I have very little information about this shot of two people playing golf at night, but triangulating the neon signs of the Hollywood Plaza Hotel, the Broadway-Hollywood department store, and the Pantages Theatre, I’d say it was taken somewhere near the corner of Selma and Argyle Aves. In 1931 the Dyas department store became the Broadway-Hollywood. By that time, the Plaza Hotel had opened (1925) as had the Pantages (1930), so we can at least say that this photo was taken after 1931. I am a bit surprised that there was enough land so close to Hollywood and Vine by the early 1930s to hit golf balls.
This is a March 2018 view at Selma and Argyle looking northwest toward Hollywood and Vine – no more golfing practice!
Gary H. says: “I think it’s here after Famous Lasky Players left and the area was razed. ALL of that land between Vine and El Centro was razed and became vacant when Famous Lasky Players moved to Marathon in 1926 to become Paramount.”
If that’s the case – and it probably is because Gary really knows his stuff, then the above photo is inaccurate. The photo posted below shows us better when the vintage image was most likely taken.
Perhaps the lot of the Hollywood Palladium closer to Sunset which was not built until 1940.
Hmmm…good point, Bob. Could be!
Rather than an empty field I would say it is an early driving range you can see the netting vaguely in the top part of the picture.
Or is this the site of the north of the Hollywood High School athletic field
Definitely just below Selma on the northeast quadrant of the block (sw corner of the intersection). It’s the land on which the electrical supply firm will be located before that building becomes RCA (facing Vine). Just below this shot was some kind of pony ride rentals, perhaps replaced by a nursery based on known images taken at Vine & Sunset. The netting over the driving range is visible to those who like to squint their eyes.
Great follow-up photo to nail the block (east of Argyle)! Does anyone know what that building (beyond the arrow point) was used for?