[BifRayRock]

Watts is an area rarely explored on NLA, yet the archives offer some fascinating images. Sadly, many of the images deal with earthquake and riot damage, so it is quickly becoming a world that few remember.


1920 - Front Yard Wedding

A crowd gathers for John and Helen's wedding in the front yard of the groom's family home on 111th Street near Compton Avenue in Watts

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Watt's Library 1928

View of the exterior of the Watts Branch Library of the Los Angeles Public Library, 9901 Grandee Street. The Classical Revival style library was built with a grant from Andrew Carnegie and designed by architect Elmore Jeffery. It served as a public library from 1913-1960. It was demolished in the 1970s.

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Watt's Library 1928
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1930 - Home under construction

Exterior of a Spanish style residence, located at 11302 Compton Avenue in Watts, captured when it was nearly completed. This home was later demolished to make room for the Nickerson Gardens public housing apartment complex, which opened in 1955

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1942 - Watt's PE Depot.

A man and two women talk near the newsstand just outside the entrance of the Pacific Electric depot in Watts, located at 1686 E. 103rd Street. A car is parked on the western side of the depot.

From 1904-1961, this depot served the Long Beach Line of the Pacific Electric Railway Company. It was the only structure that was not damaged when businesses on 103rd Street burned during the 1965 Watts Riots. As a symbol of hope and renewal for the Watts community, it was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #36 on December 3, 1965 and was also listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. The Community Redevelopment Agency spent $700,000 to restore the structure to its original exterior design in the 1980s. The Blue Line of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) operates on the old Pacific Electric right of way and has a stop at the station, but the station does not serve as a passenger platform or ticket booth for riders.

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1942

Children around airplane they purchased by selling war stamps. Joan Frere, sitting in plane, sold the most.

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1945

exterior view of the C. L. Wilson family home located at 10315 Juniper Street in Watts.

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1950 - "Panoramic view of Vermont Avenue near Manchester showing shops and stores, including Cytron's Shoes. Area was later destroyed in the Watts Riot (1965)"]
LAPL




1960 - Largo Theater at 103rd Street

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