noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Oh I see. Thanks NCD.



Here's an interesting 35mm slide I found earlier this evening on eBay.


It has a rather bland description. "Los Angeles Black and White: California Hotel and Borden's Fountain Service"



http://www.ebay.com/itm/35mm-SLIDE-1...EAAOSwuYVWpsMD

It looks like a scene from a film noir; the vintage cars...people milling about...the Apartments sign out front. -not sure where this was located.
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[ethereal_reality]

Here's a second slide from the same seller.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/35mm-SLIDE-1...3D391372399555

No idea what we're looking at here.

_

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

That you crossing Wilshire, ER?


19 blocks east...


Maurice E. Ideses/Vintage LosAngeles

Have we seen this great shot before?

Yes we have seen this before. I may have either posted it or commented.

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Oh I see. Thanks NCD.



Here's an interesting 35mm slide I found earlier this evening on eBay.


It has a rather bland description. "Los Angeles Black and White: California Hotel and Borden's Fountain Service"



http://www.ebay.com/itm/35mm-SLIDE-1...EAAOSwuYVWpsMD

It looks like a scene from a film noir; the vintage cars...people milling about...the Apartments sign on the pole. -not sure where this was located.
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This is what is now the Villa del Sol shops in downtown Fullerton on Harbor Bl. Still haven't figured out the whole picture posting thing but here's a link to the center's history. The biggest change has been the addition of shops across the Harbor frontage:

http://www.thevilladelsol.com/about.html

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Yes we have seen this before. I may have either posted it or commented.

e_r posted it and you commented.


PS

...and another image of the California Hotel:

freerepublic

...and this one shows part of the roof sign:

pinterest

The railings atop the towers seem to have come and gone a couple of times (?):

digitalcommonwealth

I'm sure everyone's heart was in the right place, but does anyone else find Fullerton's street furniture really odd?

gsv

[Bristolian]

Being a golfer and having an interest in local history I enjoyed the recent posts on the Sunset Fields golf course. It got me thinking about Chester Washington Golf Course at Western Avenue and El Segundo Boulevard, formerly known as Western Avenue Golf Course. It is now run by L.A. County Department of Parks & Recreation. The county renamed the course in honor of newspaper publisher Chester L. Washington in 1982.
Here is a recent aerial view looking north.

Google Maps

The Eastern edge of the course runs along Western Avenue which is on the right of the screen and the western edge runs along Van Ness Avenue on the left.
I've played here for years and have heard bits and pieces from the old timers about the history of the course.
I've heard numerous times that the course started out as a private club before the county took it over which makes sense as this was a somewhat common occurrence with private clubs. Rancho Park in L.A. and Recreation Park in Long Beach have similar histories.
Being familiar with the layout of the course it is obvious that it has been altered over the years because there are a few quirks to it now. I have been told that originally there were a few holes west of Van Ness and although not easy to see, this 1952 view from Historic Aerials seems to confirm that.

Van Ness, which was possibly known as Arlington Avenue then runs up the middle of the screen and those are golf holes just above the "HISTORIC" in the middle of the screen. This confirms holes west of Van Ness and partially explains the quirks in the current layout. Van Ness or Arlington probably was not much more than a small lane north of El Segundo Boulevard back then And I don't think it extended north beyond the Southern Pacific Rail line which runs along the northern border of the course.
I found some information recently that the original Western Avenue Golf Club was at the corner of Manchester and Western and was designed by John Duncan Dunn, a somewhat famous golf course architect who also designed the Catalina Island Golf Club. Strangely the Western Avenue course at Manchester seems to have only lasted two years before it was redeveloped. I have not been able to determine the date.

http://www.golfclubatlas.com/forum/i...=54866.15;wap2

The Western Avenue Course has quite a history and for a long time along with other courses such as Fox Hills was a home for top African American golfers who were not allowed to compete on the PGA Tour because of its "caucasians only" clause.
Years ago when golf prize money was nothing near what it is now many PGA pros supplemented their income by playing money matches early in the week in whatever town they were in. Legend has it that when the pros came to L.A. they could always find a match and a worthy opponent at Western Avenue.

The Gardena Valley Open, a smaller scale professional event was played at Western Avenue in the '50s and '60s and attracted all of the top black golfers, Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder among them. Up and coming local white golfers such as Billy Casper and Al Geiberger also competed.
Here is the cover of the 1964 program.

scan of my program

There is also a very nourish chapter to the course's history. The lover's lane mentioned in this article about the case of two El Segundo Police officers killed in the line of duty in 1957 apparently was on the golf course property.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/us...-officers.html

If anyone can add any additional information from the early days or history of the course I would love to hear it.

[GaylordWilshire]

LAT Oct 17, 1921


The membership seems to have become made up of men who didn't quite make the LACC or Midwick cut.

