noirish Los Angeles

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location II

A week or so ago we had the Virginia Bowl as a mystery location...now we have Maple Lanes.


EBAY

"1950's RED KODACHROME LONG BEACH PIKE SHORE 113A"
__

I think the Maple Lanes is the same building as the Virginia Bowl. In the background, the white building is the Sovereign,
and the tan building next to it is the Blackstone, both of which are still standing across from the Virginia Bowl site.

[ScottyB]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Sunday evening 'mystery' location. [five photographs being sold as a group)


"historic Los Angeles Hollywood cool building under construction" -seller's description


EBAY

Does anyone recognize this place?





There is intensive excavating going on.


EBAY

I wonder what building that is on the left? They're practically digging under it.



another view of the main building.


EBAY

It looks like they're placing some the excess dirt in this area.





This is similar to photo #2 except a truck is emerging from the excavated hole.


EBAY

I like the guy sitting on the edge of the steam shovel. what's his job?



Here's the last pic.... showing, what I believe to be, the back of the building


EBAY

Does any of this look familiar?
__

I do believe that's the Athenaeum at Caltech, designed by Gordon B. Kaufmann (LA Times building).

[Flyingwedge]

Hey, great work everybody on this topic. I hope the following adds to the discussion.

The January 1, 1924, Los Angeles Times has this photo of the Vernon Coliseum at 2340 E. 38th Street. It opened August 28, 1923:




ProQuest via LAPL


That building burned down in 1927. Doyle's famous bar and the arena he used for fights before building the
Vernon Coliseum escaped the fire:



July 24, 1927, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL


Times sportswriter Paul Lowry had this to say about the fire two days later:



July 26, 1927, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL


We now know where the Vernon Coliseum sat; behind the left field seats at Maier Park, which we see here on the
1920 Sanborn Map (with north on the left). In the upper left corner, the Vernon Athletic Club is Doyle's older boxing
arena that would survive the 1927 fire. To the left of the VAC, on the corner with an address of 3801 S. Santa Fe, is
Doyle's famous bar:



ProQuest via LAPL


Here is another view looking SW at Doyle's bar, with, presumably, the Vernon Athletic Club behind with its taller roof
(unless that's an earlier building that was replaced by the VAC). Santa Fe Avenue is in the foreground:



The Iron Fist: The Immigrant Journey of J. B. Leonis to Riches and Power in Southern California by Richard Nordin (Xlibris Corporation, 2017) @ Google Books


This 1928 aerial (with north at the top) appears to show baseball is still being played at Maier Park. The yellow dot marks
Doyle's Bar, and the red dot marks the Vernon Athletic Club. Vernon Avenue runs across the bottom of the photo:



Flight C-300, Frame K-193 @ UCSB


Vernon Athletic Club program -- apparently not the Vernon Coliseum -- for August 26, 1924:



ebay


Has anyone seen an aerial photo of Maier Park set up for boxing? Several years ago a kind gentleman mailed me this
photocopy showing the ring set up between home plate and the pitcher's mound:



FW scan

[Silver Ed]

Originally Posted by unihikid

It's a real gem. Once the meeting was over i had to head back to the office,and then go out to Watts for a meeting with a city rep, but on the way out there i noticed this mid-riser being torn down.. thought i'd share.

I barely noticed that mid-rise building being demolished 3 weeks ago. I was driving southbound on the 110 when I saw how eerie that view was. lol

The Rochester, among other buildings, stood on that same site before it was moved.

by Conner, Palmer: Huntington Digital Library

Unfortunately, it was demolished years later after being moved to its final location.

by TESSA Digital Collections of the Los Angeles Public Library

Bank of America’s data center occupied the mid-rise being taken down.

by Google Maps

Urbanize.LA has reported that in its place, Geoff Palmer will develop his largest project yet. The apartment complex, Ferrante, will most likely incorporate the Italian Renaissance design theme Geoff Palmer is known for. Urbanize.LA also mentions, "Plans call for a meandering array of seven-story buildings, containing approximately 1,500 apartments, 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space and parking for over 2,600 vehicles."

