This seemingly genteel photo is proof that great things can come from humble beginnings. This is the Kaspare Cohn hospital that started operations in 1902 at 1441 Carroll Ave in Angelino Heights. The 12-bed hospital was run by Dr. Sara Vasen, one of L.A.’s first women doctors, and treated tuberculosis patients. In 1910 it moved to Boyle Heights and evolved into Cedars of Lebanon in the 1930s, which itself evolved into the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, one of L.A.’s leading hospitals.
Astonishingly, that house, which was built in 1887, is still there. Or maybe not so astonishingly. It’s on Carroll Ave, which is filled restored 1880s homes and is worth stopping off at seeing if you’re in the neighborhood outside downtown LA. These images are from 2014.
Some intrepid early motorist was keen to nab the bragging rights of being the first person to drive through the Hill St Tunnels in downtown Los Angeles in September 1913. From what we can see in this photo, the tunnel was far from being finished. I can’t imagine the suspension on that automobile was great (or even existed) so that would have been one heck of a bumpy ride.
This gently bucolic scene is what Abbot Kinney had in mind when he developed his “Venice of America” project in the early 1900s. It was quite a breathtaking vision with canals and gondolas and lagoons. This circa 1920s photo shows languid Angelenos enjoying an excursion on the Venice Lagoon in front of the Hotel Antler. These days, this area is a now a huge roundabout, where Main St meets Grand Blvd meets Windward Ave, so it’s been a very long time since this location was languid.
One of six theaters in Beverly Hills (at the peak of theater-going), the Beverly Theatre at 206 N. Beverly Dr. was arguably the most memorable with its striking onion dome. Opening in 1925, it featured an elaborate exotic Chinese design, but like most theaters, over the years it underwent renovations and name changes. By the time this photo was taken, when “Shane” was playing there in 1953, it had an Art Deco theme and was known as the Fox Beverly. In 1974, MGM held the world premiere of “That’s Entertainment” there, 3 years before the place shut down.
Santa Monica pier, which looks nothing like this today, celebrated “Pier Day” when the US Navy’s Atlantic fleet parked itself off the Los Angeles coast on September 9, 1909. They certainly got a decent turn-out. And it would have been a big deal because the Panama Canal wouldn’t open for another 5 years, which means these ships sailed all the way down to the tip of South America and up again. Although why they’d do that, I’m really not sure. A Navy P.R. exercise, maybe?
I know nothing about the Clock restaurant other than it stood at 6710 La Tijera Blvd, Los Angeles, not far from LA International Airport, and was built in 1951. But oh my goodness, look at the sign at the front entrance. I bet it looked even better lit up at night. I don’t know if this one qualifies as a Googie-style restaurant, but it’s every bit as striking as the others.
My focus on vintage Los Angeles peters out at the end of the 1950s, the twilight years of the studio system era. And so it came as a surprise (to me, at least) to learn that Ciro’s, which from 1940 to 1957 was one of the premier nightclubs in L.A., later became known as It’s Boss, pictured here in 1967, when Lovin Spoonful were playing. In 1972, it became a stand-up comedy venue called The Comedy Store, which it still is, and which means it’s celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Hollywood Park racetrack opened in the Inglewood area of Los Angeles (near L.A. International Airport) in 1938 by the Hollywood Turf Club, whose chairman was Jack Warner (from Warner Bros.) It closed during the war years when it was used for storage. On the night of May 5, 1949, the grandstand caught fire. It was bad timing as a million-dollar upgrade had recently been completed. As we can see from this spectacular shot, fire engulfed the entire grandstand. I can only imagine the heat it generated. The stand was rebuilt in 1950, and the track continued to hold meets until 2013. Part of the site is now home to the new SoFi stadium.
Back in 1925, when the San Fernando Valley was still largely pastoral, one of the most well-known farms was the one that provided L.A. with a lot of its milk: Ahohr. (Named after the owner’s wife, Rhoda, but spelled backwards.) Established in 1916, the farm’s Guernsey milk cows grazed both sides of Ventura Blvd at around White Oak Blvd in Encino until after WWII, when the post-war spread of suburbia put the squeeze on all that land.