HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > Found City Photos

Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #22641  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 3:44 AM
Mstimc Mstimc is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: So Cal
Posts: 239
If you're looking for more historic clocks, there's a recently restored one in downtown Fullerton on Harbor Bl. in front of an old jewelry store. I'd attach a photo but I still can't figure out how .

And here's my two cent's worth on the L.A./non-L.A. issue. First of all, most of the pictures here are of buildings that are no longer around, so really, what's the point of arguing about things that don't exist? And of the buildings that still exist, the vast majority have been bowdlerized, like the old Art Deco DWP office-cum-restaurant, with that god-awful brown stucco overlay.

I enjoy NLA because of the idea it represents, which is an appreciation for the architecture and style of a bygone L.A. But the sad fact it is bygone, for better or worse, depending on your point of view. An idea isn't really limited by geography, and if showing a photo from somewhere else helps put an historic L.A. building in a more meaningful context, so much the better. Besides, if there's one thing we can all agree on about L.A., it's that its had an affect far beyond its city limits. Not too many other cities have pulled off stealing water from a river 300 miles away, pumping it over a mountain range, and then celebrating it the way Mullholland did!

Personally, I'm much more a fan of Greene & Greene and of Art Deco than I am of most modern design, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate a well-executed piece of modern construction. Maybe it can be the same with photos of other places--as long they're consistent with ER's vision for NLA, there should be room for branching out a bit. Just my opinion....
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22642  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 5:57 AM
3940dxer 3940dxer is offline
You can call me David
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Burbank
Posts: 271
A few days ago I asked a question about Google Street View but it appeared at the bottom of page and maybe went un-noticed, so I'd like to try again. It seems that currently, the view can only be rotated in 90 degree increments and not set to arbitrary "in-between" angles, like before. Or maybe there's some some hidden way to accomplish this. Does anyone know?

Regarding for the LA-centric question that arose, my own preference is that photos and text stay fairly tightly focused on L.A. Someone mentioned a "two hour rule" and that seems about right to me. If it's 2 hours away from L.A., it's not L.A. any more.

I also wish that folks here would avoid re-posting large groups of photos when quoting other replies. And it would be nice if people would censor themselves a bit and keep personal squabbles and digs at other posters off the thread. I don't think anyone really wants to see that here.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22643  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 6:28 AM
Sonny☼LA Sonny☼LA is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 31
Central Fire Alarm Station

Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
Does anyone know where the Central Fire Alarm Station was located?
ebay
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hollywood Graham View Post
Fire Alarms in most of L.A. reported to the West Lake Signal Office on 6th near Alvarado. I know a photo of the building exist but have not found it yet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire View Post

It still stands, with additions, at 2228 West 6th St.--faces into MacArthur Park. Built in 1924, architect J W Wilson per the Times of Feb 10, 1924.
ER said he wanted to get inside - totally worth it! Now known as the MacArthur Park Recreation Center, the old Westlake Signal Office is a popular place these days with its own Zumba and aerobics schedule.


I didn't think the room would be recognizable but it was pretty obvious when I found the gym.


Great space with big arched windows overlooking the park on the wall to the left of the photographer of the vintage photo.


It's been reconfigured a bit, I think - as I'm not sure how the walls jibe with where I was standing. Behind me is a glassed-in desk like a roller rink and next to that is a hallway so it's pretty different from the wall of windows in the old picture. Or it's an adjacent room with the same ceiling that I couldn't access but I doubt there was enough room for that in there.

All photos by me

Excuse some of the image quality as I'm always playing with old film and older cameras.

I have so many of these from around town on my Flickr page and waiting to be developed - if people are interested, I can post more. This thread is totally invaluable for subject matter while I fumble with vintage cameras. Obscure landmarks and idiosyncratic mechanisms are a fun combination. I'm amazed I get anything back sometimes.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/30811353@N04/
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22645  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 11:11 AM
HossC's Avatar
HossC HossC is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 4,243
Quote:
Originally Posted by 3940dxer View Post

A few days ago I asked a question about Google Street View but it appeared at the bottom of page and maybe went un-noticed, so I'd like to try again. It seems that currently, the view can only be rotated in 90 degree increments and not set to arbitrary "in-between" angles, like before. Or maybe there's some some hidden way to accomplish this. Does anyone know?
David, I read your previous message and tried to duplicate this Street View behavior. I switched to the new Google Maps and tried Street View at several LA locations - all let me click and drag the view to any angle I wanted. I then lazily sat back to see if anyone else reported the same problem!