LAT Dec 25, 1921


I'm looking for the clubhouse that is said in this article to possibly have become a school, library or community center--wonder if it still stands.

LAT Nov 25, 1923

[Noircitydame]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

Being a golfer and having an interest in local history I enjoyed the recent posts on the Sunset Fields golf course. It got me thinking about Chester Washington Golf Course at Western Avenue and El Segundo Boulevard, formerly known as Western Avenue Golf Course. It is now run by L.A. County Department of Parks & Recreation. Here is a recent aerial view looking north.

The Eastern edge of the course runs along Western Avenue which is on the right of the screen and the western edge runs along Van Ness Avenue on the left.
I've played here for years and have heard bits and pieces from the old timers about the history of the course.
I've heard numerous times that the course started out as a private club before the county took it over which makes sense as this was a somewhat common occurrence with private clubs. Rancho Park in L.A. and Recreation Park in Long Beach have similar histories.
Being familiar with the layout of the course it is obvious that it has been altered over the years because there are a few quirks to it now. I have been told that originally there were a few holes west of Van Ness and although not easy to see, this 1952 view from Historic Aerials seems to confirm that.

Van Ness, which was possibly known as Arlington Avenue then runs up the middle of the screen and those are golf holes just above the "HISTORIC" in the middle of the screen. This confirms holes west of Van Ness and partially explains the quirks in the current layout. Van Ness or Arlington probably was not much more than a small lane north of El Segundo Boulevard back then And I don't think it extended north beyond the Southern Pacific Rail line which runs along the northern border of the course.
I found some information recently that the Original Western Avenue Golf Club was at the corner of Manchester and Western and was designed by John Duncan Dunn, a somewhat famous golf course architect who also designed the Catalina Island Golf Club. Strangely the Western Avenue course at Manchester seems to have only lasted two years before it was redeveloped. I have not been able to determine the date.


The Western Avenue Course has quite a history and for a long time along with other courses such as Fox Hills was a home for top African American golfers who were not allowed to compete on the PGA Tour because of its "caucasians only" clause.
Years ago when golf prize money was nothing near what it is now many PGA pros supplemented their income by playing money matches early in the week in whatever town they were in. Legend has it that when the pros came to L.A. they could always find a match and a worthy opponent at Western Avenue.

The Gardena Valley Open, a smaller scale professional event was played at Western Avenue in the '50s and '60s and attracted all of the top black golfers, Charlie Sifford and Lee Elder among them. Up and coming local white golfers such as Billy Casper and Al Geiberger also competed.

There is also a very nourish chapter to the course's history. The lover's lane mentioned in this article about the case of two El Segundo Police officers killed in the line of duty in 1957 apparently was on the golf course property.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/us...-officers.html

If anyone can add any additional information from the early days or history of the course I would love to hear it.

What an interesting place. The Western-Avenue Golf Club “sprang into being” in October 1921 and purchased the land, 155 acres. It had over 400 members by the end of the year. They didn’t charge dues, only green fees, to make the club affordable to duffers who were "financially barred" from the more exclusive clubs and had to “confine their mashie wielding to the overcrowded Griffith Park course.”

lat 10-21-21 lat

The articles I read confirmed Dunn designed the course. Women were allowed to play at any time without restriction, which was apparently unusual at the time.

Nov 1921 lat

They ended up with extra land and subdivided the surplus into the Western Golf Club subdivision.


12-7-21 and 12-18-21 lat

Another noirish link to these links: the club was bought out, in November 1923 real estate developer John P. Mills. In 1931 Mills was involved, with theater man Alexander Pantages, in the sordid “Love Mart” case.

11-25-23


At that time, it says the property was 112 acres fronting on St. Andrews St. (cute, that) two blocks west of Western Avenue and extending from 79th St. south to Manchester Ave. Mills bought everything but the plot where the clubhouse stood, which was going to be made into a school or a library. Mills planned to subdivide the land but obviously didn't.


Retailer B.H. Dyas was offering tickets to play 18 holes at Western Avenue with purchase of a club set:

8-28-1928

The County leased it starting in March 1954. In 1955 and 1956 it was a big selling point for the surrounding developments of Hollyglen and Grandview Hollypark’s Country Club Units.

1955 lat map for Hollyglen

1956 lat

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

Maurice E. Ideses/Vintage LosAngeles

Have we seen this great shot before?

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=25301

Please don't slam the door.

[GaylordWilshire]

http://thestar1952.blogspot.com/

[Slauson Slim]

Hollypark - you folks did it again. My parents left SoCentral LA in 1966 and moved to Hollypark - Gardena - on 129th Street on the cul de sac near Crenshaw. SoCal paradise, a three bedroom modern Ranch Style house.

