Water and Power Associates Informing the Public about Critical Water and Energy Issues facing Los Angeles and California

Historical Notes

Grauman's Chinese Theatre opened in May 18, 1927, after a construction period of 18 months. Built to resemble a giant, red Chinese pagoda, the architecture features a huge Chinese dragon across the front, two stone lion-dogs guarding the main entrance, and the silhouettes of tiny dragons up and down the sides of the copper roof.*

Historical Notes

The theatre rises 90-feet high and two gigantic coral red columns topped by wrought iron masks hold aloft the bronze roof. Between the columns is a 30-foot high dragon carved from stone. Guarding the theatre entrance to this day are the two original giant Heaven Dogs brought from China. #^*#

Historical Notes

After his success with the Egyptian Theatre, Sid Grauman turned to Charles E. Toberman to secure a long term lease on property at 6925 Hollywood Blvd. Toberman contracted the architectural firm of Meyer & Holler (who had also designed the Egyptian) to design a "palace type theatre" of Chinese design. Grauman's Chinese Theatre was financed by Grauman, who owned a one-third interest, and his partners: Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Howard Schenck. The principal architect of the Chinese Theatre was Raymond M. Kennedy, of Meyer and Holler.*^

Historical Notes

During construction, Grauman hired Jean Klossner to formulate an extremely hard concrete for the forecourt of the theatre. Klossner later became known as "Mr. Footprint," performing the footprint ceremonies from 1927 through 1957.*^

Historical Notes

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were the inaugural celebrities to put their feet and handprints into fresh concrete at Grauman's Chinese Theater on April 30, 1927. This picture shows the two stars, exhibitor Sid Grauman, a workman, and how the event was apparently not open to the public. ##^

Historical Notes

Hell's Angels is a 1930 American war film, directed by Howard Hughes and starring Jean Harlow, Ben Lyon, and James Hall. The film, which was produced by Hughes and written by Harry Behn and Howard Estabrook, centers on the combat pilots of World War I.

Originally shot as a silent film, Hughes retooled the film over a lengthy gestation period. Most of the film is in black and white, but there is one color sequence - the only color footage of Harlow's career. Hell's Angels is now hailed as one of the first sound blockbuster action films.*^

Historical Notes

Producer/director Howard Hughes poured nearly $4 million into his production of “Hell’s Angels” so he wanted to make sure everybody knew about it. On May 24, 1930 he threw a premiere the likes of which Hollywood had never seen before. And for the movie’s run at Grauman's Chinese Theatre, he had the title emblazoned on the columns, just in case, you know, there was anyone left who hadn’t heard of his movie.+#+

Historical Notes

Between 1933 and 1949 the Grauman's Chinese Theatre was in a "Golden Age," where the movies were the number-one entertainment in America, resulting in the studios who made them becoming very profitable. Grauman's Chinese, the glamourous flagship venue of the Fox West Coast Theatres chain (itself owned by 20th Century-Fox and the Skouras Brothers) and under the continuing management of Sid Grauman, played host to a large number of Fox films, rotating with product from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and the occasional offering from United Artists. Theatres during this time tended to play pictures from the studio who owned them (or had strong business ties to). #***#

Historical Notes

All remained well until, after World War II, film attendance dropped off, then another blow: television. However, in the long run Hollywood found ways of making motion picture entertainment more attractive.  People would once again return to the box office and pay admissions to see motion pictures instead of remaining home before their television sets. #***#

Historical Notes

Originally handed out at a formal banquet at either the Ambassador Hotel in the Cocoanut Grove or Fiesta Room, or at the Biltmore Hotel downtown, in the Sala D'Oro or Biltmore Bowl, the enormity of interest in the Oscars outgrew the formal banquet idea.

When it came time to hold the ceremony in a regular theatre environment, Grauman's Chinese was the obvious choice. Widely considered Hollywood's "town hall," for the first ceremony held there on Thursday, March 2, 1944, the theatre was donated for the event by Charles Skouras, president of National Theatres, whose Fox West Coast Theatres division operated the Chinese, with Sid Grauman as the theatre's Managing Director. ++##

Historical Notes

This was the year that “Lost Weekend” won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor in a Leading Role, and Best Screenplay. If these people were hoping to see Joan Crawford, they were disappointed. She was so freaked out at the thought of losing that she pretended to be ill—and then won the Oscar for “Mildred Pierce.” +#+

Historical Notes

National Theatres continued to make the Chinese Theatre available to the Academy for their Awards of Merit program at no cost, in 1944, 1945 and 1946.  In short time the ceremony had outgrown even Sid's Hollywood masterwork, so it moved to the 6,000 plus-seat Shrine Auditorium near downtown for 1947 and 1948. ++##

Historical Notes

While promoting their hit movie “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes”, Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell were invited by Grauman’s Chinese Theatre to place their hand and footprints in the theatre’s famed cement forecourt on June 26, 1953.*^

Historical Notes

In 1968, Grauman's Chinese Theatre was dedicated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 55 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

In 2013, the world famous Chinese Theatre teamed up with one of China’s biggest electronics manufacturers, TCL, aka “The Creative Life” in a 10-year naming rights partnership. 

Historical Notes

In 1926, the first rendition of the venue’s iconic proscenium shell was built. The original shell was deemed acoustically unsatisfactory (as well as visually unfashionable, with its murals of sailing ships). It would be torn down at the end of the season.

Historical Notes

For the 1927 season, Lloyd Wright (the son of Frank Lloyd Wright), built a pyramidal shell, with a vaguely Southwestern look, out of left-over lumber from a production of Robin Hood. This was generally regarded as the best shell the Bowl ever had from an acoustic standpoint; unfortunately, its appearance was deemed too avant-garde, and it was demolished at the end of the season. It did, however, get Wright a second chance, this time with the stipulation that the shell was to have an arch shape.*^

Historical Notes

For the 1928 season, Wright built a fiberglass shell in the shape of concentric 120-degree arches, with movable panels inside that could be used to tune the acoustics. It was designed to be easily dismantled and stored between concert seasons; apparently for political reasons this was not done, and it did not survive the winter.*^

Historical Notes

The sunrise services began in 1919 as a gathering for silent film stars near the site of the Hollywood Bowl and moved to the facility in 1921. Back then, the bowl was basically a hillside blanketed with rocks and weeds, but the area had good natural acoustics.^^*

Historical Notes

For the 1929 season, the Allied Architects built the shell that stood until 2003, using a transite skin over a metal frame. Its acoustics, though not nearly as good as those of the Lloyd Wright shells, were deemed satisfactory at first, and its clean lines and white, almost-semicircular arches were copied for music shells elsewhere. As the acoustics deteriorated, various measures were used to mitigate the problems, starting with an inner shell made from large cardboard tubes (of the sort used as forms for round concrete pillars) in the 1970s, which were replaced in the early 1980s by large fiberglass spheres (both designed by Frank Gehry) that remained until 2003. These dampened out the unfavorable acoustics, but required massive use of electronic amplification to reach the full audience, particularly since the background noise level had risen sharply since the 1920s.

The appearance underwent other, purely visual, changes as well, including the addition of a broad outer arch (forming a proscenium) where it had once had only a narrow rim and the reflecting pool in front of the stage that lasted from 1953 till 1972.

Sculptor George Stanley designed the Muse Fountain. He had previously done the Oscar statuette.*^

Historical Notes

Opened in 1926, the current Shrine Auditorium replaced an earlier 1906 Al Malaikah Temple which had been destroyed by a fire on January 11, 1920.*^

Click HERE to see more on the original 1906 Al Malaikah Temple.

Historical Notes

The new auditorium was designed in the Moorish Revival style by San Francisco-based theater architect G. Albert Lansburgh, with local architects John C. Austin and A. M. Edelman associated.*^

Historical Notes

For 33 years, Shrine Auditorium was home to the University of Southern California Trojans basketball team. The Trojans' home court was on the Shrine's stage. The Los Angeles Lakers also briefly played some playoff games in the theatre, when the nearby Los Angeles Sports Arena was unavailable.*^

Historical Notes

When built, the auditorium could hold 1,200 people on stage and seat an audience of 6,442. An engineer who consulted on the project said that the steel truss supporting the balcony was the largest ever constructed.*^

Historical Notes

The Shrine Auditorium has hosted a number of events, mainly for entertainment. The Academy Awards were held at the Shrine from 1947–1948 and for eight times between 1988 and 2001 until it moved to the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The Shrine has hosted several Grammy ceremonies until 2000 when it had moved to the nearby Staples Center. The Primetime Emmy Awards were also held at the venue for a decade beginning in 1998. However, the Primetime ceremony was moved to the nearby Nokia Theatre (which is next door to Staples Center).*^

Historical Notes

In 1975 the Shrine was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No.139 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Opened on March 2, 1926, the Belmont Theatre was a West Coast Theatres operation. It was located on the east side of Vermont Avenue, just south of Beverly Boulevard.^^#

Historical Notes

The Belmont was designed by Lewis A. Smith who did many projects for West Coast Theatres. It had a seating capacity of 1,680.^^#

Historical Notes

The Belmont Theatre got a major remodel in 1946 by Fox West Coast Theatres resulting in a Skouras-style interior. It's also been known as just the Belmont.^^#

Historical Notes

The Belmont Theatre closed in 1973 after a fire and was demolished the same year.^^#

Historical Notes

The Pantages Theatre, a nine-story steel-framed building designed by architect B. Marcus Priteca, was the city’s second theatre (and the country’s sixteenth) built for the namesake vaudeville circuit. It is a richly ornamented Beaux Arts structure that includes a 2,200 seat theatre, shops, and offices on the upper floors.^#^

The home of the Pantages circuit prior to this was the 1910 building at 534 S.  Broadway. That theatre is now known as the Arcade.*^#

Historical Notes

The Pantages opened as the second Pantages theater in downtown Los Angeles (the Arcade theater was the first), this B. Marcus Priteca designed theater included Greek treatments for owner Alexander Pantages. The theater’s exterior was coated in white terra cotta.^^#

Greek-born Alexander Pantages got his start in show business selling seats for readings of newspapers to miners in Alaska who were starved for information and entertainment.*^#

Historical Notes

In 1929 the Pantages Theatre became the Warner Bros. Downtown Theatre. This coincided with the opening of the new Hollywood Pantages Theatre.

