noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

Aerial view of Los Angeles near the Plaza, circa 1950

color slide circa 1957/found on ebay

[MichaelRyerson]

Hard to believe the Calle de los Negros sat right about where those cars are parked.

[MichaelRyerson]

fs003_1940-0915_LAFD-Photo_E03_1500

Engine Company No. 3
217 South Hill Street
Source: Los Angeles Fire Department Photo Walt Pittman Collection 1940


fs003_1940-0915_LAFD-Photo_T03_1500

Truck Company No. 3
217 South Hill Street
Source: Los Angeles Fire Department Photo Walt Pittman Collection 1940



1939-1106_GrayBuildingFire_600

The Gray Building Fire, 336 1/2 S. Broadway, Los Angeles, CA, November 6, 1939. Engine Company No. 3 and Truck Company No. 3 on scene.



JosephKacl_LAFD

Fireman Joseph W. Kacl
Truck Company No. 3
B Platoon
Appointed July 27, 1937
Died November 6, 1939
Died from injuries-floor collapse.


JohnHough_LAFD

Auto Fireman John C. Hough
Engine Company No. 3
B Platoon
Appointed June 5, 1918
Acting Operator for Deputy Chief
Died December 11, 1939
Died from injuries sustained attempting
rescue of Fireman Kacl.


LAFIRE.COM
Los Angeles Fire Department
Historical Archive

[ethereal_reality]

"Looking west on a bustling 7th 6th Street in July 1948." (the street appears to be one-way in 1948...is this correct?)


color slide found on ebay


Notice the Darlington Hotel....another smallish hotel I've never heard of before.

___

[fhammon]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

color slide circa 1957/found on ebay

Funny how obsessions go. Those two photos tell a lot. While I can see the benefit of the present configuration I can't help but morn the loss and feel a little cheated. There might have been another way that allowed for both utility and some preservation. "Out with the old and in with the new" seemed to be the mantra right into the 70s. Even now the present must be served at the expense of the past.
There are still plenty of old treasures in Los Angeles that I've never seen.
I took a drive the other day east on Temple towards downtown and was astounded at how much pre turn of the century architecture survives. Lots of fixer-uppers for sure.

BTW. I hope people realize how much of Norish Los Angeles as portrayed in film relies on architecture that was already pretty old. There is a connection that still lives, as we've demonstrated in this forum. Much of it is still here but it's slowly fading. Enjoy it while you still can. Take a drive. Teach your children.

[transitfan]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

"Looking west on a bustling 7th Street in July 1948." (the street appears to be one-way in 1948...is this correct?)


color slide found on ebay


Notice the Darlington Hotel....another smallish hotel I've never heard of before.

___

That would have to be 6th St, which was converted to one-way eastbound in 1947 (5th St was converted to one-way westbound at the same time). Note the Richfield building in the background, also, on the lower left of the pic, the #3 trolley bus can be seen (this route was converted from streetcar to trolley bus operation when the streets were made one-way, seems at the time they hadn't yet gotten around to removing (or more likely, paving over) the streetcar tracks).

[MichaelRyerson]

I don't remember seeing either of these two images of Court Flight...


courtflight

I don't think Court Flight ever looked better than here.
Court Flight, Broadway, c.1940
USCdigital archives



courtflightkaput

Nor more forlorn than here.
Court Flight stairs, circa 1950

LAPL

[fhammon]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

courtflightkaput

Nor more forlorn than here.
Court Flight stairs, circa 1950

LAPL

I realized I knew almost nothing about Court Flight except that it existed so I went Google diving and found this page from Jim Dawson's book on Angel's Flight partially available on Google Books. I hope posting a partial page snapshot doesn't violate any rules. For anybody else besides me who didn't know:



Los Angeles Angel's Flight - Jim Dawson

[MichaelRyerson]

Yeah, I'm never sure where the absolute limits are or even if such limits exist. I'm hoping the proprietor(s) can see we have good hearts and would in an instant delete an offending post. I don't think yours is a problem. As for Jim Dawson I'm presently just finishing up his Bunker Hill book whose exact title eludes me at this moment it being something on the order of 'Dr. Strangelove: or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'. A good book (Dawson's), the title ah not so much.

[ethereal_reality]

Labeled "Psycho Hospital (Los Angeles General) June 24, 1951." in USC archives.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1343770863317





below: Visitor's entrance. This is an impressive modernist design for 1951.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/search...=1343770863317

Does anyone know if it's still there?

__

[Los Angeles Past]

Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson

I hope the reunion wasn't too painful (lol).

It was kind of fun, actually. The highlight of my trip by far, though, was finding that Court House cornerstone. It's one thing to find some obscure factoid or photo online, but an actual physical object like that - definitely a first for me!

I enjoyed just driving around town, too, of course. Seemed like, on just about every block within a mile's radius of Downtown, there was something that we've talked about on this thread at one time or another - and I think we've covered every block on Wilshire.

