys built their house, the site was considered to be "way out in the country."

Foy's daughter, Mary Foy, was the city's first woman librarian from 1880-1884, a leader in the California Women's suffrage movement, a leader of the Democratic Party, and the first woman to be a member of one of the major parties' national committees.^*

Today, the Wilshire Grand Hotel is located at this site.

Historical Notes

In December 1919, the Foy family sold the property for a consideration reported to be approximately $600,000. At the time of the property's sale in 1919, the new owner announced its plan to start construction immediately of a six- or seven-story structure on the site at a cost of $450,000. Though there are varying accounts as to the exact date, the Foy House was moved to its second site on 631-633 South Witmer Street, just north of Wilshire Boulevard and across from Good Samaritan Hospital.^*

Historical Notes

In December 1992, the house was moved to its third location at 1337 Carroll Avenue. The Foy House was the seventh house to be moved to Angelino Heights, the first and largest historic preservation zone in the City of Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

The current owner has faithfully reconstructed elements lost during the multiple moves, such as the exterior window canopy. The sky-blue paint on the porch ceiling is typical of Victorian homes; some say this treatment discourages birds from nesting by mimicking the sky.

Historical Notes

The Foy House is listed as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 7 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Though the River Station welcomed many of those drawn by the land boom of the mid-1880s, its location came to be seen as less than ideal. It was surrounded by the Southern Pacific's freight yards and, as the city's Anglo population shifted south of the historic plaza into the new central city, it was situated far from many passengers' ultimate destinations. Later depots, beginning with the Southern Pacific's Arcade Station, would be located to the south. #^

Historical Notes

Constructed in 1835, the Bella Union Hotel has a long, rich history. It served as the County Courthouse until October 1851, and in 1860 was the location of a champagne fete celebrating the connection of San Francisco and Los Angeles by telegraph.^

Historical Notes

The Bella Union Hotel is considered to be the first hotel in Los Angeles. The building no longer exist, however the site it stood on was designated California Historical Landmark No. 656 (Click HERE to see more in Califronia Historical Landmarks in LA).

Below is what the hotel looked like in the 1860s.

Historical Notes

Constructed between 1906 and 1910, the five-story Romanesque building housed the post office, U.S. District Court, and various federal agencies, but it soon proved inadequate.

Historical Notes

The population of Los Angeles grew rapidly in the early part of the twentieth century, and a larger building was needed to serve the courts and federal agencies. The Federal Building was razed in 1937 to clear the site for the existing U.S. District Courthouse.

Historical Notes

The Automobile Club of Southern California, one of the nation's first motor clubs dedicated to improving roads, proposing traffic laws, and improvement of overall driving conditions, was founded on December 13, 1900 in Los Angeles. The Auto Club was responsible for producing state road maps, as well as posting thousands of porcelain-to-steel traffic signs throughout the state to create a uniform signing system - which it continued to do until the task was taken over by the State of California in the mid-1950s.*

Historical Notes

The building pictured here originally served as the Auto Club's main office. It was built between 1922-1923 by architects, Sumner P. Hunt, Silas R. Burns, and Roland E. Coate in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Today, this building serves as the Los Angeles district office, but the administrative offices are now located in Costa Mesa.*

Historical Notes

The Automobile Club of Southern California, one of the nation's first motor clubs dedicated to improving roads, proposing traffic laws, and improvement of overall driving conditions, was founded on December 13, 1900 in Los Angeles. The Auto Club was responsible for producing state road maps, as well as posting thousands of porcelain-to-steel traffic signs throughout the state to create a uniform signing system - which it continued to do until the task was taken over by the State of California in the mid-1950s.*

The Automobile Club Building was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 72 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

George Finley Bovard Administration Building was dedicated the week of June 19, 1921. John Parkinson, architect. The building cost $620,000, the organ in the auditorium cost $35,000.*^#

Historical Notes

The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) stands for the complete abstinence from alcohol, tobacco, and all harmful drugs and protection of the home. As the membership of the WCTU grew throughout the U.S, a call went out from May Gould, a resident of Los Angeles, to Frances Willard to organize a local group in Southern California. On September 20 and 21, 1883, the first State Convention was called and the WCTU of Southern California was organized at the First Presbyterian Church, 2nd and Fort (now Broadway) Streets, Los Angeles. This temple was dedicated in 1889 after money had been donated for its construction in 1886.

