noirish Los Angeles

[Greg H]

Chuckaluck's post on the original Raymond Hotel a few pages back reminded me of this much less grand Raymond Hotel built in 1923 and located just a few miles away at 117 S. Raymond Ave. in Alhambra.

couldn't find this image currently online - from an old CD

In 1964 my dad boarded here while working at Clayton Industries in Temple City. I used to stay there with him in the summer when I was off school. It was a very noirish place. I remember the rooms were lit with a single unshaded lightbulb in the ceiling. The only TV in the place was in the lobby where I used to be allowed to stay up and watch the Tonight Show while waiting for my dad to come home from the swing shift. I remember some real colorful characters in that lobby.

A few years back I discovered the place was still standing and was making plans to stay there for a couple nights. Just about that time on September 16, 2009 this Raymond Hotel was also put out of business by a fire that did $700,000 damage. More recent Google map images show a chain link fence around the building. Do any of you Southern California-based noirers know what is to become of this building? As far as I can tell it hasn't been bulldozed yet. Is there hope for its rebuilding?

[GaylordWilshire]

Re the Dahlia--

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Was Dr. Hodel involved in her death? That's a good question. If not him...then who was?

Here it is in black and white:

derangedlacrimes.com GREAT SITE, BTW

And if it wasn't him, I'm sure it was Harry Chandler. Or Orson Welles. Or about 50 other suspects.

As for George Hodel, I guess if he could inflict both his heinous son and trampy daughter Tamar on the world, he could have been capable of killing Elizabeth Short.

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck

Any idea what is hanging from the intersection light?
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...BFMTM86PEM.jpg

It's a curious shaped incandescent bulb. Probably made for fascinating night photography.

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...YMF8XNNPCM.jpg


1890 - Colorado Blvd. A lot of wattage.
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...XXTYSX4BDI.jpg




1898 - pre elevated Cycle path.
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...M4GPXRGCJ8.jpg


Col. Baker. Culture and Civility with or without incandescence? More here: http://oldhomesoflosangeles.blogspot...-s-orange.html
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...XNT271DINQ.jpg

[BifRayRock]

1890 More Raymond

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...11JQ6JXTR6.jpg


1890 veranda view.

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...LXETI9191M.jpg


Did Mrs. O'Leary have a donkey?
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...RM3Y1UUNEX.jpg


1895 - Hotel Raymond takes the heat. An unpleasant sight.
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...L3Q7GP1RI8.jpg

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...6FXMLTJUAM.jpg

Aftermath
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...I2QG7PNMVP.jpg

http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...457X3T27E7.jpg


1890 - Good place for a cycleway? If Dobbins builds it, will they come?
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...B8A9YU6FKL.jpg


Oneonta Station/Junction, South Pasadena. Huntington named it after his home town in NY.
http://wikimapia.org/1913109/Oneonta-Junction

1910
http://catalog.library.ca.gov/exlibr...B4DUUBDBCK.jpg

[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here's a photo of the Triangle Pharmacy on Washington and Hoover.



usc digital library

http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show....php?p=6240630



Wonderful scales and gum dispensers. Guess it's time to go on a diet and get my teeth fixed.

[Blaster]

Steve Hodel not only thinks his father killed Elizabeth Short, he has also suggested that years later, his father might have been the Zodiac Killer, too.

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by Those Who Squirm

(From Google Earth)

And here's the strange part. Notice how what appear to be loading doors, originally intended for trucks or boxcars, are flush against the sidewalk, which seems to make them pretty much useless as such. At the same time, in the second picture there's obviously a slight rise in the level of the street and sidewalk, and as it happens if you keep going along National Place the level soon descends again. The placement of the window seems wrong as well; it's too low. Notice also how the air duct near the window has a right-angle turn near the sidewalk.

Is it possible that the level of the street was raised after the building was built? Before there was a street, is it possible that there was a rail siding between here and the Air Line?

I dropped by the building during lunch today (I ate at El Nopal across the street - no longer Tex-Mex, but pretty good Oaxacan now), sadly without a camera (oops). The sliding bay door was partially opened, so I took a look.

First thing I noticed is that the threshold was cut into the foundation, widening the entry. It looks like this entrance was originally a narrow doorway, not a shipping bay.

But, to my surprise, there is a two foot drop into the building from this entrance, adding to the speculation that the sidewalk was raised. The foundation-level curb surrounding most of the building does look old, though.
Around the corner, there is exposed brick, so the streetside facade is just stuccoed over.

Looking at the Google Street View picture below, there is a possible/probably outline of an old window at a similar level to the window next to the downspout. Maybe there were two windows and a doorway entrance originally.


(Google street view)

[GaylordWilshire]

USCDL

USCDL

I never knew that Catalina had a Rio-like Sugar Loaf--



Story here: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...d/18607/rec/18

[ethereal_reality]

I've been planning to do a post on that. -you beat me to it. I'll post the photographs that I've collected.

Originally Posted by Greg H

Chuckaluck's post on the original Raymond Hotel a few pages back reminded me of this much less grand Raymond Hotel built in 1923 and located just a few miles away at 117 S. Raymond Ave. in Alhambra.

couldn't find this image currently online - from an old CD

In 1964 my dad boarded here while working at Clayton Industries in Temple City. I used to stay there with him in the summer when I was off school. It was a very noirish place. I remember the rooms were lit with a single unshaded lightbulb in the ceiling. The only TV in the place was in the lobby where I used to be allowed to stay up and watch the Tonight Show while waiting for my dad to come home from the swing shift. I remember some real colorful characters in that lobby.

-Very vivid remembrances Greg H, especially the single hanging light bulb (just like in the movies).