(1931)* - Close-up view of the electrical sign for the Warner Bros. Theatre as it hangs on the side of the building.

Historical Notes

In February 1929, RKO theater magnate Joseph P. Kennedy attempted to acquire the theater chain but was rebuffed by Pantages. Kennedy then decided to destroy his competition. He used his influence among Hollywood movie distributors to keep Pantages from being able to show profitable first-run feature films. Some histories also allege that Kennedy tried to frame Alexander Pantages. In August 1929, a young dancer and aspiring actress named Eunice Pringle claimed that Pantages had sexually molested her in his office on the mezzanine-level of the theater. Pantages was arrested, tried, convicted, and sentenced to 50 years in prison. In an even more sensational series of appeals, Pantages was acquitted. It’s been argued that Pringle later confessed that Kennedy had conspired with her and her agent/lover, Nicolas Dunaev, to concoct the accusation of rape and to lie in court.

Whatever the actual truth may have been, the scandal did indeed ruin Pantages theater business and he was forced to sell his chain to Kennedy’s RKO for a paltry $3.5M, much lower than the true value of the company's real estate holdings.

Although Kennedy wanted the chain of theaters, he did not need this particular property. RKO already owned several downtown LA theatres and quickly sold the Pantages Theatre to Warner Brothers. They removed the original signage and reopened it as the Warner Bros. Downtown Theatre. #^**

Historical Notes

The interior of the Warner Brothers Downtown theater can be seen in the opening scenes of the 1968’s “Funny Girl”. While Barbra Streisand is sitting alone in an orchestra seat, shots are taken from the stage looking out and from an upper balcony looking down. Also, in the 1933 film “Lady Killer”, James Cagney briefly plays a Warner Bros theater usher. There is a short sequence shot on the roof of the Warner Brothers Downtown theatre (usher inspection). Also a quick view of the marquee – even though it says “Strand” – It is clearly the Warner Brothers Downtown in all its blazing glory.^^#

Historical Notes

Currently, the original seats on the main floor of the auditorium have been removed to make way for retail stalls. The balcony is still intact and its seats have not been removed.^^#

Historical Notes

Until the mid-1960’s, the theater served as the downtown theater for Warner Bros. At that time, Metropolitan Theaters purchased the theater and ran it for another twelve years, renamed Warrens Theatre.

After being sold by Metropolitan, the theater became a church before becoming a retail outlet for the Jewelry Exchange. The original seats on the main floor of the auditorium have been removed to make way for retail stalls. The balcony is still intact and its seats have not been removed.^^#

Historical Notes

Vestiges of its Warner Bros. legacy remain.  The familiar Warner Bros. emblem is visible behind the current diamond motif above the buildings’ corner marquee. The parapet continues to read “Warner Bros. Downtown Bldg." ^#^

Historical Notes

The Mayan Theatre opened August 15, 1927 as a legit theatre focusing on musical comedies. The opening attraction was the musical "Oh, Kay!" with Elsie Janis.

The Mayan Revival style theatre was designed by the architectural firm of Morgan, Walls and Clements.*

Historical Notes

Originally a legitimate theater, the Mayan is a prototypical example of the many excessively ornate exotic revival-style theaters of the late 1920s, Mayan Revival in this case. The well-preserved lobby is called "The Hall of Feathered Serpents," the auditorium includes a chandelier based on the Aztec calendar stone, and the original fire curtain included images of Mayan jungles and temples.*^

Historical Notes

Morgan, Walls & Clements also designed the Belasco Theatre (1926) just to the south of the Mayan. The project was financed by developer F.N. Stowall and oil magnate Edward L. Doheny. The Mayan and the Belasco were an attempt to get a new fashionable legit theatre district going west of Broadway.*^#

Historical Notes

In 1989 the Mayan Theater was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 460 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Francisco Comeja designed the cast concrete sculptural facade which was originally grey, but has been colorfully painted in recent years.*

The Mayan Revival is a modern architectural movement, primarily of the 1920s and 30s, that drew inspiration from the architecture and iconography of pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures.*^

Historical Notes

This 2,150-seat, 13-story movie palace with a parquet sidewalk was the only theater on Broadway built as a flagship house by a major studio, and was financed by Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie Chaplin. The building was completed in 1927 and the United Artists Theatre's grand opening was on December 26 of that same year. The featured film was "My Best Girl" starring Mary Pickford (see marquee for billing).*

Historical Notes

Built by the founders of United Artists Pictures; Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffith, Douglas Fairbanks, and Mary Pickford, who needed the massive Spanish Gothic style movie palace as a venue for world premieres of their movies. The castles and cathedrals that Fairbanks and Pickford saw on their honeymoon in Spain, inspired them to instruct architect C. Howard Crane to design their movie palace in that style. It was replicated the following year in the United Artists Theatre in Detroit, Michigan.^^#

Historical Notes

The 13 story office building which fronts the United Artists Theatre was designed by the architectural firm Walker & Eisen, in a Spanish-Gothic style. There is a double height ogival window over the theatre entrance and many niches containing statues on the facade, including one of a figure holding an early movie camera. On top of the main tower feature is a large highly decorated clerestory and sky-sign.^^#

Historical Notes

The Spanish Gothic style building included a beautiful and ornate 50-foot high "dummy tower" to circumvent the local height restriction of the time, and all of the offices inside were leased by the California Petroleum Co. The United Artists Theater Building/Texaco Building, as it was known, was the city's tallest privately owned building for over 20 years. In 1979 Texaco Oil moved its operations to Wilshire Blvd. and the building remained vacant for some years. Today, this magnificent structure is home to Dr. Gene Scott's University Cathedral.*

Historical Notes

The theatre was a great success and was operated by United Artists Theatres circuit for the majority of its life as a movie theatre. During the 1950’s, a new wide-screen process was installed, and a giant curved screen was erected in front of the proscenium arch. Although little damage was done here, the mezzanine was totally removed to accommodate a new projection booth, which gave a straight throw onto the new screen.^^#

Historical Notes

The interior of the theatre was designed by noted theatre interior designer Anthony B. Heinsbergen. In the lobby the ceiling is painted to imitate stained glass, while in the main foyer the vaulted ceiling is painted to resemble tapestries, and has the look of an old Spanish cathedral. An open balcony runs across the foyer at mezzanine level, whilst on the opposite wall are huge gold edged mirrors. Under the foyer was located a private screening room for Mary Pickford.

Seating for 2,214 was originally arranged in orchestra, mezzanine and balcony levels. The deep recess in the ceiling is covered with tiny mirrors, which glitter when the cove lighting plays on them. On the two side walls are magnificent murals by Heinsbergen depicting heraldic Medieval scenes with painted characters depicting Fairbanks and Pickford and other Hollywood figures, including the heads of United Artists board members serving in 1927, tacked onto voluptuous bodies of flying gods and goddesses. The organ screens, serving the Wurlitzer 3 manual 17 ranks organ, and the proscenium arch are highly decorated in an elaborate Gothic style.^^#

Historical Notes

In its later years, the United Artists Theatre was operated by Metropolitan Theatres and it closed as a full time cinema in the summer of 1989, screening Spanish language movies. It briefly became a legitimate playhouse, staging Spanish language comedies, dramas and musical comedies for adults.^^#

Historical Notes

In the fall of 1989, United Artists Theatre was taken over by Dr. Eugene Scott for church use. Volunteers from his organization toiled for many hours to remove years of smoke stains and grime from the building, which now looks as good as it did on opening night, back in 1927. The former United Artists Theatre became home for Los Angeles University Cathedral. Upon the death of Dr. Eugene Scott in 2005, the church continued to use the building for a few more years. It was put up ‘For Sale’ in 2010, and was sold in the fall of 2011, to a developer, with plans to convert the office space part of the building into a hotel.

In January 2014 the Ace Hotel opened in the former office space fronting the building, and on February 14, 2014 the former United Artists Theatre opened as a concert venue known as the Theatre at the Ace Hotel, when British rock band Spiritualized performed.^^#

In 1991, the United Artists Theater Building was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 523 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

In December of 1936 Los Angeles City voters approved a charter amendment authorizing the Bureau of Power and Light to issue revenue bonds in the amount of $46 million and purchase the electrical system of Los Angeles Gas and Electric Corporation. At that time, it was the last remaining privately owned system in LA.

In 1937, the Bureau of Water Works and Supply consolidated with the Bureau of Power and Light and became the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power.