A glimpse of the project:


by City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning
http://cityplanning.lacity.org/staff...V-2015-490.pdf


by City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning
http://cityplanning.lacity.org/staff...V-2015-490.pdf


by City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning
http://cityplanning.lacity.org/staff...V-2015-490.pdf

[Noir_Noir]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

Hey, great work everybody on this topic. I hope the following adds to the discussion.



Has anyone seen an aerial photo of Maier Park set up for boxing? Several years ago a kind gentleman mailed me this
photocopy showing the ring set up between home plate and the pitcher's mound:



FW scan

Thanks Flyingwedge for the "More Vernon" bonanza.


Maier Park was a really versatile venue. Baseball, boxing and


Wrestling -1917



cdnc.ucr.ed


Football - 1926



cdnc.ucr.edu


Soccer - 1921



cdnc.ucr.edu


Greyhound Coursing - 1920



cdnc.ucr.edu


cdnc.ucr.edu


Aeroplane Pacemaker for greyhounds.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

It's a shame to see such a lovely old building get destroyed. Isn't there any better alternative for a 120 year old building than to be demolished?

Here's the house in happier times (Google Maps) - it was easy for me to find it, what with Queen of Angels hospital (aka, “Dream Center”) so clearly visible in the background of your photo:




It sure is a gem.

The Glendale Station is often (and incorrectly) claimed to be the station from the classic noir film, Double Indemnity. The scene was actually filmed at a station in Burbank (with a phony “Glendale” sign tacked on), which you can read about here.


(Photo courtesy of SilentLocations.wordpress.com)

The Glendale Station, was, however featured in many other films, such as Buster Keaton’s College (1927), and Van Helfin’s Act of Violence (1948), both seen below:

After they stopped using the Burbank Station, I always wanted to turn it into a restaurant but did not have the wherewithal to do so. Then they tore it down and replaced it with a bunch of green swooped things that look like they escaped from Disneyland. Alas....

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge"

THANK YOU FLYINGWEDGE!

_

[ethereal_reality]

re: Maple Lanes mystery slide.

Originally Posted by Noir_Noir

Virginia Bowl advertising the fact that they have all maple lanes.
That looks like Chestnut Place again.


Independent Long Beach 1951

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

I think the Maple Lanes is the same building as the Virginia Bowl.
In the background, the white building is the Sovereign,
and the tan building next to it is the Blackstone,
both of which are still standing across from the Virginia Bowl site.

Thanks you two!! Sleuthing par excellence.


GIFeed

_

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I'm curious.. did post offices have commercial spaces back in the 1890s?


Antique Cabinet Card - Cigar Store Interior - Los Angeles CA 1890-1910."

"Compliments of Mr. F. Ball, Post Office Cigar Store".


EBAY


EBAY

turned to save your neck.


DETAIL


What's that you say? You'd like to see it even BIGGER to see all the details?

They need new carpeting >

I might as well enlarge this too.


search purposes: F.H. ROGERS & CO., PHOTOGRAPHERS, 624 SAN FERNANDO ST., LOS ANGELES, CAL.

William F. Ball was born in Pennsylvania in January of 1862. He is found in the 1900 Census in Los Angeles with his wife, daughter and son. They lived at 200 W. 18th Street in Los Angeles at the time of this census. He is listed in that Census as being the proprietor of a cigar and tobacco store. He apparently had the store at least as early as 1894 when it is mentioned in the Los Angeles Herald.
200 W. 18th street is now a parking lot, almost under the 10 freeway.

An article in the publication of the Historical Society of Southern California notes that William F. Ball came to Los Angeles in 1882 and started a cigar store located at 10 N. Main Street. In 1886, he added a billiard parlor and in 1894 established the Oak Barber Shop at 106 North Spring Street. In 1921, the tonsorial parlor was absorbed by Pricher Brothers.

He sold the tobacco shop in 1915 and retired. Mr. Ball died in 1935. The house where he lived in 1930 is located at 975 S. Manhattan Place and is still there, although now broken up into apartments.

[BillinGlendaleCA]

Originally Posted by ScottyB

I do believe that's the Athenaeum at Caltech, designed by Gordon B. Kaufmann (LA Times building).