I see that the new version of Google Maps has a handy feature that lets you view historic Street View images, but overall I still don't like it. I've done a bit of Googling, and couldn't immediately find anyone with a similar problem, although I did find that Google seem to be restricting me to what they call "Lite Mode" in the new maps because I'm still using Windows Vista. I also came across several comments suggesting that Google had removed useful features and were pushing users towards Chrome to get the most out of the new maps. You don't list your operating system, browser etc. - that may narrow down the causes of the behavior you're experiencing.

In the meantime, if you want to return to the old version of Google Maps (which I still use):
  • Click the "?" Help button in the bottom right corner.
  • Click Return to classic Google Maps.

To make this your default choice:
  • Click Yes in the notification bar that appears.

Let us know how you get on.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22646  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 12:24 PM
HossC's Avatar
HossC HossC is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 4,243
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mstimc View Post

If you're looking for more historic clocks, there's a recently restored one in downtown Fullerton on Harbor Bl. in front of an old jewelry store. I'd attach a photo but I still can't figure out how .
Here's the clock in Fullerton. There's some history about its original location, its move across the street and its restoration here. While playing around with the new version of Google Maps for the post above, I found that the clock's neon can be seen illuminated in some of the 2007 historic Street View images. Sadly, the image quality isn't as good as the newer ones.


GSV
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22647  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 3:03 PM
Wig-Wag's Avatar
Wig-Wag Wig-Wag is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2012
Posts: 330
Everything in Perspective

[QUOTE=BifRayRock;6659764][COLOR="Indigo"][SIZE="2"][FONT="Tahoma"]



Every thing in perspective.

http://www.thisismarilyn.com/artwork...s-original.jpg


"It's all Freeway-Close!"
http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI...29R-177995.jpg


Great post BifRayRock!

Cheers,
Jack
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22648  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 4:49 PM
Tourmaline Tourmaline is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 996
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mstimc View Post
If you're looking for more historic clocks, there's a recently restored one in downtown Fullerton on Harbor Bl. in front of an old jewelry store.

I did not think I had a clock agenda, but maybe there is a multi-step program someone can recommend.

FWIW, these were fixtures at many train depots. The City of Orange has one near the Santa Fe Depot 475 W. Chapman Ave.. Possibly far afield, Tehachapi has/d one too, as does Claremont. Hard to tell what is duplication rather than "McCoy" (or is it Memorex?) They seem to add the same sort of charm or ambiance that Disney sought to create or recreate. Just as with this group's quest to locate a certain palm tree, I have to wonder what happened to "Jumbo," the Montgomery Bros. Clock. Per the long distance photo GW posted earlier, its size alone would have made it a newsworthy landmark. Of course, that is not so surprising considering the short memory we have for other strange landmarks, e.g., Reddi-Whip. Maybe it fell over shortly after it was installed, or it never told accurate time, or it was melted to make Leach automobiles for a non-existent war effort. Given LA'ers penchant for moving large structures, maybe it still exists in some other non-LA venue.

The tower clock pictured next to the Van Nuys building in 1967 suggests that similar decorations were elsewhere in the city but taken for granted as pedestrian traffic impediments. Now that there are far fewer surviving examples, not unlike old ornate penny-scales often pictured outside of drug stores and five-globe street lights, they are revered. (I would like to have one but the kitchen has too few electrical outlets! )


Orange
http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarkin...b39cbaeaca.JPG



Tehachapi -
https://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1355/1...829a35eb_m.jpg


Claremont -
https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...eaFRDnwSaqPZnQ


As non-LA as it may seem, I vaguely recall clocks at Universal City's Victoria Station Restaurant. I can't say if they were free standing though.

http://www.cardcow.com/images/set444/card00149_fr.jpg
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22649  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 5:00 PM
Martin Pal Martin Pal is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,438
Quote:
Originally Posted by Wig-Wag View Post
Great post BifRayRock!
Cheers,
Jack
I agree. I like the Nose Art photo!

