Tag Archives: Wilshire Blvd
Color photo looking west along Wilshire Blvd from Commonwealth Ave toward Bullocks Wilshire department store, Los Angeles, 1972
I don’t normally post images from as late as 1972, but I’m a sucker for color photos, especially if they’re of one of LA’s most iconic buildings: the Bullocks Wilshire department store. We’re looking west along Wilshire Blvd from Commonwealth … Continue reading
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Tagged Bullocks Wilshire, Color photo, Hotels, Stores and Shopping, Town House Hotel, Wilshire Blvd
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Color photo looking east along Wilshire Blvd from the eastern end of MacArthur Park, Los Angeles, circa 1950s
Here we have a vibrant circa-1950s photo looking east along Wilshire from the eastern end of MacArthur Park. Past the trees on the left, we can see the top of the huge sign for the Westlake Theatre (MacArthur Park was … Continue reading
Residence of General Harrison Grey Otis, 2401 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, circa early 1900s
In 1881, General Harrison Grey Otis (a Union Army officer during the Civil War) started the Los Angeles Times, and in 1898, built this home on the north side of Wilshire Blvd at Park View St. It overlooked Westlake Park … Continue reading
A packed Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel on Wilshire Blvd hosts the 12th Academy Awards on the night of February 29, 1940
Click on the photo for a bigger version. On February 29, 1940 (a Leap Year Day!), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences held the 12th Academy Awards presentation at the Cocoanut Grove nightclub at the Ambassador Hotel on … Continue reading
Color photo of the front lawns of the Ambassador Hotel, Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles (undated)
These days, it’s unlikely that you’d find a big-city hotel with so much lawn around it—land is too valuable! But back in the early 1920s, when the Ambassador Hotel was being built on Wilshire Blvd (between Mariposa and Catalina, it … Continue reading
Night photo looking east along Wilshire Blvd from Fairfax Ave past the May Co department store, Los Angeles, March 1949
Thanks to this Life magazine photographer, we get an idea of what it was like to drive east along Wilshire Blvd from the May Co department store on the northeast corner of Fairfax Ave. We can see the sign for … Continue reading
Color photo facing east along the Miracle Mile section of Wilshire Blvd looking toward Ohrbach’s and Coulter’s stores, Los Angeles, circa mid-1950s
I do love a color photo that shows us what it was like to stand on a LA street on an average day in the 1950s. We’re facing east along the Miracle Mile section of Wilshire Blvd looking toward Ohrbach’s … Continue reading
Color photo of the demolition of the original hat-shaped Brown Derby restaurant, 3377 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, September 1980
Oof! This one is hard to look at: the destruction of the original Brown Derby restaurant at 3377 Wilshire Blvd. Even though technically it wasn’t the actual original one—the very first hat-shaped Brown Derby was at 3427 Wilshire between Mariposa … Continue reading
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Tagged Brown Derby restaurant, Color photo, Restaurants, Wilshire Blvd
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Aerial photograph looking west along Wilshire Blvd from Sycamore Ave, Los Angeles, circa 1930
In this rather striking aerial we’re photo, looking west along Wilshire Blvd from Sycamore Ave. It was taken around 1930 when a good proportion of the land north and south of Wilshire was still undeveloped. In the top right hand … Continue reading
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Tagged Aerial photographs, La Brea tar pits, Oil, Park La Brea, Wilshire Blvd
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Looking east along Wilshire Blvd from west of Fairfax Ave toward the May Co. department store under construction, Los Angeles, 1939
The May Co. department store opened its flagship building on the northeast corner of Wilshire Blvd and Fairfax Ave in 1940. (If anyone knows the specific date, I’d love to have it. (**UPDATE** This store opened on September 7, 1939 … Continue reading