Click HERE to see more in Electricity in Early Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Electric utilities use distribution stations to transfer power from the transmission system to the distribution system for a specific service area. It is uneconomical to directly connect electricity customers to the main transmission network, unless they use large amounts of power. Therefore the distribution station reduces voltage to a value suitable for local distribution. In addition to transforming voltage, the substations regulate voltage which ensures a smoother level of power as seen by the customer.

Click HERE to see more in Early Power Distribution Stations.

Historical Notes

The hotel was opened by African-American John Alexander Somerville in 1928 as the Hotel Somerville. Following the stock market crash of 1929, the new owners renamed it after the African-American poet Paul Lawrence Dunbar.*

John Somerville is also known as being USC's first black graduate.

Historical Notes

The Dunbar is a culturally significant building in Los Angeles' history because it was the social scene for the African-American community during the Jazz Age and beyond. Just about every performer of importance stayed and played here: names like Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, Nina Mae McKinney, Dorothy Dandridge, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole...the list really goes on and on.^#**

In 1974, the Dunbar (Somerville) Hotel was designated L.A. Historic-Cultural Monument No. 131 (Click HERE to see complete listing.

Historical Notes

Printed at the bottom of the postcard: "115 rooms, 75 rooms with bath. Rates $1.00 per day and up. Weekly rates $5.00 and up"

"The Dunbar Hotel is known as the "House of hospitality." Thermostatically controlled steam heat and hot water, 24-hour elevator service, telephones in all rooms, and shops in conjunction--for your comfort. Jas. C. Nelson, Prop., Kathryn Nelson, Mgr."--printed on verso.*

Historical Notes

In December 1926, Sears, Roebuck and Company of Chicago announced that it would build a nine-story, height-limit building on East Ninth Street (later renamed Olympic Boulevard) at Soto, in the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles. The building, intended to serve as a mail order distribution center for the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Coast states, was constructed by Scofield Engineering Company. Architectural work was handled by George Nimmens Company.

The building was erected in just six months using materials that were all made in Los Angeles County, with the exception of the steel window sashes. To accomplish the feat, the contractor had six steam shovels and a large labor force working night and day shifts. It was reported that rock and sand for the cement work were being delivered to the site at the rate of twenty carloads daily. When the building was completed in late June 1927, the Los Angeles Times reported that the construction was believed to have set a record: “All records for the erection of a huge structure were believed to have been broken when last week the Scofield Engineering Construction Company turned over the new $5,000,000 department store and mail-order house at Ninth street and Boyle avenue to Sears, Roebuck & Co., having completed this height-limit project in 146 working days, or 171 days of elapsed time.” *^

Historical Notes

Sears, Roebuck & Company Mail Order Building was built in 1927 as a distribution center for the company's mail order department. The building served that function until 1992, when Sears closed its Los Angeles distribution center and sold the building. Though Sears still operates a retail store on the ground floor, the rest of the enormous complex has remained vacant since 1992. The 1,800,000-square-foot  complex, considered one of the iconic landmarks of LA's Eastside, has been the subject of several renovation proposals since the mid-1990s. In 2007 and 2008, Boyle Heights native Oscar de la Hoya made two bids to acquire the property, with plans to convert the complex into retail and residential space.*^

Historical Notes

From 1927 to 1991, the building was operated both as a mail order distribution center serving the Western United States and as a retail store operating on the ground floor. The sprawling mail order distribution center was a marvel of modern technology when it opened, with employees filling orders by roller skating around the enormous facility, picking up items and dropping them onto corkscrew slides for distribution by truck or rail. The building was one of the largest in Los Angeles, and it attracted more than 100,000 visitors in its first month of operation, not including shoppers at the ground floor retail store.*^

Historical Notes

In 2004, the Boyle Heights Sears building was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 788 (Click HERE to see complete listing). It was also listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 21, 2006 - #05001407.

Historical Notes

In the 1920s, Eagle Rock resident Burton N. Arnds Sr. found the taste of the municipal water supply “to be lacking,” according to an L.A. Times story. Within a few years, Arnds and partners opened a water bottling plant supplied by a well near what is now York Boulevard and Avenue 48.  The Sparkling Artesian Water Co. was later renamed Sparkletts as demand for bottled water skyrocketed with the arrival of newcomers. It was one of several Northeast L.A. bottling plants that captured and sold water tapped from underground wells and streams. #^^#

Historical Notes

In 1929, Sparkletts broke ground on a much larger, $200,000 bottling plant that today stretches across most of the 4500 block of Lincoln Avenue.  The firm hired architect Richard King to create a massive brick building topped by several domes in what looks like an effort to give the box-like industrial structure a Moorish-style ambiance.  the new bottling plant featured a then modern production facility that, according to a 1929 L.A. Times article, was home to what the firm “claimed to be the largest, five-gallon bottle sterilizer in the world, with a capacity of 1,800 bottles per  hour." #^^#

Historical Notes

Over the main entrance, which is topped by the largest dome, a tile mural depicts what looks like an oasis, with a pool of water, palm trees and two figures dressed in flowing robes standing in front of a domed building. 

Historical Notes

The Tower Theatre, at 802 S. Broadway, opened in 1927. It was commissioned by H.L. Gumbiner, who would later also build the Los Angeles Theatre in 1931. The Tower was the first theater designed by architect S. Charles Lee.*^

Historical Notes

Seating 900 on a tiny site, it was designed in powerful Baroque style with innovative French, Spanish, Moorish, and Italian elements all executed in terra-cotta.  Its interior was modeled after the Paris Opera House.  Its exterior features a prominent clock tower, the very top of which was removed after an earthquake. It opened in 1927 with the silent film The Gingham Girl starring Lois Wilson and George K. Arthur.*^

The Tower Theatre was built on th site of the old Garrick Theatre.

Historical Notes

The Tower Theater was the first film house in Los Angeles to be wired for talking pictures, and it was the location of the sneak preview and Los Angeles premiere of Warner Bros.' revolutionary part-talking The Jazz Singer (1927), starring Al Jolson. It was also the first theater in Los Angeles to be air conditioned.*^

Historical Notes

For a while in the early 1950's the theater Tower Theater's name was changed to the Newsreel Theater.*^

In 1989, the Tower Theater was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 450 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Built in ca. 1928. Architects: Jock Detlef Peters and Feil & Paradise. Peters was a German émigré known for his modern store designs in Los Angeles. Other of his projects included the interiors of Bullocks Wilshire.

In 1927 Jack L. Maddux, an owner of a Los Angeles Ford and Lincoln car dealership, founded Maddux Air Lines. The airline’s inaugural flight was on September 22, 1927 when the airline’s Ford 4-AT Tri-motor carrying 12 passengers flew from San Diego to Los Angeles.  This flight was to a small dirt landing strip that would later become Mines Field then Los Angeles International Airport, although the landing strip, called Inglewood Site, was not suitable for the airline, and Jack Maddux chose instead Rogers Airport, with improved facilities, and later Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale.*^

Historical Notes

Among the famous aviators who were involved with Maddux were Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart. Maddux also had a publicity department that advertised the celebrities who flew with the airline. These included Will Rogers, who rode on the inaugural flight, and Hollywood actors Arthur Edmund Carewe and Dolores del Río.*^

Click HERE to see more in Aviation in Early Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

Alfred Schaber opened Schaber’s Cafeteria at 620 S. Broadway in 1928. Restaurants became an important part of Broadway, serving both the shopping and theater-going public. Besides full-service restaurants in all of the major department stores, Schaber's Cafeteria became a favorite destination after its opening in 1928 next to the Palace Theatre.*##*

Historical Notes

Charles Alexander See II (1882–1949) arrived in the United States from Canada in 1921 with his wife Florence MacLean Wilson See (1885–1956), and his widowed mother Mary Wiseman See (1854–1939). Mary See had developed the recipes that became the foundation of the See's candy business while helping run her husband's hotel on Tremont Island in Ontario. The family opened the first See's Candies shop and kitchen at 135 North Western Avenue in Los Angeles in November 1921. They leased the shop from the French Canadian pioneer of Los Angeles Amable La Mer. They had twelve shops by the mid-1920s and thirty shops during the Great Depression. In 1936 See's opened a shop in San Francisco.

In 1972 the See family sold the company to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In 2007, Warren Buffett called See's "the prototype of a dream business".*^

Historical Notes

Today, the facade still looks great. Figaro Bistro opened in the building in December 2012.

Historical Notes

The Hall of Records was built in 1906 and demolished in 1973; the County Courthouse was built in 1891 and demolished in 1932; the Hall of Justice was built in 1922 by Allied Architects.*

Historical Notes

After authorizing a bond issue on June 5, 1923, the city commissioned John C. Austin, Albert C. Martin, and John Parkinson as architects in August, 1925.  Ground was broken on March 4, 1926 and the new City Hall building was dedicated on April 26, 1928.**^^

Historical Notes

Arcadia St. was just one block long, running between Main and Los Angeles Sts., and was named for Arcadia Bandini de Stearns Baker. She was first married to Abel Stearns, who built the Arcadia Block, and then after his death she married Robert Symington Baker, who built the Baker Block on the site of the former Stearns residence, a large and apparently lavish adobe (and he also co-founded Santa Monica, among other things). So both of the buildings that bordered the south side of Arcadia St. were built by Arcadia's husbands.**^

Click HERE to read more about Arcadia in Early Views of Santa Monica.