I can't find it, but I spent awhile just now looking for a photo I had seen when the L.A. Times had a photobook out on news stands right after the 1994 earthquake.

There was one photo in the book showing an empty freeway with the sign "Welcome to Los Angeles" and underneath it someone had added: "Some Assembly Required."
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22650  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 6:09 PM
ethereal_reality's Avatar
ethereal_reality ethereal_reality is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Lafayette/West Lafayette IN, Purdue U.
Posts: 16,307
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sonny☼LA View Post
MacArthur Park Recreation Center, the old Westlake Signal Office.




Excuse some of the image quality as I'm always playing with old film and older cameras.

I have so many of these from around town on my Flickr page and waiting to be developed - if people are interested, I can post more. This thread is totally invaluable for subject matter while I fumble with vintage cameras. Obscure landmarks and idiosyncratic mechanisms are a fun combination.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/30811353@N04/
Excellent tour of the old signal center Sonny_LA.

I love your idea of using vintage (film) cameras to chronicle old landmarks of L.A.
I checked out your flickr page and was floored with how many excellent and diverse images you have created. What a treat!

This old rooftop sign caught my eye.


Sonny_LA at https://www.flickr.com/photos/308113...n/photostream/

After a google search or two I discovered this is the old Don Hotel in the south bay harbor district of Wilmington.


http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/history...the-don-hotel/

The Don Hotel opened on July 2, 1929. It's name came from Los Angeles investor Don Hundredmark, the hotel's owner. The Wilmington construction firm of A.M. McLellan began building the hotel on Dec. 26, 1928. The four-story brick structure had 135 rooms, each with a private bath, as well as a spacious lobby, a large basement ballroom, a cafe and several stores.

Hundredmark intended for the hotel to cater to tourists going to and from Catalina Island on such ships as the S.S. Catalina, that had begun ferrying passengers
to Catalina from it's Catalina Terminal at Banning's Landing in Wilmington.

During the hotel's heyday in the 1930s, publishing magnate William Randolph Heart had his own suite reserved, and crooner Bing Crosby was a frequent guest.
In addition to Catalina tourists, the Don also drew guests whose yachts were docked in Wilmington harbor at the foot of Avalon Blvd.

Today the Don Hotel is the Don Senior Apartments. The venerable Don Hotel sign atop the building's roof was taken down, and a restored sign with the same lettering that reads just "The Don" was erected in it's place in 2000.

Here's the building today.

http://preservation.lacity.org/don-h...929-wilmington
__

all Don Hotel info. from http://blogs.dailybreeze.com/history...the-don-hotel/

Again, thanks Sonny_LA. Your photographs are an inspiration. Please feel free to share more of them with us here at NLA.

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 18, 2014 at 9:07 PM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22651  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 7:29 PM
Lwize Lwize is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 461


The Commercial Exchange Building at 416 W. 8th St.

(Johanna Siegmann - LATIMES.COM)

Quote:
Originally Posted by LA Times
Downtown L.A. office building to be converted to hip hotel

By Roger Vincent

A long-vacant 1920s office building in a recovering neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles has been purchased by prominent developers who intend to make it into a hip hotel for young people traveling on a budget.

The 13-story Commercial Exchange Building at 8th and Olive streets is in the midst of a rapidly gentrifying area where new apartments, restaurants, stores and a hotel have recently opened or are under construction.

Its new owner is Sydell Group Ltd., which has developed such au courant inns as the Ace Hotel in New York and the Line on Wilshire Boulevard in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles. Sydell's financial partners are Yucaipa Cos. and AllianceBernstein.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but the Los Angeles partnership selling the building was asking for more than $15 million.

Sydell will develop the Commercial Exchange Building in partnership with Yucaipa Cos., a Los Angeles investment company headed by billionaire Ron Burkle. The two firms formed a joint venture called Freehand to develop hotels that combine the social culture of a hostel with the amenities of a trendy hotel.

There is a Freehand in Miami Beach, and the Freehand Chicago is under construction.

Plans for the Freehand in Los Angeles call for more than 200 rooms that would be a mix of conventional guest rooms and larger rooms with as many as six beds. Those beds could be reserved as a group or individually, as is common in youth hostels around the world.

