If this photo is anything to go by, even in Los Angeles in the 1920s, despite all that empty land, storage space was already an issue. This is the Hollywood Storage Co. building at 1025 N. Highland Ave, in Hollywood. We can see that there was nothing much nearby so this building really must have stood out. And the Los Angeles Evening Herald took advantage of the height: they built radio station KMTR at the top. This photo is from November 1929 and the building is still there. The image below is from May 2019:
Tony V says: “When the Times-Mirror Corporation decided to develop a Los Angeles television station in partnership with the Columbia Broadcasting System, that station’s original studios were on the top floors of this building. The television station was KTTV which stood for Times TeleVision, Channel 11. A few years later, the Times sold its share of KTTV, then bought into KNXT, Channel 2 in Los Angeles.”
Howard A says: “This was a block away from my junior high (Bancroft). It was my understanding that movie film was stored there. There were a lot of movie related businesses on Highland Avenue. Richard Pink was in my class. His dad, Paul, founded Pink’s Hot Dogs on La Brea and Melrose.”
That’s because it was a different building. The one with the speakeasy was on Beverly. (Mind you, if there had been a speakeasy in the one on Highland, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.)
I found a bottle of Canadian Whiskey with a 1928 tax stamp. It has an importers label from a “Charles Gilkey” of Seattle, WA. A third label on this bottle gives the address for Charles Gilkey as,”1025 N. Highland Ave.” Phone # HE-9512. Looking in a 1927 & 1929 Los Angeles phone book, I found no Charles Gilkey, but 1025 N. Highland was the Hollywood Storage Co., with a phone # GR-1161. Fishy? Sounds like there might have been illegal alcohol being sent to the building and maybe a speakeasy!
This building was commodored like most of LA high rise buildings. LA is an old town that existed before the settlers, these building were all repurposed with a new grandiose story to fit the times..An easy test is to try and find the real architect of these pre 1950s buildings, see if you dont get the run around, or merely a goal post move to a differnt story. With this particular building they say it was for storage, lmao give me a break!
“This building was commodored like most of LA high rise buildings.”
I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
Also, not everything is some big Illuminate secret society, or government agency plot, requiring some sort of conspiracy theory or far-fetched story.
Sometimes things really are what they say they are.
It’s 2023 – soon to be 2024 – what is the building being used for now? Is it empty? If so, I find that discouraging. There is NO information on this building since it had a TV station.
Martin, you missed the best part of the story of this place! The speakeasy!
https://la.curbed.com/2020/4/1/21199277/storage-building-beverly-los-angeles
That’s because it was a different building. The one with the speakeasy was on Beverly. (Mind you, if there had been a speakeasy in the one on Highland, I wouldn’t be at all surprised.)
My bad! You are absolutely right. So sorry! ?
I found a bottle of Canadian Whiskey with a 1928 tax stamp. It has an importers label from a “Charles Gilkey” of Seattle, WA. A third label on this bottle gives the address for Charles Gilkey as,”1025 N. Highland Ave.” Phone # HE-9512. Looking in a 1927 & 1929 Los Angeles phone book, I found no Charles Gilkey, but 1025 N. Highland was the Hollywood Storage Co., with a phone # GR-1161. Fishy? Sounds like there might have been illegal alcohol being sent to the building and maybe a speakeasy!
Any time you’ve got whiskey + Prohibition + storage + Hollywood you can pretty much guarantee that fishy shenanigans ensued.
This building was commodored like most of LA high rise buildings. LA is an old town that existed before the settlers, these building were all repurposed with a new grandiose story to fit the times..An easy test is to try and find the real architect of these pre 1950s buildings, see if you dont get the run around, or merely a goal post move to a differnt story. With this particular building they say it was for storage, lmao give me a break!
“This building was commodored like most of LA high rise buildings.”
I don’t think that word means what you think it means.
Also, not everything is some big Illuminate secret society, or government agency plot, requiring some sort of conspiracy theory or far-fetched story.
Sometimes things really are what they say they are.
It’s 2023 – soon to be 2024 – what is the building being used for now? Is it empty? If so, I find that discouraging. There is NO information on this building since it had a TV station.
It’s still storage – owned and used by Iron Mountain.