In this photo, we’re looking east along E. Ocean Blvd toward the 16-story Villa Riviera Hotel in Long Beach. At one time, Joseph M. Schenck of 20th Century-Fox studios and his movie-star wife Norma Talmadge, owned the hotel. The photo was taken in 1934, less than a year after a huge earthquake rocked the entire Long Beach area. Although shaken violently, the hotel sustained no worse damage than a few cracks and falling plaster. What strikes me about this photo—apart from the charming if somewhat lopsided streetlights—is the lack of lanes painted on the road. Looks like a perfect recipe for a multi-car accident, if you ask me.

** UPDATE ** – David J on Facebook supplied this photo, saying: “The steel frame structure is buried deep in bedrock, borrowing from Japanese innovations in earthquake-resistant architecture.”

The Villa Riviera is still there, having converted to condos in 1991. This image is dated February 2023 and as we can see the area around the building is now filled with high-rises and tall palm trees.