I had to check out this little building with the interesting entrance canopy.
Just as Greg H said, the building is now surrounded by a fence. Oddly, the canopy appears to be in better shape.

GSV




the fire

ireport/CNN



from the looks of it, the fire burnt through the roof in several places.

google earth

I hope they repair it. For some reason I like this forlorn little building.
__

[ethereal_reality]

water stains on the derby and a beautiful white car.

John Swope 1939

[GaylordWilshire]

Looks like a '38 or '39 Packard... reminds me of Mrs. Mulwray's '38 convertible.


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=2757

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by GaylordWilshire

USCDL

USCDL

I never knew that Catalina had a Rio-like Sugar Loaf--



Story here: http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/si...d/18607/rec/18

From Wikipedia:

The Catalina Casino was built on the site formerly known as Sugarloaf Point. This site was cleared away to allow for the construction of the Hotel St. Catherine. However, this hotel was eventually built in Descanso Canyon instead. When chewing gum magnate William Wrigley Jr. bought the controlling stake in Catalina Island, he used this cleared spot to build the dance hall which he named Sugarloaf Casino. It served as a ballroom and Avalon's first high school. Its time as a casino was short, however, for it proved too small for Catalina's growing population. In 1928, the Casino was razed to make room for a newer Casino. Sugarloaf Rock was blasted away to enhance the Casino's ocean view.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalina_Casino

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by Greg H

Chuckaluck's post on the original Raymond Hotel a few pages back reminded me of this much less grand Raymond Hotel built in 1923 and located just a few miles away at 117 S. Raymond Ave. in Alhambra.

couldn't find this image currently online - from an old CD

Thanks for pointing this out. You and ER must have noticed that this Raymond was a working hotel until the fire. It received respectable reviews, so I am guessing they probably updated the lighting and televisions from the way you remember things.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowUse...alifornia.html

Did the Raymond always have the curious over-the-door signage? Seems like the kind of folk art Jack McDermott might have appreciated. Was it designed as a hotel, with a front desk, or an apartment complex?

[Chuckaluck]

Originally Posted by BifRayRock

1890 More Raymond

http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single.../id/5123/rec/9

[Chuckaluck]

"Marceline" is a name that has escaped me, until now. Name origin?


"Pure and abundant mountain water." "Moderate Prices." "Easy Terms." "Beautiful View." But will it have a street car speed limit of 100 mph, like Van Nuys?








If viewing is difficult, find the source image here: http://hdl.huntington.org/cdm/single.../id/1547/rec/4

[ethereal_reality]

At the end of the 19th century there were two Sugar-Loaf like natural formations.


ebay

The larger one on the left was leveled to build the first casino.

-the first casino with the remaining Sugar-Loaf.

http://www.oac.cdlib.org/




The Sugar Loaf was a tourist destination for years.

ebay

I'm not sure I could climb those rickety steps, and yet these women are doing it in long dresses.


she made it!

detail
__



below: pre-first casino snapshots & postcards.

A woman contemplates the steps, as well as the rocky terrain leading to them.

oac



a romantic couple, circa 1900

ebay






ebay




quite large, pan right--->

c.c. pierce at http://www.oac.cdlib.org/




-this should say from the base of Sugar Loaf.

ebay







ebay
__



So how in the world did they get away with destroying the much loved Sugar Loaf?
Couldn't the new casino have been built where the old casino was located?
I haven't been able to locate any answers.....yet.*

*while I was working on this post Lwize answered my question.



both natural rock formations long gone.

http://margaretfisherinteriors.com/2012/02/avalon/

After looking at this, it appears the 'new' casino was built where the first casino was located. So why destroy Sugar Loaf?

As much as I love the art deco Avalon Casino, I can't wrap my mind around the destruction of Sugar Loaf.



This is me at the Avalon Casino in 1987. No, I'm not doing a gang sign...I'm telling my friend to turn the camera horizontal to get the whole building in the shot.

B.A. Barr archive, lol


__

[GaylordWilshire]

Hubba hubba, ER...

As for the loafs--I was surprised that they were destroyed too, considering they were featured on postcards as though they were Catalina icons. I think Wrigley wanted the outer loaf removed for a full view of the ocean from the new casino....

EXCEPT... I see in your beefcake shot that there seem to be no views from the casino, at least not from the ground floor.

[Tetsu]

Matthew & Graybeard, thanks for those color corrections on the Rochester!

[Greg H]

Originally Posted by Chuckaluck

Thanks for pointing this out. You and ER must have noticed that this Raymond was a working hotel until the fire. It received respectable reviews, so I am guessing they probably updated the lighting and televisions from the way you remember things.

Did the Raymond always have the curious over-the-door signage? Seems like the kind of folk art Jack McDermott might have appreciated. Was it designed as a hotel, with a front desk, or an apartment complex?

I've seen more recent interior pictures and the place looked quite snazzy compared to the way it was almost 50 years ago. I think there was a remodel sometime in the 90s when lighting was updated and televisions put in the rooms. Unfortunately the wiring was not completely redone at that time as it is my understanding that the old wiring was the cause of the fire. My 50 year old memory is suspect but I seem to recall a front desk although it may be that the manager's unit was right by the lobby and you paid him through kind of a dutch door arrangement. The rooms were European-style with shared bathrooms down the hall. That over the door signage is exactly as I remember it.

[Krell58]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Since there seems to be a plethora of cheesecake photographs taken at the spider pool site,
I tried to locate some beefcake photographs as well. I didn't have any luck.
___

I read the pool was rumored to have an underwater view window.
The beefcake probably happened at Randolph Scott's house.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...since this was mentioned a day or so ago.


Here's the link.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-murderer.html

Every time I see the Dahlia all I can think of is her head full of rotten teeth.
She packed the cavities with white wax before she went out on the town.