Historical Notes

The new 28-story Los Angeles City Hall was replacing a building on Broadway between 2nd and 3rd Streets that had been government headquarters since 1889. That building had replaced a one-story adobe City Hall, formerly the old Rocha House, on the northeast corner of Spring and Court Streets.**^^

Historical Notes

City Hall has 32 floors and, at 454 feet high, is the tallest base-isolated structure in the world.

The building underwent a seismic retrofit from 1998 to 2001. It is designed to sustain minimal damage and remain functional after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake.*^

Historical Notes

The concrete in its tower was made with sand from each of California's 58 counties and water from its 21 historical missions.*^

Historical Notes

Prior to the late 1950s the Charter of the City of Los Angeles did not permit any portion of any building other than a purely decorative tower to be more than 150 feet. Therefore, from its completion in 1928 until 1964, the City Hall was the tallest building in Los Angeles, and shared the skyline with only a few structures having decorative towers, including the Richfield Tower and the Eastern Columbia Building.*^

Historical Notes

A story accompanying this photo in the June 23, 1927, Los Angeles Times reported:

“The corner-stone of Los Angeles’ new City Hall was laid at 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon. The ceremonies were conducted by the Native Sons of the Golden West, with Charles A. Thompson, Grand President of the order presiding. Appropriate speeches were made by Gov. (Clement) Young, Mayor (George) Cryer, President McGarry of the Chamber of Commerce and Edward J. Delorey, who acted as chairman. …

Just before the corner-stone was lowered into position, a copper box was placed inside which contained more than a score of historical documents and other articles. Among these was an autographed photograph of Mayor Cryer, his annual message, the charter of Los Angeles, a history of the California pioneers, a copy of the city budget for 1927-28, an account of the discovery of gold in 1848, three gold nuggets and numerous other articles.

The Governor joined the Mayor at the old City Hall and the procession to the new structure was led by the Firemen’s Band. Several thousand persons witnessed the ceremonies, The program was broadcast.”

Historical Notes

City Hall's distinctive tower was based on the purported shape of the Mausoleum of Mausolus and shows the influence of the Los Angeles Public Library, completed soon before the structure was started.*^

Historical Notes

The big dedication, overseen by Sid Grauman and attended by an estimated 15,000 people, featured emceeing by Joseph Schenck and speeches by Mayor George E. Cryer and San Francisco Mayor James Rolph, Jr. After Rolph spoke, Irving Berlin sang, as did “Chief Yowlache, the Yakima Indian; Elsa Alsen, the grand opera singer; the Mexican chorus of Los Angeles, in costume; Virgil Johannson, and others." **^^

Historical Notes

An image of City Hall has been on Los Angeles Police Department badges since 1940.*^

Historical Notes

The following historical timeline lists the buildings used by City Council, also known as City Hall, since 1850, when Los Angeles was incorporated as a municipality:

◆ 1850 - 1853 - used rented hotel and other buildings for City meetings

◆ 1853 - rented adobe house (aka Rocha Adobe) on Spring Street - across from current City Hall (now parking lot for Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center). The buliding was shared with the County who used it as a Court House.

◆ 1861 - moved into John Temple's Clocktower Market Building, but only stayed for less than a year before the County Court House moved-in

◆ 1861 - 1884 - relocated back to the Rocha Adobe and stayed for over 20 years

◆ 1884 - 1888 - moved to new City Hall Building at South Spring Street and West 2nd Street (site of current Los Angeles Times Building)

◆ 1888 - 1928 - moved to new Romanesque Revival Building on 226-238 South Broadway between 2nd Street and 3rd Street; demolished in 1928 and now site of parking lot between LA Times Parking structure and 240 Broadway.

◆ 1928 - moved to current City Hall Building^*

Historical Notes

The old LA County Courthouse was demolished in 1932.

The Hall of Records stood until 1973.

Historical Notes

The Lindbergh beacon was installed on top of City Hall in 1928. Originally white, the light was replaced with a red light in 1931 after the U.S. Department of Commerce deemed the bright beacon a hazard to air safety. During WWII the light was turned off, and relit just a few of times more before being removed in the early 1950s.

The Lindbergh beacon was rediscovered in the early 1990s. After restoration, it was put on display in the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX and relit for the first time in 45 years on April 22, 1992. The beacon was reinstalled on top of City Hall in 2001 and is lit on special occasions.*^

Historical Notes

The building underwent a seismic retrofit from 1998 to 2001. It is designed to sustain minimal damage and remain functional after a magnitude 8.2 earthquake.*^

In 1976, Los Angeles City Hall was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 150 (Click HERE for complete listing).

Historical Notes

The Observation Deck at City Hall is where you can get one of the best (and free) views of Los Angeles by day.  Public entrance is at 201 Main Street.  Open to the public, Monday through Friday from 9AM to 5PM, the Observation Deck offers an outstanding view of the downtown L.A. city skyline. Admission is free, but you will need to check in at the security desk at the Main Street entrance. They will issue a visitor badge and give you a leaflet with directions to the Observation Deck on the 27th floor. You will pass through the Tom Bradley Room on the 26th floor. The walls on this level are covered with pictures of all past mayors of Los Angeles. The "room" is not an open space - instead it's a hallway that occupies the perimeter of the floor. After you are finished looking at the pictures, you will walk up a grand staircase to the Observation level on the 27th floor. Most of the level is an open space filled with chairs and a podium. It's interesting to imagine what sort of conferences or meetings might occur from this vantage point overlooking the city. You can go outside on this level and walk around the perimeter of the floor. The view is great, and there are signs to let you know what's where. There are unobstructed views of Union Station, Disney Concert Hall and other downtown LA attractions. ^^++

Historical Notes

Los Angeles went through a large building boom that lasted from the early 1960s to the early 1990s, during which time the city saw the completion of 30 of its 32 tallest buildings, including the U.S. Bank Tower, the Aon Center, and Two California Plaza. The city is the site of 25 skyscrapers at least 492 feet (150 m) in height, more than any other city in the Pacific coast region. As of July 2011, there were 505 completed high-rises in the city.

As of May 2011, there were 60 high-rise buildings under construction, approved for construction, and proposed for construction in Los Angeles. 37 of these 60 buildings are over 100 meters tall.*^

Historical Notes

In 1928, the International Savings & Exchange Bank Building was dwarfed by the new 28-story Los Angeles City Hall, and soon after calls for its demolition increased, resulting in its razing sometime after 1954. The portion of Spring Street that its front entrance faced no longer exists.*^

Historical Notes

The International Savings & Exchange Bank Building (also known as the International Savings Building), was built in the Spring Street Financial District of Los Angeles in 1907. Standing ten floors, it was designed in the Renaissance Revival and Italianate styles by architect H. Alban Reaves, who had previously designed several structures in New York, including what is now the south building of the historic Schuyler Arms.

It stood at 226 North Spring Street, the intersection of Temple and Spring, (sometimes referred to as Temple Square) across from the Main Post Office and was featured in several postcards from the 1920s.*^

Click HERE to see more Early Views of the Internationl Bank Building.

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Playhouse opened for the first time on January 24, 1927.  It was designed in the Spanish Baroque style by the architectural team of Henry L. Gogerty and Carl Jules Weyl in 1926-1927.

During the Great Depression, the theatre was renamed The WPA Federal Theatre (after the Works Progress Administration), and used for government-sponsored programs.  Later, the theatre hosted numerous CBS Radio Network programs, including Fanny Brice's Baby Snooks show and Lucille Ball's My Favorite Husband program. Lux Radio Theater broadcast condensed movie scripted versions, usually with the movie's original cast performing their movie roles. Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland performed "Lady in the Dark" in 1945.*^

Historical Notes

In the 1940s, 1735 Vine was renamed The El Capitan Theatre, and was used for a long-running live burlesque variety show called Ken Murray's Blackouts. This should not be confused with the nearby movie theatre of the same name and age, the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, which at the time was known as the Paramount Theatre.

In the 1950s, still under the name of El Capitan, the theatre became a television studio, and it was from a set on its stage that Richard Nixon delivered his famous "Checkers speech" on September 23, 1952. This event is often mistakenly said (especially on the Internet) to have taken place at the El Capitan Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard, though that theater was never a television studio, and in 1952 was operating as a movie house called the Paramount Theatre.

The theater was also home to The Colgate Comedy Hour, the Lawrence Welk Show, and This is Your Life.*^

Historical Notes

The Avalon (or Avalon Hollywood) is a night club and music venue. Located at 1735 N. Vine Street, it has previously been known as The Hollywood Playhouse, The WPA Federal Theatre, El Capitan Theatre, The Jerry Lewis Theatre, The Hollywood Palace and The Palace. It has a capacity of 2,000.*^

Historical Notes

This would be the site of the iconic 13-story Hollywood First National Bank Building, built in 1927.

Historical Notes

Built in 1927, the First National Bank building located at 6777 Hollywood Boulevard was designed/constructed by architects Meyer and Holler who are also known for having built Grauman's Chinese Theatre, Grauman’s Egyptian Theatre, and Culver Studios. The same firm served as engineers and also did the construction.*

Historical Notes

The thirteen story building with Gothic/Renaissance elements a la Art Deco is one of a handful of structures in the city that is adorned with gargoyles. The building's architects (Meyer and Holler) created an eclectic hybrid of art deco and neo-gothic styles. It was the tallest building in Los Angeles from 1927 to 1932.*

Historical Notes

The First National Bank Building was designed in Art Deco/Gothic style by architects Meyer and Holler and built in 1927. It is located on the northeast corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland Avenue.

