I’m not sure why the Samson Tire and Rubber Company (later U.S. Tires) decided to build their headquarters in the form of an Assyrian Castle fashioned after the palace of Babylonian King Sargon II in 1929, but they sure were committed. They engaged architects Morgan, Walls and Clements who had done the Richfield Tower in downtown L.A., the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, and the Mayan Theatre also in downtown. I’d imagine that in the early 1930s, Commerce would have largely been undeveloped land so this building really must have stood out. Fortunately, it’s still around and got a second life as the Citadel Outlet Mall.