It is the Athenaeum, and it's still there. A co-worker had his wedding reception there. Actually the building behind it was what led me to thinking it was Caltech.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by ScottyB

I do believe that's the Athenaeum at Caltech, designed by Gordon B. Kaufmann (LA Times building).

So it is. thx ScottyB!

Here's an aerial of Caltech campus taken around 1922, pre-atheneaum.


tolman_bacher



The Atheneaum hasn't been built yet but, if you look closely, the squarish building shown below on the left..


DETAIL

...looks like the same building that appears in photo #2 and #4 in my last post.


EBAY

What do you think...same building?

___________________________________




At first I thought the Atheneaum was the building shown below on the left...and that the site of the excavation was already marked!


DETAIL

If it's not the atheneaum what's the white circle with a X. (a helipad...in 1922!? ) -well it IS Caltech..so I guess it's possible)

I'm gone for a couple days unplugged. Have fun noirishers! -keep on sleuthin'

_

[Mstimc]

Originally Posted by odinthor

Yep! One of the few remaining original residents!

I'm up in the other corner of OC--Placentia!

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

At first I thought the Atheneaum was the building shown below on the left...and that the site of the excavation was already marked!


DETAIL

If it's not the atheneaum what's the white circle with a X. (a helipad...in 1922!? ) -well it IS Caltech..so I guess it's possible)

I'm gone for a couple days unplugged. Have fun noirishers! -keep on sleuthin'

I don't know what that is (a very easy labyrinth? :-P ), but that's a house on 1224 Arden Rd.: https://www.google.com/maps/place/12....1234917?hl=en

Not sure if it's now owned by Caltech or something, but if you do Google Streetview, you can go right up its driveway and to its garage.

[sopas ej]

Alhambra Southern Pacific Station, located at 2200 West Mission Road, April 1984.

abandonedrails.com

I don't know when this station was built, but it was used by Amtrak until the mid-1970s, when the main rail tracks were put in a trench. Afterwards, the station was abandoned, and then eventually demolished in the mid-1980s. Some kind of public storage-type business is now on the site.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

At first I thought the Atheneaum was the building shown below on the left...and that the site of the excavation was already marked!


DETAIL

If it's not the atheneaum what's the white circle with a X. (a helipad...in 1922!? ) -well it IS Caltech..so I guess it's possible)

Here's an aerial from 1928. I've arrowed the mystery feature, which seems to be surrounded by hedges. I think it may just be a decorative path layout such as a small rose garden. The 1944 view shows a light-colored rectangle there.


mil.library.ucsb.edu

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

So it is. thx ScottyB!
What do you think...same building?

___________________________________





If it's not the atheneaum what's the white circle with a X. (a helipad...in 1922!? ) -well it IS Caltech..so I guess it's possible)

I'm gone for a couple days unplugged. Have fun noirishers! -keep on sleuthin'

_

The mark is the Greek letter Phi. Probably for a fraternity. Prior to 1930 Cal Tech had fraternities then they changed over to their unique house system.

[GaylordWilshire]

Maybe, although the only symbol I know for Phi is Φ, without a horizontal bar... Speaking of the bar, 1224 Arden Rd was built in 1920 by attorney Garfield R. Jones...who, as it happens, was a member of the legal fraternity Phi Delta Phi...anyway, Jones was the son of a founder of International Harvester. Which reminds me--an early trademark for IH was this:





You don't suppose?... As HossC says, seem it's more likely a landscaping feature of the house, perhaps still being worked on.... Looks like it might have later been replaced with a tennis court.

[westcork]

Wow. I can see my old office from here. It's so strange to see Los Angeles transforming from offices to apartments.

Originally Posted by unihikid

[odinthor]

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO TODAY


Los Angeles Times 7/25/1918 via ProQuest via CSULB Library


http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9648

Shamrock Theater, alias Butler's alias Band Box alias Bandbox, 608 S. Hill St.

[HossC]

I found this pair of aerial photos of the Civic Center earlier. I know we've seen similar images before, but I liked the opposing angles which give us nearly a full 360 degree view. The first is dated 5/19/38.


www.ebay.com

The second photo is undated, but it's from the same seller and progress on the Federal Building is at about the same point.


www.ebay.com