Their neighbors worked in the nearby aircraft plants, or had small engineering or tool shops catering to the plants, or were small business owners. It was a diverse middle class neighborhood.

Nearby Hawthorne Blvd. was a vibrant shopping street. That part of the Southbay was the incubator for Brian Wilson and the Beachboys, Carl, Dennis and Brian were products of Hawthorne HS on El Segundo and Inglewood Av. Fun, Fun, Fun.

A good website that gives a flavor of the times and places is Cougar Town - Cougars being the mascot of HHS.

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

There is also a very nourish chapter to the course's history. The lover's lane mentioned in this article about the case of two El Segundo Police officers killed in the line of duty in 1957 apparently was on the golf course property.
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/30/us...-officers.html

The rapist/killer, Gerald Fit Mason, arrested 46 years after the crimes, will be up for parole next year. He's 82 years old today.

wiki
LAT

[Bristolian]

Thanks to GaylordWilshire and Noircitydame for the followup information on the Western Avenue Golf Club. I only recently learned of the prior Western & Manchester location. I had heard that the course originated in the 1920s so the timing of the brief two year existence at Manchester would still allow for the current location to have opened in the '20s.
I'm still curious about the pre-L.A. County days of the current location.

NCD: The cute St. Andrews. name lives on. The southwest corner of the current location used to be home to a Max Factor plant which was redeveloped into a small gated community about 20 years ago and the streets are all golf course related names including St. Andrews Way.

[HossC]

I haven't adjusted the colors of this Julius Shulman photoset, but they look a little off to me. The pictures show the interior of an unidentified branch of California Bank in 1956. It's "Job 2231: Flewelling and Moody, California Bank (Los Angeles, Calif.),1956 ".
NB. the set also includes two black & white shots with the same views.





Both from Getty Research Institute

The second picture is the key to finding the location. The building opposite, combined with the number over the doors, tells us we're at 608 S Grand Avenue. Here's a current view of the building across the street, now the Milano Lofts.


GSV

[GatoVerde]

I've attached a previous post re this bldg.:

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

From this

USC


To this

LAPL


To this

Wikipedia


I never knew that the bricks from the old City Hall, built in 1888 on Broadway and demolished after the current one was built in 1928, were then used to build the Heinsberger Decorating Company, still standing and looking great at 7415 Beverly Boulevard.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I slammed a door like that once. It felt real good.


7461 Beverly Boulevard in 1987.


http://laist.com/2013/05/26/photos_t...i.php#photo-12




Today, the building has awnings over the street level businesses. Across Vista Street is an interesting neighbor.


gsv



Here's the neighbor from Vista St.

gsv



In the alley there are several old angled garage spaces, probably too small for today's larger cars.


gsv



gsv

I'm going to try and dig up more information on this building.

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[ethereal_reality]

GV, I could be wrong, but I thought the Heinsberger Building was separate from the building I pointed out on the corner.

the Heinsberger is the bldg. where it says Claire Pettibone

google_earth




gsv



There's a difference in the bricks.

front

detail


alley

detail
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[GatoVerde]

I think you're correct, ER. I will be around there again soon so I will take a look at the brickwork for both buildings.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

GV, I could be wrong, but I thought the Heinsberger Building was separate from the building I pointed out on the corner.

the Heinsberger is the bldg. where it says Claire Pettibone

google_earth




gsv



There's a slight difference in the bricks.

detail


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[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by GatoVerde

I think you're correct, ER. I will be around there again soon so I will take a look at the brickwork for both buildings.

That would be great GV.
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[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' interior, Los Angeles [ca.1900s or 1910s]


Does anyone recognize this interior space?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALFRED-GREEN...UAAOSwoydWnuyH


What the heck is this thingy? (from lower left corner, above)

detail

it appears to have a valve (?) of some sort in the base. the white element looks like part of a fire hydrant.


stamp on the reverse


Alfred Greene, Photographer
1724 Merrill Ave.
Phone: South2864J - Los Angeles
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The seller included two other photographs. There's a second interior, but it lacks the Los Angeles stamp on the back.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALFRED-GREEN...UAAOSwoydWnuyH




And the third shows the photographer "Alfred Greene and wife on boat" (no location given)


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ALFRED-GREEN...UAAOSwoydWnuyH

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[ethereal_reality]

This negative is for sale on eBay.

"Penny Edwards & Mayor Bowron June 25 Ribbon cutting ceremonies, Ave. 57 & N. Fig."


http://www.ebay.com/itm/PENNY-EDWARD...UAAOSwJkJWhucM

I'm not sure why they're cutting a ribbon at this location.

March 17, 1948

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PENNY-EDWARD...UAAOSwJkJWhucM
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