Most of the pre-1900 photos I’ve seen of downtown Los Angeles show a bustling metropolis, crowded with pedestrians, streets cars, horses, carts, and the odd dog. But this tranquil scene is quite different. We’re looking west along Requena St (later Market St) toward N. Main St, circa 1890. In this one narrow shot we can see the U.S. Hotel (left), Amestoy Block (right), and the tower of the newly built County Courthouse in the background. But my favorite part is the large sign that reads: “Los Angeles Tonsorial Parlor – Baths.” I wonder how much they charged for a bath and a haircut.
Looking west along Requena St (later Market St) toward North Main St, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1890
Looking north up Ivar Ave from around Selma Ave toward The Broadway Hollywood store and Plaza Hotel signs, Hollywood, circa mid 1930s
This mid-1930s photo from Life magazine shows us a slice of Hollywood that no longer exists. We’re looking north up Ivar Ave from around Selma Ave right in the heart of Hollywood. If it wasn’t for those hard-to-miss signs for the Broadway Hollywood department store and Plaza Hotel, that a row of houses could have been pretty much anywhere in Los Angeles. Those residences have been gone for decades. The store is now loft apartments and the hotel is now a retirement home, but at least they’re still there.
My thanks to David Ginsburg for his help in narrowing down the location of this photo.
This is roughly the same view in May 2022. Much of that block is now taken up with a development called Triangle Square, which offers affordable housing for LGBT+ seniors.
Looking west along Hollywood Blvd from Cherokee Ave, Hollywood, circa late 1960s
In this colorful, lively circa mid-1960s photo, we’re looking west along Hollywood Blvd from Cherokee Ave. The building on the corner housed the Don Martin School of Radio and TV and its neighbor was the New-View Theater, which had originally opened on May 2, 1940 as a newsreel theatre called the News-View and later renamed the Hollywood’s Newsreel Theatre. Then it became the New-View. Things took a new turn in 1974, when it became the Pussycat, where “Deep Throat” ran for 10 – yes, TEN, years. In the 80s it reinvented itself again becoming the Ritz. Then it became a church, then back to being a theater again when hologram shows were exhibited. That’s quite a history!
** UPDATE ** – It looks like the movie playing that day was The Sterile Cuckoo, which means this photo was probably taken late 1969 or early 1970.
This is that same view in July 2022, when the theater was empty, but the owners had rented out the electric marquee for advertising. Remarkably, though, the building to the east has been fully restored to its original Art Deco magnificence, and is a vast improvement on the 1960s shot.
Check out that grillwork!
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Color photo, Hollywood, Hollywood Blvd, Stores and Shopping, Theaters
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Looking past Victorian homes on Hill Street toward the new Los Angeles City Hall under construction, downtown Los Angeles, circa 1927
In this photo we’re looking at a stretch of old Victorian homes that lined Hill Street in downtown Los Angeles. They would still have been a fairly common sight at the time, but in the background, we can see the march of progress: Hall of Justice on the left, the Hall of Records on the right, and in the middle the tower of the old County Courthouse. Behind it, the new LA City Hall is taking shape with its pyramidal top in silhouette. It opened in April 1928, so I’d say this photo was taken in 1927.
*** UPDATE *** – Alex S says: “I would venture to guess the angle would be somewhere slightly north east on Hill St. I think it’s where the Los Angeles cathedral is located.”
Glenn F says: “Looks to me that you could shoot from the deck of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion looking southeast to capture a very similar angle.“
A layer of thick smog blankets downtown Los Angeles, December 11, 1958
All too often these vintage Los Angeles photos I post each day document how much better / cleaner / slower / prettier LA used to be compared to nowadays. So it’s nice to be reminded that some aspects of LA are much enhanced. This photo is a case in point. It was taken on December 11, 1958 and shows a thick layer of smoke hanging over downtown that we no longer have to live with. Imagine working in LA City Hall and staring you’re your window at smog. Sometimes government-enforced are a good thing.