Grauman's Chinese Theater was also designed by Meyer and Holler and it too was built in 1927. The theater is located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.*

Historical Notes

On September 1, 1868, Hellman, Temple and Co. opened in the then small town of Los Angeles. The banking firm was the predecessor of Farmers and Merchants Bank (1870), which was the predecessor of Security First National Bank. The bank earned a reputation for aggressive and creative business practices and benefited from economic and population growth in the Western United States. By the mid-20th century it had an international presence, and was ranked the fifth-largest bank in the United States and third-largest in California in terms of deposits.

In 1967, Security First National Bank bought Pacific National Bank and became Security Pacific National Bank.

In 1992, Bank of America acquired Security Pacific National Bank.*^

Historical Notes

++The Bank of Italy was founded in San Francisco, on October 17, 1904 by Amadeo Giannini. It grew by a branch banking strategy to become the Bank of America, the world's largest commercial bank, with 493 branches in California and assets of $5 billion in 1945.*^

Historical Notes

The Art Deco 13-story building on the northeast corner of Highland Avenue and Hollywood Boulevard was occupied by Security Pacific Bank until 2008 and has been vacant since.

Historical Notes

The 11-story Hollywood Storage Co. building at 1025 N. Highland Ave. was the tallest structure in Hollywood when erected in 1925.  It was purchased by Bekins in 1939. The building was also home of the Evening Herald radio station, KMTR.*

Historical Notes

Morgan, Walls & Clements designed this Spanish revival style building, completed in 1925.*

Historical Notes

Ralphs Grocery Company was founded in 1873 by George Albert Ralphs with the original store being located at Sixth and Spring Streets. The company employed notable architects in designing its stores.*^

Click HERE to see an 1886 photo of George Ralphs standing in front of his original store in the Early LA Buildings (1800s) Section.

Historical Notes

The Spanish Colonial Revival building with a sidewalk arcade was designed by Morgan, Walls and Clements and constructed in 1928.  It was demolished in the early 1980s and replaced with a modern structure.*

Historical Notes

A Pig’n Whistle restaurant was located in the Ralphs Market building from 1929 to 1938.  The restaurant was closed when the Pig’n Whistle company opened its new upscale restaurant, Melody Lane, at Wilshire and Detroit.**#*

Historical Notes

Built in 1928, the restaurant featured a large dining room accommodating 250 patrons and an adjoining coffee shop with booths and a U-shaped counter. It was designed by the architect team of George Elmore Gable and C. Stanley Wyant, who were well known for their work in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. In 1929 they designed Hanger No. 1, the first structure built at Mines Field airport – now known as LAX. **#*

Historical Notes

Located at 811 West 7th Street, just east of Figueroa Street, the Fine Arts Building was built in 1925.  It is a twelve story Romanesque Revival style building designed by Walker & Eisen.

The building appears in the film (500) Days of Summer, where the protagonist — an aspiring architect — describes it as his favorite building.*^

Historical Notes

In 1974, the Fine Arts Building (also known as Global Marine House) was designated Historic Cultural Monument No. 125 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Architect Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue designed the original Los Angeles Central Library with influences of ancient Egyptian and Mediterranean Revival architecture. The central tower is topped with a tiled mosaic pyramid with suns on the sides with a hand holding a torch representing the "Light of Learning" at the apex. Other elements include sphinxes, snakes, and celestial mosaics. It has sculptural elements by the preeminent American architectural sculptor Lee Lawrie, similar to the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska, also designed by Goodhue.*^

The Central Library Goodhue building was constructed between 1922 and 1926 on the site once occupied by the State Normal School (later to evolve into UCLA).

Historical Notes

The sunburst image located directly above the globe chandelier mirrors the sunburst design of the pyramid on top of the building, a further illustration of the building's theme: "the light of learning".*

Historical Notes

The Central Library's murals were painted by Dean Cornwell, and the mosaic-like painted dome was done by Julian C. Garnsey. This entire area sustained some smoke damage during the fire that ravaged the upper levels of Central Library, April 29, 1986.*

Historical Notes

The murals on the rotunda walls depict four great eras of California history. These are: "Discovery" (north wall); "Mission building" (east wall); "Americanization" (south wall), and "The Founding of Los Angeles" (west wall).

Distinguished muralist and illustrator, Dean Cornwell was awarded the contract for the Los Angeles Public Library murals in 1927, and spent the next five years researching and painting the final canvases, which he completed in 1932. Julian C. Garnsey designed the ornate mosaic-like dome of the Library's rotunda.*

Historical Notes

Designed by Goodhue Associates, the chandelier measures 9 feet in diameter, is composed of cast bronze, weighs one ton, and is part of a model of the solar system.*

Historical Notes

On the wall under the tower are the words "David .. St. John". Part of the printing lower on the building reads: "They Give To All Who Ask ... Serve Them Faithfully." *

Historical Notes

Originally named the Central Library, the building was first renamed in honor of the longtime president of the Board of Library Commissioners and President of the University of Southern California, Rufus B. von KleinSmid. The new wing of Central Library, completed in 1993, was named in honor of former mayor Tom Bradley. The complex (i.e., the original Goodhue building and the Bradley wing) was subsequently renamed in 2001 for former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan, as the Richard Riordan Central Library.*^

Historical Notes

On March 1, 1967 the Central Library Building was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 46 (Click HERE to see listing). It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places.*^

Historical Notes

The proposed demolition of the Central Library in the 1970s led to the formation of the Los Angeles Conservancy in 1978. It was the first victory of the Conservancy.^#^

Historical Notes

It's hard to imagine downtown Los Angeles without the Central Library. It remains a prime example of how vulnerable our treasured landmarks can become, and why their preservation is worth the effort.^#^

Historical Notes

In the late 1920s, purchase of land at 538 South Flower Street was negotiated, and in 1929 the present structure was begun. Construction on the current clubhouse at 538 South Flower Street, Los Angeles, California, began in late 1928 and was formally completed on August 25, 1930. The building was designed Robert D. Farquhar, an architect trained at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts in Paris. The American Institute of Architects awarded Farquhar its Distinguished Honor Award for the design of the California Club building.*^

Historical Notes

Examiner clipping attached to verso reads:  "Symbol of progress and comfort -- California Club's magnificent new home costing $3,300,000, adjacent to Los Angeles Public Library. It will open to members September 1. The building, with one hundred and eight foot frontage on Hope and on Flower streets, is an artistic addition to the downtown architectural beauty."

Historical Notes

The club's first location was in the second-floor rooms over the Tally-Ho Stables on the northwest corner of First and Fort (Broadway) streets, where the Los Angeles County Law Library now stands. It moved to the Wilcox Building on the southeast corner of Second and Spring streets in 1895, occupying the two top floors, the fourth and fifth. The building was distinguished as the first in Los Angeles to have two elevators — one for the public and the other for members. The men's dining room, reading room, bar and lounge were on the top floor. On the floor below was the ladies' dining room.

The club remained at the Wilcox Building for ten years.  Increased membership impelled the club to seek a new location in the southward and westward direction of the expansion of the city. In 1904 the club's headquarters were moved to a new five-story building with a basement and a roof garden on the northwest corner of Fifth and Hill streets across from Pershing Square. In 1929 they would outgrow this building as well. Click HERE to see California Club's headquarters between 1904 and 1930.

In 1930, the California Club moved into its new building (still used today) located at 538 S. Flower Street and has been*^

Historical Notes

In addition to fine antiques and handcrafted furniture, the clubhouse is decorated with a collection of Western-themed, plein air paintings by such American landscape painters as J. Bond Francisco, Elmer Wachtel, Franz A. Bischoff, George Kennedy Brandriff, William Wendt and Paul Lauritz.*^

Historical Notes

Beginning in the 1920s, blacks, Jews and women were barred from membership. Finally in 1987 the city of Los Angeles made discriminatory clubs illegal. Some members of the California Club then sought to maintain discriminatory membership policies, but their efforts were defeated by a majority of the members. Indeed, in the vote taken in June 1987, 90 percent of the voting members favored admitting women.*^

Historical Notes

The California Club Building was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 43 in 1966 (Click HERE for listing). The building was also listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places in 2010.*^

Historical Notes

The Bullock's Wilshire Building was designed by Architects Parkinson & Parkinson in 1928. The building was completed in 1929 as a luxury department store for owner John G. Bullock (owner of the more mainstream Bullock's in Downtown Los Angeles). The exterior is notable for its 241-foot tower whose top is sheathed in copper, tarnished green. At one time, the tower peak had a light that could be seen for miles around.*^

Historical Notes

In 1968, the Bullock's Wilshire Building at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 56 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

In 1978, the building was also listed in the National Register of Historic Places as No.78000685.*^

Historical Notes

Bullocks Wilshire's innovation was that it was one of the first department stores in Los Angeles to cater to the burgeoning automobile culture. It was located in a then-mostly residential district, its objective to attract shoppers who wanted a closer place to shop than Downtown Los Angeles.*^

Historical Notes

Traditional display windows faced the sidewalk, but they were decorated to catch the eyes of motorists. Since most customers would arrive by vehicle, the most appealing entrance was placed in the rear. Under the city's first department store porte cochere, valets in livery welcomed patrons and parked their cars.*^

Historical Notes

In 1994, the building was acquired by Southwestern Law School - its long-time neighbor. The school restored the building to its original 1929 state, adapting the building for use as an integral part of the school (adaptive reuse).*^

Historical Notes

Hattem's Market opened on December 27, 1927, and resulted in the coining of the word "supermarket" when the Southwest Wave, a community newspaper described its grand opening. It was open day and night. #*#

Historical Notes

Walter Roland Hagedohm was the architect, and he also built Hattem's Shopping Center on Vermont and 80th Street about four years later. In between, he designed the Balboa Inn of Newport Beach, which became a trendy getaway of Hollywood movie stars in the 1930s.*#^

Historical Notes

Hattem's 24-Hour Drive-In Market was Los Angeles' first supermarket and possible the first grocery store to use trading stamps. It was owned and operated by by European immigrant, Isadore M. Hattem.

