In this circa late 1800s photo, we’re looking north up a busy Spring St to the Second St corner. That building near the center of the photo with the turrets was the Hotel Hollenbeck, which was one of L.A.’s better-known hotels at the time. The large, dark awning on the left belonged to the Parisian Cloak and Suit Co. at 221 S. Spring, but its neighbor at 219 has me intrigued: The Wonder, which leaves me wondering what they sold.
** UPDATE ** – The Wonder was a milliner. This advertisement was from September 3, 1891:
This is how that view looked in December 2020. What a different place downtown LA would be if all these interesting buildings had survived.
Ladies Hats at The Wonder?
https://imgur.com/FkUncid
Yuma strikes again!
We used to have season tickets to the Kings, and when they first moved to Staples Center (what’s it called now? I dunno), we used to take a fairly twisty path to the parking structure a few blocks down where we had pre-paid parking. On the way when we turned on Flower near the 10 fwy, there were these ancient-looking buildings that always made me think of the old silent movies that were filmed around downtown. I was really sad when they were torn down. That slice of history — gone. ?
The old pic, looks better then the new one
It absolutely does!
Hello, first post here on your great site. I work at The Times and know the modern view of 2nd looking west to Bunker Hill. But that isn’t the same view as the vintage shot, which looks up Spring, right?
regards,
Darrell Kunitomi
Hi Darrell and thanks for stopping by. Yes, this view is looking north up Spring. Although I must admit, I’m a bit mystified by the building at the far end. It looks like Spring T-intersects with a cross street.
All this great detective work, makes me think I’m watching an episode of Colombo.
Yeah that’s a bit puzzling. DTLA streets jogged and were eventually straightened, but that bldg look perp to Spring, hm.
The building at the end is where Hamburger’s Department Store would be located. The road curved to a point of meeting with a convergence of 1st Street & Main Street, IIRC.
You’re absolutely right, Al, thx