The Frances E. Willard Home For Girls was housed on the 4th floor from its inception in 1919 until 1933, when the Long Beach Earthquake severely damaged the building. The County of Los Angeles took the site by eminent domain and constructed a power plant where the venerable Temperance Temple once stood in 1947. When the Temple was completely razed in 1950, its corner stone was presented to the WCTU.*

Historical Notes

The Garnier Building was built in 1890, by Philippe Garnier, a French settler who arrived in Los Angeles in 1859 at the age of eighteen.  Philippe Garnier and his brothers, Eugene, Abel, and Camille, owned the 4,400 acre Rancho Los Encinos in the San Fernando Valley where they raised sheep.  Despite losing a considerable sum of money in the wool market crash in 1872, the Garniers were financially well off and remained influential in local commerce. Philippe Garnier served as a bank director on the Board of the Farmers and Merchants Bank from 1879 to 1891 and is believed to have constructed several other buildings in Los Angeles.^#^^

Historical Notes

The Garnier Building was designed primarily for Chinese commercial tenants.   It is the oldest building in Los Angeles exclusively and continuously inhabited by Chinese immigrants from the time of its construction in 1890 until the State took it over in 1953.  The building was the headquarters of major Chinese American organizations and housed businesses, churches, and schools.  It was an important structure in the original Los Angeles Chinatown.^#^^

Historical Notes

The construction of the #101 Freeway (Hollywood Freeway) took away everything to the left of (south of) the Garnier Building, an area referred to as the Jennette Block. The Old Plaza Firehouse is to the right of the Garnier Building.*

Historical Notes

The Jennette Block sat adjacent (south of) the Garnier Block. It, along with part of the Garnier Block, was demolished to make room for the #101 Freeway.*

The Jennette Block was built circa 1888 and the Garnier Building in 1890.*

Historical Notes

In 1827, Jonathan Temple moved to the Pueblo de Los Angeles, where he opened the pueblo's first store, a business he operated for almost thirty years.

Temple was also one of Los Angeles’ first developers, constructing such landmarks as the original Temple Block and the Market House, which later served as city and county administrative headquarters, contained the county courthouse, and featured the first true theater in southern California. He also served as the first alcalde (or mayor) of Los Angeles after capture of the pueblo by the United States during the Mexican-American War and served on the first American-period common (city) council.

Temple Street was developed by Johnathan Temple as a modest one-block dirt lane in the 1850s.^*

Temple Block was razed to make room for the current City Hall, built in 1928.

Historical Notes

The Sunbeam Theatre was a 1296 seat theater built in 1914. It was purchased by the owners of the Highland Park Theater and closed to remove competition. After that it was re-purposed for a variety of businesses. In the late 1980s, part of it was utilized by the theater group Outback Theater. The space is still occasionally used for events.***^

Historical Notes

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

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Historical Notes

First built as the vacation home of William Wrigley Jr., Mt. Ada was constructed in 1919 and finished in 1922.  Wrigley reportedly chose this particular location for its unsurpassed views of Avalon Bay with magnificent surroundings and because it received the first sunlight of the morning and the last sunlight of the late evening.**#^

Historical Notes

The Wrigley home was designed and built by David M. Renton, general manager of the Santa Catalina Island Company at the time. Renton, who was influential in the early development of Catalina Island, also managed construction of the Catalina Casino Ballroom and was known for the development of Craftsman-style homes in Pasadena, among many other local projects.**#^

Historical Notes

The home stood 350 feet above the ocean and provided expansive views of Avalon Bay, the town of Avalon itself, and the mainland off in the distance. The Wrigleys reportedly made two annual visits to Catalina Island in the summer and winter, with each visit lasting between four and ten weeks. Many distinguished guests of that time period enjoying visiting with the Wrigley family, including Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge, and the Prince of Wales.**#^

Historical Notes

After Mr. Wrigley’s death in 1932, Mrs. Wrigley continued to visit their treasured home regularly until 1947 when she suffered a stroke. She died in 1958 and the property was then managed by the Santa Catalina Island Company and occasionally used for meetings and events by local organizations. In 1978, the property was donated to the University of Southern California and was used by the University as a conference center for the next several years.**#^