Isadore M. Hattem (originally spelled Hatem, but he changed it during the WWI years) was a Sephardic Jew and founding member of what is now the Sephardic Temple Tifereth Israel. Before opening his supermarket, Hattem was one of the early merchants in the Grand Central Market, which opened in 1917.*#^

Historical Notes

Hattem’s was one of the first self-service markets in Los Angeles.   Piggly-Wiggly in Tennessee was the first self-service market, but the trend spread west.  I.M.Hattem had the first "Supermarket", the key difference being, the groceries, meat, produce, and bakery departments were all self-service and wrung up at a central check out. He also had trading stamps, and the market had a parking lot for cars, shopping carts and it was open 24 hours a day.*#^

Historical Notes

Los Angeles was the principal center for the development of drive-in markets between the mid-1910s to the early 1940s.^^^

Historical Notes

The Mandarin Market with its unique Chinese profile, was designed by M. L. Gogerty and built in 1928-1929. It would later become the Hollywood Ranch Market.*

Historical Notes

+ In the late 1920s and 1930s these type of streetlights (electroliers) were installed in many parts of Los Angeles, however, nowhere more than in the Hollywood District. Click HERE to see more in Early Los Angeles Streetlights.

Historical Notes

Built in 1929, the Mandarin Market was touted as being one of the first drive-in markets of its kind in Los Angeles. The architect was Henry L. Gogerty, who later designed "gliding acoustical walls" for classrooms, and assembly line buildings for Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose project.

Historical Notes

Rather than have delivery trucks crowding the front of the marketplace, each store had a back entrance for deliveries.

Historical Notes

The complex included a Texaco service kiosk (right), a bakery (not visible), a full meat and produce market, and a restaurant (left) known at this time as "John Tait's."

Historical Notes

The property sold in 1932 for $175,000 and, after some modifications, became Hollywood Ranch Market.

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Ranch Market (Mandarin Market) took on a new look when the original outdoor area was enclosed. The Pagoda-style roofline remained intact around the periphery.

Historical Notes

It wasn’t unusual to see such personalities as Frank Sinatra, Ava Gardner or Red Skelton or at the Hollywood Ranch Market’s snack bar. Steve Allen used to broadcast his shows from his studio close by. ^#^^

(1954)* - Herald Examiner photo showing several men toasting with a cup of coffee in front of Hollywood Ranch Market.

Historical Notes

Examiner article reads: "The all-night Hollywood Ranch Market sidewalk lunch counter on Vine Street is one of many places revolting against the hike in coffee prices. This place reduced its price from 10 cents to 5 cents per cup. Celebrating with steaming mugs beneath the sign are, left to right: Richard Wilson, jazz musician-composer; night manager Roy McCully; co-owner Larry Frederick; writer Roger Fair; and newsboy Eddie Levin, on February 2, 1954." *

Historical Notes

The Ranch market burned down in the early 80s and is now a strip mall that includes a Office Depot and an El Pollo Loco.#^* Click HERE to see contemporary view.

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1921 to replace the old Board of Trade. A five-day membership drive resulted in 2,517 members. The first order of business for the new organization was to raise funds for the grading and installation of 20,000 seats to create the Hollywood Bowl.

In 1932, the Santa Claus Lane Parade was first sponsored by the Chamber. In 1978, the parade was given a new look, renamed the Hollywood Christmas Parade and grew to national prominence as the nation’s largest celebrity parade with national television distribution for the first time.

In 1949, the Chamber entered into an agreement with the Department of Recreation and Parks to repair and rebuild the Hollywood Sign and to remove the “land” so that it would spell “Hollywood”. The cost was $4,000. A second restoration was done by the Chamber in 1973. #*^^

Historical Notes

Leonis Adobe is one of only four surviving adobe residences remaining in the San Fernando Valley. When the Los Angeles Cultural Historical Board was formed in 1962, Leonis Adobe was the first designated as a Historic-Cultural Monument. By 2007, there were nearly 900 separately numbered sites that had received the designation, but Leonis Adobe has the prestige of having been designated as LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 1 (Click HERE to see the complete list). In 1975, the adobe was also listed on the National Register of Historical Places.*^

For a number of years it was part of Warner Bros. ranch properties and resided in by actor John Carradine and family. In 1965 it was one of the few remnants of the San Fernando Valley's heritage standing in original form.*

Historical Notes

During the 1930s, the St. Charles turned into a low-budget-lodging house and served a poor and ethnically diverse population. It was demolished in 1940 to make space for a parking lot. In the 1970s, architect Robert Stockwell designed the subterranean Los Angeles Mall, where the oldest hotel once stood.^#*

The Bella Union Hotel site was designated as California Historical Landmark No. 656. Click HERE to see more California Historical Landmarks in LA.

Historical Notes

The 12-story Chester Williams Building was constructed in 1926 and located at 215 West Fifth Street.  The building also has the address 452 South Broadway.  It was designed by Architects Curlett & Beelman.

In 2012, the Chester Williams Building was converted to a 88-unit apartment complex. The opening of the renovated Chester Williams makes the intersection of Fifth Street and Broadway only the second Historic Core crossing where all four corners are occupied by residential buildings. The first such intersection, at Sixth and Spring streets, was marked in 2010 with the opening of SB Tower.

Historical Notes

The Architects' Building was demolished in 1969 to make room for the ARCO Towers.*

Historical Notes

After land was donated by Charles Chapman in 1911, a small bungalow style church was built at this corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Normandie Avenue. In 1927 the original church was replaced by this Northern Italian Romanesque style structure with a 200-foot tower, designed by Robert H. Orr.*

Historical Notes

On May 19, 1940, First Christian Church of Los Angeles merged with Wilshire Boulevard Christian Church to become Wilshire Christian Church, which is of the Disciples of Christ denomination. Located at 634 S. Normandie Avenue, the church was dedicated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 209 (Click HERE to see complete listing).*

Historical Notes

The Gaylord Apartment Hotel was named after Henry Gaylord Wilshire, who founded the famous boulevard; the 14-story building officially opened its doors in 1924. The entire area near the Gaylord became the site of New York style apartment buildings, and many film stars lived in these elegant high rises. Among them were the Ambassador, Asbury, Langham, Fox Normandie, Picadilly, and Windsor. In the mid-sixties, the Gaylord Apartment Hotel was converted into a charming apartment community.*

Historical Notes

In 1895, Henry Gaylord Wilshire began developing 35 acres stretching westward from Westlake Park for an elite residential subdivision. He donated a strip of land to the city of Los Angeles for a boulevard through what was then a barley field, on the conditions that it would be named for him and that railroad lines and commercial or industrial trucking would be banned.

In 1900, Wilshire was arrested for speaking in a public park in Los Angeles. A judge dismissed the charges, but the incident caused Wilshire to leave Los Angeles for New York.

Wilshire eventually returned to Los Angeles and made much of his connection with the now famous Boulevard that bore his name, although he had no involvement with its gradual expansion in the years while he was absent from the region. He made and lost several fortunes during his lifetime and died destitute on September 7, 1927 in New York.*^

Historical Notes

Architects Walker & Eisen designed the Renaissance revival style 1924 Gaylord Apartments, located at 3355 Wilshire Boulevard.

The six-story Evanston Apartments were built in the late 1920s and located at 630 South Kenmore. This building has been demolished and the site is now occupied by the 1967 Wilshire Square building designed by the architectural firm of Langdon & Wilson.*

Historical Notes

Richfield Tower, also known as the Richfield Oil Company Building, was constructed between 1928 and 1929 and served as the headquarters of Richfield Oil. It was designed by Stiles O. Clements and featured a black and gold Art Deco facade. The unusual color scheme was meant to symbolize the "black gold" that was Richfield's business. Haig Patigian did the exterior sculptures.*^

Historical Notes

The 12-floor Atlantic Richfield Building was 372 feet tall, including a 130-foot tower atop the building, emblazoned vertically with the name "Richfield". Lighting on the tower was made to simulate an oil well gusher and the motif was reused at some Richfield service stations.*^

Historical Notes

The grandest of all the beacons in early Los Angeles was placed atop the Richfield Oil Company’s own magnificent headquarters building at Sixth and Flower surpassing in height even that of the beacon atop Los Angeles’ City Hall.  It was the highest aviation beacon in all of Southern California and a pretty impressive advertising coup for Richfield Oil.*^#^

Historical Notes

The Ayers Apartments will be demolished with the construction of the Edison Building in 1930-31 and the Baronne, originally the Westonia, will change it's name one last time and become the Engstrum Hotel/Apartments.^#^^

Historical Notes

The above photo was taken from the roof of the Central Library, the still under-construction Edison Building is taking shape. Next door to the left is the handsome, symmetrical Engstrum Apartment Hotel and on the corner of Hope Street is a single family residence and behind it the Pierce apartments which will soon give way to the Engsrtrum's need for on site parking. Up Hope Street is the white Barbara Worth Apartments shown on the left. #*

Historical Notes

Located on the corner of Fifth Street and Grand Avenue the building opened on March 20, 1931 as the Southern California Edison Company corporate headquarters.*

The Edison Company Building was one of the first all-electrically heated and cooled buildings constructed in the western United States. Now known as One Bunker Hill, the Art Deco building located at 601 W. 5th Street was designed by James and David Allison.*

Historical Notes

In 1939, Southern California Edison (SCE) and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (DWP) completed negotiations on the division of territory between the two utilities. SCE would supply the unincorporated areas within Los Angeles County and all other municipalities except for Pasadena, Glendale, and Burbank, while the DWP became the sole electrical service provider for the City of Los Angeles.

