The Liberty Theatre at 266 S. Main Street in downtown Los Angeles opened in 1910, which means it was around from pretty much the birth of the flickers. When this photo was taken on September 24, 1929, a Clara Bow 1925 picture called “The Primrose Path” (1925) was on a double bill with “Adventures in the Far North.” (1923) That same year the theater was torn down, so maybe this one was of the last photos of the place? According to the Los Angeles Theatre blog, that statue on the roof was 10 feet high, was gold-leafed and held an electric torch, which sounds pretty impressive to me.
Henrik H.on my Facebook page tracked the statue down to 1939: “Apparently, the statue was brought to the San Pedro Wrecking Co. warehouse where it still resided when proprietor George Linder sold his wrecking yard in 1939. (Clipping from the San Pedro News-Pilot, December 5, 1939.)”
This is how that stretch of Main St looked in June 2022. Not quite as memorable, is it?
Something about the name of that hotel…was this area affected by some kind of street revisions to re-align intersections around third? Or am I a few blocks over?
Not sure, but a 1910 aerial seems to show 3rd Street is coming in behind the camera where it stops. Al Levy’s will expand to the corner on the left (out of view). The street alignment re-starts to the right of the Gray Hotel back then. This was apparently straightened out and would explain why these buildings would need to be removed. (Info on Al Levy’s and several images were found on NLA Skyscraper.)