noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

I lived in L.A. for 5 years and still hold it in high esteem.
I recently spent several weeks going through some 20,000+ photos
from the USC Digital archives.

Many of the photographs have a romantic/noirish quality to them.
I believe it's more than just the photos being in black and white.
Of course, it could be due to my love for the film genre.

Even when I lived, albeit briefly, in L.A. I sometimes felt it was in a 'noir' city.
Especially in the winters when the warm Santa Ana winds swept through
the palms and the lights of the city sparkled like diamonds.

When I was in L.A. I lived on Hancock just below Sunset Blvd. and Holloway.
The small bungalow is amazingly still there (I checked google earth).

Enough said. Here are some of the photos.
I will continue posting them over the next several months.

Feel free to ADD any old L.A. photos you might have.





Los Angeles, New Year's Eve. December 31, 1951







from city Hall 1952.







downtown L.A. looking northeast, around 1965







This is one of my favorites. The rotating beacon is visible atop City Hall,
and a portion of Bunker Hill can be seen on the lower left. The year is 1951.







The same scene in daylight. 1951







The Richfield tower can be seen in the distance.





The Richfield Building with it's 146-foot tower in 1955







Downtown from the south in the 1930s.
Note the Richfield Building in the far distance.

[ThreeHundred]

Amazing..simply amazing.

[LosAngelesSportsFan]

^ exactly right! awesome stuff. thank you

[SLO]

Such a fascinating era for the city. I got to tour around DTLA, Pasadena, and out to the beach cities with my inlaws who grew up in LA and Pasadena at that time. I really would have liked to see the city at that time, they talked about riding the streetcars, going through orange groves, and how far Long Beach and the other beach cities seemed at that time. Please post more if you have them...

[ethereal_reality]

Downtown from the south 1929. Looks like street widening.







Downtown 1930s.
In the distance, the Hall of Records on the left, City Hall on the right. 15 cent movies, hear every word.







Downtown Los Angeles 1948
There are two buildings with domes in the foreground. Can anyone tell me what they are?

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

There are two buildings with domes in the foreground. Can anyone tell me what they are?

I believe the one on the lower left is the Embassy Hotel and Auditorium on south Grand Avenue. I don't know what the other one is.

[ethereal_reality]

...well, thanks. wrong pic though. (see my post #5)

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

...well, thanks. wrong pic though. (see my post #5)

Oops I meant to post the other one, lemme correct it.

Corrected.

[ethereal_reality]

One of my favorite buildings, the Hall of Records. The photo is from 1957.






The Hall of Records west from City Hall, with remnants of Bunker hill in the background 1956.
Anyone know what the solitary building on the left is?






Hall of Records, with Rainier Pale Beer sign....very cool.

[sopas ej]

The old Hall of Records was indeed a nice building. Too bad it had to be demolished.

Here it is in its last days, with the Criminal Courts Bldg. being constructed right up against it in 1970:


1973:


Being demolished later in 1973:


Of course the building is at an odd angle on the block because it followed the old street pattern before they were widened and realigned:
1924


All pics from lapl.org

[sopas ej]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

The Hall of Records west from City Hall, with remnants of Bunker hill in the background 1956.
Anyone know what the solitary building on the left is?

I don't know what that building on the left is, but it can clearly be seen in this shot of that area a few years later in the early 1960s; you can see that the hill has mostly been smoothed down with the Civic Center Mall under construction and some government buildings occupying the area, and in the distance you can see the beginnings of the Music Center, with the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion still under construction and the Mark Taper Forum and Ahmanson not built at this point; the DWP building is visible:


Here's an earlier shot of the area before the DWP Bldg. and Music Center were even built:


The same area in the early 1970s, before the old Hall of Records was demolished:

All photos from the lapl website

Sorry to veer away from the "noir" theme but I just wanted to show the evolution of the LA Civic Center.

[dktshb]

Thanks so much for posting these pictures. I very much appreciate it but it makes me almost ache to see so many of those buildings gone now.

[ThreeHundred]

Here is what found.

Downtown from the late 1970's

Matt

Eastern Columbia Building


Downtown circa 1930


6th Street circa 1913


Broadway circa 1940


3rd St circa 1973


Grand Ave circa 1982


Broadway circa 1931


Miracle Mile (Wilshire Blvd) circa 1965


Los Angeles circa 1964


Venice Beach circa 1920


Bunker Hill circa 1969


Glendale circa 1900

[ethereal_reality]

So many great photos.

Concerning the 1st pic (color from the 1970s) that ThreeHundred posted:
Is this the area they want to turn into a park?

[LAsam]

That photo of Broadway is unreal. I like how the city used to look with City Hall as its tallest building. It looks quite majestic.

[sopas ej]

Here's another old photo from the LAPL website.

Again, not film noirish; this time more like end of the silent-movie era/dawn of the talkies. It shows the plan to widen Spring Street near that now-demolished Hall of Records and old County Courthouse building.



Here's the caption that goes with the photo: The gnarled hand of Time rips out a strip from the heart of old Los Angeles today, to make way for modern progress. Spring Street is to be cut through from Temple Street to Sunset Boulevard to create a new traffic artery, dooming the historic buildings crossed by the dotted lines marking the path of the extension and eliminating Justicia Street that goes up the hill at left. This street of memories, which was Buena Vista, "Good View," street in the past, and its hill that was the "Nob hill" of Los Angeles will be eliminated. The building first struck by the dotted lines is the old county jail. That just back of it is the old Hall of Justice. Photo dated: April 3, 1930.

[Tanster]

WOW this threads amazing !!!

[sopas ej]

Ah, could this be the building you were asking about before, ethereal?



The LAPL website doesn't say what it is, except that this photo dates from 1951. Maybe it was filled with law offices?

Broadway and Temple, 1945


Broadway and Temple, 1930


Broadway and Temple, 1940


What a difference 10 years makes in scenery and fashions in clothes and cars!

And see that Old County Courthouse that dates from the late 1800s in the 1930 photo? It was demolished and then temporary bungalows were built on the site to house the various courts; looking at other photos, it became a parking lot, and then eventually the site of the current Criminal Courts Building, or the Clara Shortridge Foltz Courts Building or whatever it's called now.

Demolition of courthouse, 1936


1948, temporary bungalows housing courts:


All photos from LAPL.org.

[ethereal_reality]

^^^WOW sopas_ej, that's an amazing find....so cool.

I've always wonders what the bungalows were doing in this area.
So they were temporary courts...thx for the info.

[sopas ej]

Some color photos, showing the LARY streetcar (NOT the Pacific Electric, which always gets all the hype).

1963, crossing the 1st Street Bridge; rail cars once again will be crossing this bridge regularly with the Gold Line Eastside extension! Woo hoo!


1963, headed down 1st Street; that block of course is now the site of the new LAPD headquarters.


Photos from nycsubway.org