Click HERE to see more in First Electricity in Los Angeles.

Historical Notes

In 1988, the One Bunker Hill Building was designated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 347 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

This 13-story building began life in 1928 as the American Storage Building. In addition to storage units, the Bud Murray School for Stage and Lewis S. Hart Auctioneer were also early tenants of the building.

Longtime cafe man E.W. 'Curley' Bordwell opened the Roof Garden in September 1928, a 'nite club de luxe' which featured dancing to the sounds of George Redman's Famous "Roof Garden Orchestra". They were apparently so famous that by early October a remote controlled broadcasting station operated by KMTR had been installed and George Redman's jazz orchestra could be heard nightly on KMTR from 10pm to 11pm. Curley's place must have been swinging during daylight hours as well - Chris Mann & His Roof Garden Melody Boys were broadcast live daily from 3:30pm to 4:30pm.

Within just a year the Roof Garden had given way to 'Thirteenth Heaven', a night club with a rip-snorting theme. The elevator to the club was manned by 'St. Peter', the waiters sported wings and the musicians and attendants wore clothes 'intended to produce a spiritual illusion'.^##*

Historical Notes

In 1931 the 'Los Angeles Press Club' moved into the building and began having problems of their own. Their biggest problem was getting caught brewing beer during Prohibition. The 'Los Angeles Press Club' was raided March 18, 1931. Dry agents discovered a complete beer plant, 21 twelve-gallon crocks of beer mash, 203 bottles of beer - ninety of which were on ice (for the members no doubt).

The 41 Club took up residence briefly in late 1931 before making the move to Spring Street. They too were raided, and approximately $10,000 worth of liquor was found in secret compartments.^##*

Historical Notes

By the mid-1940s the building held various military organizations such as the Air Technical Service Command Headquarters and the War Assets Administration. For many years after the war it was also the headquarters for Pacific Telephone & Telegraph Company.^##*

Historical Notes

The S. Charles Lee designed Hollywood Western Building, 5500-5510 Hollywood Blvd, was built in 1928. The building was financed by Louis B Mayer and Irving Thalberg for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), including the Hays Office. The building also housed Central Casting.*#^*

Historical Notes

In 1988, the Hollywood Western Building was designated LA Cultural-Historic Monument No. 336 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

In 1919 the school obtained university status and became the Southern Branch of the University of California, located at 855 N. Vermont Avenue. In 1927 the name was changed to the University of California at Los Angeles. On May 31, 1929 the university opened its new campus in Westwood on land sold for $1 million dollars. In 1958, the name changed slightly again when the "at" was dropped, and became simply University of California, Los Angeles or UCLA.*

Historical Notes

Westwood and UCLA were developed on the lands of the historic 'Wolfskill Ranch', a 3,000-acre parcel that was purchased by Arthur Letts, the successful founder of the Broadway, and Bullock's department stores, in 1919. Upon Arthur Lett's death, his son-in-law, Harold Janss, vice president of Janss Investment Company, inherited the land and developed the area and started advertising for new homes in 1922.*^

Historical Notes

In 1925, in a deal to get the University of California, Los Angeles built, the Janss Investment Company sold 375 acres to the cities of Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Beverly Hills at the bargain price of $1.2 million — about a quarter of its value. The cities, whose voters had passed bond issues to pay for the site, turned around and donated it to the state. While the UCLA campus was being built, Janss Investment Company went to work developing the Westwood Village commercial area and surrounding residential neighborhoods.*^

Historical Notes

The bridge seen above connected Hilgard Avenue to the campus. The gully over which the bridge passed was filled in after World War II.*

Historical Notes

This northwest corner of Westwood Boulevard and Broxton Avenue is called "The Dome," and it served as offices for the Janss Investment Company when built. It was designed by Allison and Allison. The octagonal building remains the dominant structure within Westwood Village. Building at right in rear is the Holmby Building, designed by architect Gordon B. Kaufmann and built in 1930.*

Historical Notes

The Janss Dome was designed by the architectural firm of Allison & Allison who also designed UCLA’s Royce Hall and Kerckhoff Hall. Architectural features of the building include a high portico and arched windows with the main part of the building having an octagonal shape and being surmounted by its signature dome with its Moorish style aqua and white zig-zag pattern and gold leafing. Atop the dome is a cupola.*^

Historical Notes

Around the beginning of the 1990s renowned architectural firm Morphosis adapted the Dome for use as a clothing store by Contempo Casuals, and later it was occupied by a Wherehouse Music store. In 1998 restaurateur Michael Chow remodelled the interior for a Eurochow restaurant but had the time-honored aqua and white zig-zag on the rotunda painted over in white. This caused the Westwood Design Review Board to order that the dome be restored to its traditional decoration. The Janss Dome currently houses a Japanese restaurant, the Yamato.*^

Historical Notes

Built in 1929, Holmby Hall is a streetscape of six Spanish Colonial Revival storefronts and features a prominent white clock tower, capped by a green pinnacle.  It  was the first shop building to be erected in the architecturally significant cinema/shopping precinct of Westwood Village.

Holmby Hall’s history is tied in with that of UCLA, as the building was used as the first dormitory for female students of that famous university.*^

Historical Notes

Westwood Village was created by the Janss Investment Company, run by Harold and Edwin Janss and their father, Peter, in the late 1920s as an autonomous shopping district and headquarters of the Janss Company. Its boom was complemented by the boom of UCLA (which selected the Westwood Hills as its new home in 1926), developed as a shopping district not just for the residents of Westwood but also for the university.*^

Historical Notes

The Automobile Club of Southern California, one of the nation's first motor clubs dedicated to improving roads, proposing traffic laws, and improvement of overall driving conditions, was founded on December 13, 1900 in Los Angeles. The Auto Club was responsible for producing state road maps, as well as posting thousands of porcelain-to-steel traffic signs throughout the state to create a uniform signing system - which it continued to do until the task was taken over by the State of California in the mid-1950s.*

Historical Notes

The building pictured here originally served as the Auto Club's main office. It was built between 1922-1923 by architects, Sumner P. Hunt, Silas R. Burns, and Roland E. Coate in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. Today, this building serves as the Los Angeles district office, but the administrative offices are now located in Costa Mesa.*

Historical Notes

The Automobile Club Building was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 72 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

The University of Southern California (USC) was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university. USC's development has closely paralleled the growth of Los Angeles, and the university historically has educated a large number of the city's business leaders and professionals.*^

Historical Notes

USC Law School had its beginnings in 1896 when Judge David C. Morrison opened his courtroom for 36 law apprentices, among whom were future California Supreme Court Justice Frederick W. Houser and his wife, Sara Isabella Wilde; the couple would soon form the Los Angeles Law Students Association to discuss the concept of a formal law school. Their efforts resulted in the incorporation of the Los Angeles Law School in 1898.

The first law degree was awarded in 1901 to Gavin W. Craig. Over the next several decades, USC Law rose to become one of the most prominent national law schools, priding itself on an interdisciplinary form of study. 2002 saw the beginning of the USC Law Graduate and International Programs. It is an American Bar Association (ABA) approved law school since 1924. It joined the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in 1907.*^

Historical Notes

In 1892, Edward Laurence Doheny Sr. struck oil in Los Angeles, setting off a major land boom. The Dohenys built a financial empire based upon their success in the oil-producing business. Their son, Edward L. 'Ned' Doheny Jr., studied at USC and remained involved in the university after his graduation in 1916. Tragically, he was murdered at his home in Beverly Hills in February 1929. As a memorial to their son, the Dohenys contributed the entire $1.1 million needed to build the Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library and actively participated in the design and construction of the facility.^

Historical Notes

The Times Mirror Reading Room is one of Doheny Library’s most popular study locations. The exquisite architecture includes bronze and pewter chandeliers as well as American walnut bookshelves. The room is 131 feet long, 46 feet wide, and 27 feet high. It has shelves for 6,000 books and accommodates 400 readers.^^

Historical Notes

Barkies Sandwich Shops was a 1920s Los Angeles restaurant chain, featuring a larger than life mascot named “Ponderous Pup.” These types of shops were an early precursor to the mini-mall idea.*

(ca. 1930)^*^# - View showing a woman in a fur coat posing next to an early model car with Barkies Sandwich Shops No. 4 in the background.