The hotel is to have a rooftop pool and lounge. Plans also call for a living-room-like lobby, a bar, a restaurant and street-level stores.

"The Freehand is designed as a place for people who want to interact with other guests and with locals," said Andrew E. Zobler, chief executive of Sydell. "It's set up for people who want to have experiences as opposed to people who just want to sleep and get in and out."

Improvements will cost about $40 million, he said. Construction is anticipated to begin in the third quarter of 2015 and be complete in summer 2016. The makeover is being designed by Killefer Flammang Architects of Santa Monica.

The tall neon blade sign that says "Commercial Exchange Bldg." at 8th and Olive streets will remain and be part of the hotel, Zobler said.

"We think the building is quite beautiful and we really like its location," he said. "We feel like it's sort of a nexus in downtown."

Interest in acquiring the old steel and concrete building was intense, said real estate broker Phillip Sample of CBRE Group Inc., who represented the sellers. Potential buyers considered making it into apartments, creative office space or mixed-use space.

"We had people looking at it from every angle," Sample said. "It's one of the best-located buildings in all of downtown."

The building was completed in 1924 after that southern section of downtown Los Angeles was rezoned from an upscale residential neighborhood to commercial use.

City officials decided to widen Olive Street in the mid-1930s, and the owners of the Commercial Exchange Building at 8th and Olive were obligated to remove a nearly 10-foot-wide section from the middle of the building. Engineers reunited the two pieces by sliding the western portion east, thereby opening up more space on Olive Street. The process cost $60,000, The Times reported in 1935. That would be more than $1 million in 2014 dollars.

Owl Drug Co. was once headquartered in the building, Sample said. Another occupant was "Tarzan" author Edgar Rice Burroughs, who operated his own publishing company.

That area of downtown fell out of favor in the decades after World War II as department stores followed their customers to the suburbs and white-collar businesses moved to newer offices closer to the 110 Freeway.

Now it is one of the fastest-growing neighborhoods in the state. A Whole Foods market is under construction in a new apartment complex across the street from the Freehand. And the Ace Hotel Los Angeles opened earlier this year on nearby Broadway, which is experiencing a commercial renaissance.

The Freehand will be another attraction for the neighborhood, City Councilman Jose Huizar said.

"As we continue to increase our hotel stock," he said, "this project will provide a unique option to travelers and those seeking a creative, social experience as they explore downtown."

roger.vincent@latimes.com
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22652  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 7:44 PM
Godzilla Godzilla is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 725
You can't go home again, but that doesn't stop us from trying?





I am NOT seeking to expand the already-broad subject matter of this thread. Hard to have a "relaxed" discussion of geographical limitations without considering both structures and the people who built and inhabited them. Even chronological limitations would be daunting for so broad an audience. LA's so-called Fantasy Factories and their product make the subject more of an "ethereal" state of mind than easily understood "reality."

Hollywood's perennial Goodwill Ambassador, Bob Leslie Hope, among others, was known for bringing a touch of "home" to many non-LA outposts. Like it or not, this too, is part of LA even the LA noir.

Apropo of Martin's "some assembly required" observation, the common, ever-expanding city-limits gag, depicted above, may have been in one or two of the Hope-Crosby road pictures or some other Hollywood comedic efforts. A tip of the hat to Mulholland and his cohorts?

Also reminded of the iconic New Yorker cover depicting a view from 9th Avenue. (Sorry) It does mention LA, in a small way. I'd bet more than a few NLA'ers share a not-dissimilar view from PCH.

All in all, I think the thread is fine just the way it is. To borrow from HossC and Martha Stewart, occasionally, going off the beaten path can be a good thing, just be careful to avoid the occasional poison ivy.



http://dlproj.library.ucla.edu/deriv...0327715a_j.jpg



http://library.umkc.edu/spec-col/ww2...hope-cover.jpg


https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...w7Q5vyJ7nsZsi9



Quote:
The company ran out of the Lockheed Air Terminal (which later became the Bob Hope Airport) and was popular with the Hollywood crowd using the service to go back and forth to Las Vegas.
Undated
http://jpg1.lapl.org/00109/00109849.jpg










1927 - NW Corner of City Hall. Could the folks responsible for this, be accepting of the current state of LA's eclectic look?
http://waterandpower.org/Early_LA_Bu...truction_2.jpg