Honestly, I think this thread has already become the most comprehensive (and certainly the most eclectic!) document on L.A. history ever written. Kudos to everyone who's contributed over the years!

-Scott

[ethereal_reality]

I am so glad you enjoyed your trip Scott. Do you have any photographs you would like to share?

[ethereal_reality]

The Consolidated Realty Building built in 1908 by architect Harrison Albright.



early postcard/found on ebay






Notice that the elaborate lights that adorned the roof are gone by 1934 (see below).


http://photos.lapl.org/carlweb/jsp/F...olNumber=32826

(perhaps the rooftop lights were removed as a precaution following the Long Beach Earthquake of 1933)






below: The Consolidated Realty Building as it appears today. It was resurfaced in 1935 by architect Claude Beelman and renovated again
in 1967. What a crime.


google street view

___

[MichaelRyerson]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past

It was kind of fun, actually. The highlight of my trip by far, though, was finding that Court House cornerstone. It's one thing to find some obscure factoid or photo online, but an actual physical object like that - definitely a first for me!

I enjoyed just driving around town, too, of course. Seemed like, on just about every block within a mile's radius of Downtown, there was something that we've talked about on this thread at one time or another - and I think we've covered every block on Wilshire.

Honestly, I think this thread has already become the most comprehensive (and certainly the most eclectic!) document on L.A. history ever written. Kudos to everyone who's contributed over the years!

-Scott

You finding that cornerstone is one of the coolest things I've ever heard. To think of the literally hundreds of people who have seen it and not known what they were looking at, the thousands of people who have passed within a few feet of it and not understood the link it represented and then to have you come along with the eyes to see it. It puts you in pretty select company. Wow, it doesn't get too much better than that. I'm happy for you.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by transitfan

That would have to be 6th St, which was converted to one-way eastbound in 1947 (5th St was converted to one-way westbound at the same time).

Transitfan, you're absolutely correct about 5th & 6th Streets being 'one-way' streets.


ebay


__

[Los Angeles Past]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I am so glad you enjoyed your trip Scott. Do you have any photographs you would like to share?

Didn't go on any photoshoots on this trip, but I do have a collection of pictures taken on previous vacations in Los Angeles here:

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

Several of these have already been posted on this thread, though. Summer re-runs, anyone?

-Scott

[Hobocat]

A fine image of the old LA&SL depot located on the east bank of the LA River at First Street with S Mission Road at the top of the frame.

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[Hobocat]

Hope no one minds, but here is a '24 aerial of the former Salt Lake Station in East LA, awfully close to the LA River. http://photos.lapl.org
A fine image of the old LA&SL depot located on the east bank of the LA River at First Street with S Mission Road at the top of the frame.


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[Roxy Dog]

Originally Posted by fhammon

I realized I knew almost nothing about Court Flight except that it existed so I went Google diving and found this page from Jim Dawson's book on Angel's Flight partially available on Google Books. I hope posting a partial page snapshot doesn't violate any rules. For anybody else besides me who didn't know:



Los Angeles Angel's Flight - Jim Dawson

I have been a lurking reader here for over a year and cannot thank all of you enough for the many, many hours of enjoyment I have experienced by reading this forum. I lived in West Hollywood for a brief time and have been fascinated with Los Angeles area architecture and history, especially the stuff on the noirish side. My father lived in Hollywood for 27 years in Beachwood Canyon, on Glen Oak just behind the Beachwood Cafe. Jim Dawson lived in the apartment next to my dad's and they have been friends for many years. My dad had just recently told me about Jim's new book about Angel's Flight and now I see it mentioned here on the website that has become somewhat of an obsession of mine. Jim Dawson has authored other books, although probably not anything that would ever be referenced on this site. If I remember correctly, one of his books was totally and completely about flatulence. Farts, to put it bluntly. I've never read it but I'm definitely going to get a copy of the book about Angel's Flight. Maybe if I send it to him, I can get my copy autographed?

Again, thank you to all the regular contributors here who have spent countless hours building this forum to become a wealth of historical information and some of the greatest photos ever!

I've been searching for any old photos of a couple of areas without much success. I'd like to see some old photos of the area now occupied by the FIDM campus (900 block of S. Grand) and any photos of N. Sweetzer Ave. in West Hollywood between Sunset and Santa Monica Blvd. I worked at FIDM and lived on the 1200 block of Sweetzer. If anyone has any photos of these areas, I'd love to see them.

[MichaelRyerson]

Actually, Mr. Dawson has written two books on flatulence, Who Cut the Cheese? and Blame it on the Dog. Producing either would have made him a hero in my book but to have actually produced two such counter-cultural tomes moves him smartly into the pantheon. In the meantime, Los Angeles's Bunker Hill: blah, blah, blah and Los Angeles's Angels Flight are great. I recommend them both.