This is the LA City Hall in September 2021. Not taken from the same angle of course, but it does show the startling difference in air quality.
Color shot of the Cinerama Dome at dusk, 6360 Sunset Blvd, Hollywood, circa late 1963
In a city filled with crazy architecture, a simple dome-shaped theater managed to stand out. The Cinerama Dome was built in 1963 and opened on November 2 with the star-studded “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.” I don’t know how long it ran there, so I’m guessing this picture of the sun setting behind the dome was taken in late 1963.
The Dome is still there, but currently shuttered. Apparently there plans are underway to reopen it under the name “Cinerama Hollywood.” This image is from May 2022.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Cinerama Dome, Color photo, Night photo, Sunset Blvd, Theaters
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Angelenos fill the park benches of a leafy Pershing Square in the heart of downtown Los Angeles circa 1920s or 30s
Here’s another reminder of how leafy and green and shady Pershing Square in the heart of downtown Los Angeles used to be. Look at all those people (all men, as far as I can see—where were the women? At home cooking and cleaning, I guess?) filling the park benches on each side of the walkway leading to the northwest corner. The darker brick building in the background is the Biltmore Hotel, which opened in 1923, so I’m pegging this photo as circa 1920s or 30s.
I think the auto-colorizer did a pretty good job of bringing this photo to life.
This is how that same view looked in April 2021. A little sparse in the leafy shade department, but the glorious Biltmore Hotel is still there.
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Tagged Biltmore Hotel, Downtown Los Angeles, Hotels, Pershing Square
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Streetcar on the S line at 8th St and Western Ave looking west, Los Angeles, circa mid to late 1950s
Here we have a scene that any Angeleno wouldn’t have thought twice about back in around the mid to late 1950s, when this photo was taken. But now we live in a streetcarless Los Angeles, where some of us miss a form of public transit that we never got to experience. This is the LA transit lines No. 1419 streetcar on the S line. We’re looking west along 8th St, where the line terminates at Western Ave. If you look past the streetcar, you can see the first Ben Frank’s restaurant. Next to that is the American Cancer Society building which later became Wonderland Studios owned by Stevie Wonder.
This is roughly the same view from July 2022. Not a lot remains except for the two brick buildings on the right.
My thanks to Lisa Gilmour for bringing to photo to my attention.
Tumbleweed Theater at night, 11918 Garvey Ave, El Monte, Los Angeles, 1939
As the strippers in “Gypsy” told us, you gotta have a gimmick. And the gimmick chosen by the Tumbleweed Theatre at 11918 Garvey Ave, El Monte (due east of downtown Los Angeles) was to build its marquee into a wooden tower topped by a windmill. This photo was taken in 1939, the year it opened. The theater itself was made to look like a barn, so they were going for a rustic look, which would have suited the relatively undeveloped area back then. The Tumbleweed lasted until the late 1960s.
The Tumbleweed by day in 1939:
An aerial shot showing the surrounding area, also from 1939:
Of course that site is a mini mall now. This is how it looked in June 2022:
Night photo of the Fox West Coast Theater, 308 N. Main St, Santa Ana, California, circa 1935
It looks like moviegoers attending the “gala reopening” of the Fox West Coast Theater at 308 N. Main S in Santa Ana were treated to a full night. Along with the new MGM hit, “Mutiny on the Bounty” they also saw one of Disney’s “Silly Symphony” cartoons, as well as a Pete Smith short. MGM’s Oscar-nominated “Mutiny” came out in November 1935, so I’m guessing the Pete Smith short was MGM’s Oscar-nominated “La Fiesta de Santa Barbara” which featured a 13-year-old Judy Garland singing “La Cucaracha” with her two sisters. All in all, it sounds like a full night out, if you ask me.
The theater is still there, but like many theaters in LA, it is now a church. This image is dated February 2019.
