In this rather dramatic photo, we’re looking down the tracks of the Angels Flight funicular when it was still in its original location at Hill and Third Streets in downtown Los Angeles. It had been there since opening in 1901 and closed in 1969, when it was moved half a block south. The cars driving along Hill St are from the late 60s and as Angels Flight closed in 1969, this might have been one of the last photos taken from the original location.
This image of the intersection of Hill and Third shows us that the view in the vintage photo hasn’t changed much. The building on the right looks a bit different, but it’s still there. The parking lot on the left is still a parking lot. This is L.A., after all.
**UPDATE** the building on the right is, in fact, a whole new building. It is now the parking structure attached to the Grand Central Market.
Back in the late 40’s my grandfather used to treat me to a ride during buyer’s week then dinner at Clifton’s. Many years later I would ride it every day to go to work up the hill from my bus stop below. The days it didn’t work, which were many, meant walking up 110 stairs.
My first ride on Angels Flight was in my mother’s arms in 1946 when we lived on Bunker Hill. Actually the building on the right isn’t there anymore. It was the F.P.Fay Bldg. which was torn down and replace by the multilevel parking structure we see in the second photo. Angels Flight was put away in storage, while Bunker Hill was redeveloped, and largely forgotten until it was finally put back in its present location in 1996 only to suffer a fatal accident in 2001 when it was again shut down. It has been completely refurbished and is open now and completely safe. It is Los Angeles treasure and dear to my heart.
Thanks for the clarification, Gordon. I’ve inserted an update.
I bet you missed it on those days you had to walk up!
If anyone who didn’t have the chance back then wants to see what the original looked like, you can get a remarkably good re-creation of it in the first episode of the recent HBO mini-series of Perry Mason. You can also see the real thing in a movie from 1950 called Union Station, starring William Holden. In one scene, the camera is placed inside the Angels Flight car and stays there during the ascension to the top. We see what the passengers saw – namely, the residents of the adjacent apartment buildings, as they went about their daily lives.
Re: Perry Mason, I second your suggestion, Bill. That show is the most authentic recreation of yesteryear’s LA that I’ve ever seen.
A great picture!!