No endorsement of the following, just an acknowledgment of their existence.


http://www.culturalweekly.com/wp-con...-14-web-15.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xh8ii2Ir00.../IMG_2749.jpeg

http://payload.cargocollective.com/1...b11_5_1000.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cxIW2Lgzmu...street+art.jpg


1985 - Fifth and Broadway
http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics28/00048674.jpg




http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...rker_Cover.png




At what point does the "two-hour-rule" start to apply?

http://www.limitstogrowth.org/WEB-Gr...405freeway.jpg
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22653  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 8:28 PM
Sonny☼LA Sonny☼LA is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 31
Thanks...

Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post
Excellent tour of the old signal center Sonny_LA.

Again, thanks Sonny_LA. Your photographs are an inspiration. Please feel free to share more of them with us here at NLA.
Muchas, muchas gracias, ER. The Don in Wilmington was fun - it was great talking to the gentleman outside polishing his mildly modded Impala and snapping some group photos of him and his friends. For once, I kinda like the new sign - something more iconic about just "The Don". Good times. And more to come - this thread is the gift that keeps on giving: spider pools, ghost signs, zanjas, double bow knots, etc., etc...love it.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22654  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 10:46 PM
ethereal_reality's Avatar
ethereal_reality ethereal_reality is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Lafayette/West Lafayette IN, Purdue U.
Posts: 16,307







ebay.
__
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22655  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 11:18 PM
Godzilla Godzilla is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 725
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post


_


Interesting address. Currently a nondescript Mini Mall. Not sure how it originally may have looked. It was once host to the "Executive Room," pictured below from the late '70s.

Billie Joel might be familiar with it. http://www.popspotsnyc.com/billy_joel_piano_man/



http://www.popspotsnyc.com/billy_joe...nne_Laskey.jpg
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22656  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 11:21 PM
ethereal_reality's Avatar
ethereal_reality ethereal_reality is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Lafayette/West Lafayette IN, Purdue U.
Posts: 16,307
-guns drawn at the Upland CA Police Department.


ebay


__
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22657  
Old Posted Jul 18, 2014, 11:26 PM
ethereal_reality's Avatar
ethereal_reality ethereal_reality is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Lafayette/West Lafayette IN, Purdue U.
Posts: 16,307
A 'western' rehearsal at the Hollywood Bowl in the 1950s.


ebay

-red drapes? chandelier? I think it's decked out like a saloon.



ebay

Is that a boy scout's head?
__
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22658  
Old Posted Jul 19, 2014, 12:57 AM
Albany NY's Avatar
Albany NY Albany NY is offline
I Like Turtles!
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Albany, NY
Posts: 168
Maybe Try Opera?

.
__________________
---"Rosebud...." It was a sled, people! Just a stupid, friggin' sled!

Last edited by Albany NY; Jul 19, 2014 at 1:04 AM. Reason: HoosC had a much better solution. Kudos, HossCV!
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22659  
Old Posted Jul 19, 2014, 1:06 AM
HossC's Avatar
HossC HossC is online now
Registered User
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 4,243
Quote:
Originally Posted by ethereal_reality View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Godzilla View Post

Interesting address. Currently a nondescript Mini Mall. Not sure how it originally may have looked. It was once host to the "Executive Room," pictured below from the late '70s.

Ham and Eggs Incorporated at 3953 Wilshire Boulevard, seen here in a circa 1937 photograph by Herman Schultheis. They even had the chicken chasing the pig on the sign. It looks like the same building as the Executive Room posted by Godzilla.


LAPL

The building can be seen on the left of this 1936 shot of Perino's. Morgan at 3951 Wilshire was a florist.


USC Digital Library
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #22660  
Old Posted Jul 19, 2014, 1:32 AM
ethereal_reality's Avatar
ethereal_reality ethereal_reality is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Lafayette/West Lafayette IN, Purdue U.
Posts: 16,307
Great additional information on Ham & Eggs Incorporated Godzilla and HossC.

Did you notice the pig hatching from the egg?


__

Last edited by ethereal_reality; Jul 19, 2014 at 3:15 AM.
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts

Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Photography Forums > Found City Photos
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 7:32 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.