Having survived the threat of demolition in the 1970s and devastating fire in the 1980s, the L.A. Public Library’s Central Library building is one of the architectural jewels in downtown Los Angeles. In this photo, dated November 2, 1925 and taken from Hope Street, it is far enough along in its construction that we can see its iconic pyramidal silhouette taking shape. Back in the 1920s, there were a lot more of those small apartment buildings we can see on the left around the downtown area, but few, if any, survive nowadays. The building on the right looks like it would have been interesting, especially with those two-story arches, so it’s unfortunate that it hasn’t survived. But the library is still with us, and that’s is a lot to be thankful for.
**UPDATE** – The building on the right with the arches was the home of BIOLA (Bible Institute of Los Angeles) that eventually moved out to La Mirada. The building had the two large neon signs – “JESUS SAVES” – that were part of the LA skyline for decades.
Roughly the same shot in July 2014. The library is a little more crowded out these days, isn’t it?
My #10 Santa Monica blue bus drove past the library on its route back to Santa Monica in the afternoon. I remember the day of the fire, as well as the following months of repair and reconstruction. The saddest thing, among many sad things, was that the one copy of the novel that was the source of the word “California” was lost in the fire.
I didn’t know about that book. What an awful loss.
Such memories. We used to caravan downtown to the library when I was in high school. We’d go to Googies for lunch and stroll around the Biltmore and pretend we were staying there. I don’t think we fooled anybody!
Susan Orlean wrote “The Library Book” about the fire and the library itself. Highly recommended.