Excellent discovery
Flyingwedge!!
It was the entrance to the elevator:
1906 Sanborn map lapl
1904 close-up
usc
You can see the '
Entrance to Elevator' sign in the photograph below as well. I'm not sure how I missed it earlier.
originally posted by
ethereal_reality
lapl
Quote:
Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past
The photo above is especially interesting because you can clearly see the open-air elevator shaft that was added to the building before the turn of the last century. The circular shaft can be seen just to the left of the left palm tree. If you look closely, you can see the elevator car is between the first and second floors.
lapl
And in this demolition photo above, you can see the two now-exposed pullies at the top of the elevator shaft. (Follow the roof-line in the foreground down to just right of center.) Supposedly this elevator was only used by clerks taking court documents between floors; it was NOT meant to be for the public's usage, which is why it was only really big enough for one or two people at a time.
The photo below dates to 1890, and you can see there is no elevator on the outside of the building yet. An interesting detail even most L.A. history buffs don't know about the old Court House!
unknown
-Scott |