No matter how many photos I see of 19th century downtown Los Angeles, it’s still hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that it’s the same city I know so well. Case in point: this photo facing south along Grand Ave across 2nd Street in 1886. The photographer was standing in front of the Richelieu Hotel at 142 S. Grand Ave at a time when Los Angeles had sidewalks but the streets weren’t paved over. It must have made it tough going for those horses and carriages during the rainy season.
This what the Richelieu looked like in 1958:
The Richelieu was razed during the flattening of Bunker Hill, but if it was still around today, this would be the view across the street: the Disney Concert Hall. This image is from December 2020.
The upscale outdoor shopping mall, The Grove, that opened next in 2002 has become such an intrinsic part of Los Angeles’ shopping and social life that it’s hard to picture what used to be there. Fortunately we have this aerial shot to remind us that the site where Nordstrom’s now stands used to be the Gilmore Drive-In Theatre, which opened in 1948 with an Errol Flynn movie called “Silver River.” All that parking we can see at the edges of this photo was for the next-door Farmers Market which, thank heavens, is still around. This image is from 1967. The drive-in closed in the mid-1970s and was eventually razed in 1979. Later this site was home to 
In this photo, we’re looking at a building that no longer exists on a street corner that no longer exists. It’s the Amestoy Building (on the left) which stood at what is now approximately 260 N. Main St in downtown Los Angeles on the corner of Market Street, which isn’t around anymore. Look at the attention to detail that went into this building (constructed 1887, demolished 1958, this photo taken 1939) – that elaborate turret, the decorative motifs around the edges and windows. They sure don’t make ’em like that anymore. And you go next door to the U.S. Hotel for a dairy lunch.
When Walt Disney opened his animation studio at 2719 Hyperion Ave in 1926, it marked his arrival on the entertainment scene. Until 1940, when they moved to a bigger campus in Burbank, this is where all the Disney shorts—as well as “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” were produced. Of course, the big draw was Mickey Mouse, which is why he’s on the sign that says “Walt Disney Studios – Mickey Mouse – and Silly Symphony Sound Cartoons.” Although not remembered quite so well these days, the Silly Symphony series were often seen preceding feature movies. This campus also housed the animation school that Disney opened in 1935. Going by the cars parked out front, this photo was taken circa early 1930s.
In a big, bustling city like Los Angeles, precious few places remain much the same as when they were built. That’s especially true of downtown L.A. where buildings are constantly razed and replaced. So it’s nice to come across a photo – from the 19th century, no less – and see a building that has barely changed at all. This photo of the Bradbury Building at Broadway and Third St was taken in 1894, a year after it opened. The buildings around it have changed, we no longer see horses and carriages, the streets themselves are now paved over, but the Bradbury remains intact. And thank God too, because it’s interior is like nothing else in all Los Angeles.
Posting a Christmas photo in May might seem strange, but this one was just so pretty that I decided to post it now. We’re looking east along Hollywood Blvd from Wilcox Ave. We know it’s December because the “Santa Claus Lane” sign and metallic light-up Christmas trees along the boulevard. And we know it’s 1938 because “The Dawn Patrol” starring Errol Flynn is playing at the Warner Bros. Theatre, and it was released Christmas Eve, 1938. It went on to become one of Warners’ biggest money makers of 1939, which is no mean feat during “Hollywood’s Greatest Year.”
Topanga Canyon Blvd is one of the main roads that take Angelenos from the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Monica into the San Fernando Valley. As we can see in this photo taken in 1922, the Valley was filled with wide open spaces, ranches, and orchards. That’s certainly not the case now where pretty much every square foot of land we can see here is now filled with urban sprawl. But back then, it must have made for an enjoyably bucolic Sunday drive with the top down and all that endless California sunshine warming your skin.
A couple of weeks ago I posted a photo of 
It looks like living right on the beach was very popular even back as far as 1929, when this photo was taken from the top of the Santa Monica palisades looking south toward the pier where we can see the rollercoaster and the La Monica Ballroom that opened in 1924 and stuck around until 1963. On the right we can glimpse Ocean Front Walk pathway that still runs along the beach, but the railway tracks that run through the middle of this photo parallel to Pacific Coast Highway are long gone.
I love seeing photos of when Hollywood Blvd was more of a neighborhood shopping street. Here in one shot we can see a whole afternoon and evening’s entertainment. First I’d go to See’s Candies to pick up some chocolates to eat while seeing “My Gal Sal” and “The Great Man’s Lady” at the Hollywood Theatre, 6764 Hollywood Blvd (both movies came out in April 1942). Afterwards, I browse the Hollywood Book Store (where I’d probably buy “The Robe” which was a big seller that year), and then afterwards I’d have dinner at Italian Kitchen restaurant where I’d choose between the spaghetti for 30 cents, ravioli for 35 cents, or if I really wanted to treat myself, veal or chicken cacciatora for 55 cents. And then I’d go home on the Red Car whose tracks we can see in the foreground. Anybody care to join me?
