[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by 3940dxer

After spending too much time studying the early aerials I think the dark blob indicated by my arrow was in fact the La Cienega oil well.

Beverly is at the top if the image with the big Rexall store at the Southeast corner of La Cienega, 3rd St. is at the bottom.

I think this would be today's view:

http://maps.google.com
Another little tidbit: in the first photo, to the right of the tall young lady and beneath the Seagram's billboard, is the barely visible Smokey Joe's Cafe. You can see the sign a little more clearly on the zoomed snippet below. (Same source.)
Smokey Joe's Cafe was the beanery that inspired Leiber and Stoller's novelty rock hit of the same name, recorded by The Coasters.

Good sleuthing and good info! But something doesn't fit with my memory.

Again, I was not around to see the actual derrick depicted in the photographs and I am now questioning whether what I remember from the early '80s was a vestige of that well or something else. I remember an island traffic hazard that served no apparent purpose in the center of La Cienega. It did not seem to be temporary and I did not investigate it. I thought it was much closer to the intersection with Beverly then your aerial shot. I could always be mistaken, too. The smaller pics below are interesting. One shot has the well a few hundred feet from an intersection. One picture of Beverly Park has the tip of a Rexall sign and appears to be in the same area and there is no island at all, or at least not in the picture. It may also be south of the so-called island.

Some additional thoughts. One might expect pictures of the well outside of what was then called Kiddyland or Beverly Park. Same with construction of the Beverly Center and the Ma Maison Sofitel. Maybe the memories of some former students can shed some light? http://www.1400ml.com/jbclassof62/pa..._comments.html

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages...tml?1297118933

http://www.americanhistoryonline.org...8531?page=2496

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ba...StreetWell.jpg

20's:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fb...type=1&theater



http://www.flickr.com/photos/