I’ve posted a number of photos of this magnificent building before, but I don’t think any of them were as remarkably crisp as this one. It’s the Los Angeles County courthouse at the corner of Temple Street and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. It was taken circa 1899, and the only forms of transportation we can see here are horse-drawn carriages and that streetcar on the left that’s heading south down Broadway. (It’s so early, in fact, that it might even be a cable car.) And look at that pair of matching palm trees on the corner. I’m guessing they were only just planted. But most impressive (to me, at least) are the two water sprinklers on the Temple St lawn. I’d have thought they were a 20th century invention.
This is how that view looked in February 2022:
What a terrible shame they destroyed such a stately building and the grounds it sat on. When was it destroyed? I wonder why they leveled the hill the old building sat on. It really just breaks my heart.
Reportedly the building was damaged in the Long Beach earthquake in 1933. It was condemned and subsequently torn down. And yes, that’s the Temple Street cable car. LA once had cable cars like San Francisco.
The now photo is the wrong corner of Temple and Broadway. The site of the old courthouse is what was formerly referred to as the Criminal Courts Building which was renamed the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. I few parts of the original courthouse were preserved and are now outside of the new courthouse. And it was torn down due to extensive earthquake damage which made it too costly to try to repair.
Thanks, Alan. I’ve now swapped it out for the correct photo. Much appreciated!
Now you can also compare between the two photos the perimeter wall. It was made from the same rock so as to continue the theme in some way with the original courthouse.
Thank God the wall survived. Still wonder why they leveled the hill the old courthouse stood on?
They leveled a lot of hills in the downtown area. It used to be almost as hilly (maybe not as steep) as San Francisco!
The Second Street cable car which ran from Spring Street over Bunker Hill west to Crown Hill had a steeper incline than the cable cars in San Francisco.
Always money right!!!!
That old courthouse must have looked spectacular wearing its red sandstone.
Why is it LA plants so many DAMN trees? To me they take away from the architecture of these old buildings. Look at the old photo’s vs the new ones. I guess then never thought about trees growing!!!.
To provide shade, John. Much needed shade from the unrelenting LA sun.
Some of the original sandstone blocks still exist. They were salvaged to build the wall around City Terrance Park. Particularly the side that faces Hazard Ave. Some of the more decorative stones with carvings can be found on this side of the park. Sort of nice that you can walk right up to them and touch a piece of L.A. history.
Thanks for that interesting info, Gilbert. I’ll make a point touching it next time I pass by.
Thanks, Gilbert. I’ll have to check that out, too.