Historical Notes

Hollywood Post 43 began in an old church building on El Centro Street near Hollywood Boulevard and grew to the largest in the State, having 1,285 registered members. It was organized in 1920.^^*

The American Legion is an organization of U.S. war veterans formed in Paris on March 15–17, 1919, by delegates from all units of the American Expeditionary Forces. Their main mission is to sponsor programs that improve veterans communities, such as scholarships, veterans help programs (i.e. ending veterans homelessness), and youth sports. They also promote national security, patriotism, and devotion to veterans.*^

Historical Notes

The Egytian Revival-Morroccan Deco building was designed by architects Gene and Joe Weston and completed in 1929 at a cost of $270,000. The three-story 33,000 square foot facility has an ornamental entrance of colored terra cotta, set in a solid concrete, with broad steps and terraces in the foreground and graceful tower and pyramid surmounting it. 

In 1989, the Hollywood American Legion Building was dedicated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 462 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

The ten-story B. H. Dyas Building's (later the Broadway-Hollywood Building) construction in 1928 helped to usher in a spatial shift that opened the doors for large-scale retail development outside of downtown Los Angeles. It also was the first department store to introduce women’s slacks.^*##

Historical Notes

Built by local businessman Frank R. Strong and designed in the Classical Revival Style by architect Frederick Rice Dorn, the building initially housed the B. H. Dyas Company Department Store. The move by B. H. Dyas to Hollywood was the first case of a department store developing a branch outside of the downtown core and helped to cement the idea of Hollywood as a retail destination. The store prospered for just a few short years until the Depression did the B. H. Dyas Company in and Broadway jumped in to take it over.^*##

Historical Notes

In 1932, the building became the keystone to the Broadway Department Store chain. In 1938, fueled by increased revenues, The Broadway Department Store constructed a seven-story addition to the building’s south side providing 52,000 square feet of additional retail space. ^*##

Historical Notes

In 1939, an eight-story modern annex designed by Parkinson and Parkinson was built immediately to the west. The Broadway Department Store served as a tenant until the 1970s. In the 1980s, the building was reconfigured for office use. By 1987 the building was abandoned.*^

Historical Notes

More recently, the building has been converted to condominiums on the top eight floors and is now called The Broadway Hollywood. Atop the main building is the large, metal-formed, neon sign reading: “The Broadway Hollywood". ^*##

Historical Notes

In 1999, the Broadway Department Store and Neon Sign were designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 664 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Named the Wilkes Brothers Vine Street Theatre in honor of its builders, the Beaux Arts live-performance theater was built in 1926-1927. It was the first legitimate Broadway-style theatre in Hollywood. The theatre was designed by architect Myron Hunt, also known for other notable buildings including the Rose Bowl, Cal Tech, and the Ambassador Hotel. 

The premier performance was “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser. The theater also had a memorable run of the play “Philadelphia” during its early years. The theater features orchestra, mezzanine, loge and balcony seating.^^#

Historical Notes

During the depression of the 1930’s, the theater was renamed Mirror and became a cinema. It later became the Lux Theatre when it was purchased by the Columbia Broadcasting (CBS) for local affiliate KNX radio and was used as a live performance radio auditorium and local radio station.^^#

Historical Notes

When the Vine Street Theater opened at 1615 Vine St, just south of the Hollywood and Vine corner, it was a legitimate live theater. In March, 1931 it became a cinema called the Mirror, under the direction of Howard Hughes' Hughes-Franklin circuit. ##**

In 1936 the theatre became the Lux Radio Playhouse where the long-running “Lux Radio Theater” hosted by Cecil B. DeMille was made.*^

Historical Notes

Lux Radio Theatre was a long-run classic radio anthology series that was broadcast on the NBC Blue Network (1934-35); CBS Radio (1935-54), and NBC Radio (1954-55). Initially the series adapted Broadway plays during its first two seasons in New York before it began adapting films after moving to its Hollywood Vine Street location (1936). These hour-long radio programs were performed live before studio audiences. The series became the most popular dramatic anthology series on radio, broadcast for more than 20 years and continued on television as the Lux Video Theatre through most of the 1950s.*^

Historical Notes

Lux Radio Theatre strove to feature as many of the original stars of the original stage and film productions as possible, usually paying them $5,000 an appearance. In 1936, when sponsor Lever Brothers (who made Lux soap and detergent) moved the show from New York City to Hollywood, the program began to emphasize adaptations of films rather than plays. The first Lux film adaptation was The Legionnaire and the Lady, with Marlene Dietrich and Clark Gable, based on the film Morocco. That was followed by a Lux adaptation of The Thin Man, featuring the movie's stars, Myrna Loy and William Powell.*^

Historical Notes

In 1954, George Huntington Hartford bought the building for $200,000 from Columbia Broadcasting and extensively remodeled and “modernized” the theater at an additional cost of $750,000. He streamlined the building from the facade, to the lobby and through the auditorium. Hartford ran the theater successfully for ten years.^^#

Historical Notes

In 1964 Hartford sold the theater to James Doolittle (owner of the Greek Theater in the Hollywood Hills) for $850,000. Cary Grant had tried to buy the building, but lost over Doolittle. The theater was (not surprisingly) renamed the Doolittle Theater.

Eventually, the theater would run down into disrepair. Until bought in 2000 by the U.C.L.A. performing arts group “Nosotros”, an organization founded in 1970 by actor Ricardo Montalban “to help fulfill the goals of persons of Spanish-speaking origin in the motion picture and television industry”. The founding board included members Desi Arnaz, Vicki Carr and Anthony Quinn. In May 2004 the theatre reopened as The Montalbán. ^^#

Historical Notes

In 2005, Nike entered into a partnership with the Montalbán Theatre and the theatre has since been used for special venues such as promotional events.

Historical Notes

The temple was built in 1924 and was designed by S. Tilden Norton in a combination of styles – Romanesque, Moorish, and Renaissance.**^^

Historical Notes

Sinai Temple was the first conservative congregation in Southern California, established in 1906. For nearly 20 years, the temple was located at 12th and Valencia Streets. A second facility, the 1,400-seat structure shown here, was designed by S. Tilden Norton and the first services were held in 1925. The synagogue served the community until 1960, at which time a new temple opened in Westwood.*

Historical Notes

This building, which later became the Korean Philadelphia Presbyterian Church, was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 91 on November 17, 1971 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Over the years, the building appears to have lost parts of its roof towers.

Historical Notes

The Chateau Elysée was built as a luxury hotel/apartment house in 1929 by Eleanor Ince, the widow of Thomas H. Ince, the successful pioneer silent film producer.  Designed by eminent architect Arthur E. Harvey as a prominent seven story replica of a 17th Century French-Normandy castle, the Chateau Elysée remains as the most impressive of several Hollywood chateaux built during the area's booming 1920s.*^

Historical Notes

The Chateau Elysée Hotel provided a home for many of the artists that were then being drawn to Hollywood. Residents included some of the most famous names of the 1930s and 40s. Most notably Bette Davis, Errol Flynn (room 211), Edward G. Robinson (room 216), Carol Lombard (room 305), Edgar Rice Burroughs (room 408), Humphrey Bogart (room 603), Clark Gable (room 604), Ginger Rogers (room 705), Ed Sullivan (room 501), Gracie Allen and George Burns (room 609) along with Lillian Gish, Katharine Hepburn, George Gershwin, and Cary Grant.*^

Historical Notes

In 1969 the building began being used as the Church of Scientology's home for its Celebrity Centre; since 1973 the building has been owned by the Church. Several floors are now hotel rooms (for church members only), with the building's topmost stories serving as offices. Free guided tours of the historic building are available to the general public.

The Château's conservatory building houses the acclaimed French rococo-styled restaurant, Renaissance.*^

On September 23, 1987, the City of Los Angeles declared the building as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 329 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

The developer Luther T. Mayo built the 50-unit Spanish Colonial-style apartment house in 1926 from a design by architect Arthur E. Harvey, with rumored financing from William Randolph Hearst. Upon completion, it belonged to Eleanor Ince, widow of silent-film magnate Thomas Ince. According to legend, Hearst gave her the building as a gift after accidentally killing her husband on his yacht in 1924. The bullet, so the story goes, was intended for Charlie Chaplin, whom Hearst suspected was having an affair with his mistress, Marion Davies (Rosebud herself). Supposedly, Ince’s wife received the luxury residence hotel for her grief.**

Historical Notes

Edward G. Robinson, George Cukor, and Marion Davies were among its early celebrity tenants. Louella Parsons, the most famous gossip writer of the era, penned her column from a two-story apartment on the courtyard. A personal favorite of Hearst’s, Parsons was on the yacht the night of Thomas’s alleged shooting, and is said to have received The Carlotta’s finest apartment for her silence.**

Historical Notes

The four-story building was designed by Arthur E. Harvey, who also designed the nearby Chateau Elysée located across the street.

Historical Notes

The building is a Churrigueresque wonder of late Spanish baroque and filled with detailing they just don’t do anymore.

Historical Notes

The Lesser family trust owned the building from the 1950s to 2014, when it was bought by investment firm CGI Strategies. The new owner is restoring and renovating the historic building with a focus on preserving its architectural heritage, including keeping and refreshing the features and fixtures that made it a special place for so many residents and visitors.*^

Historical Notes

Built in 1927, the 6-story La Leyenda Apartment Building is located in the residential neighborhood of Whitley Heights in the Hollywood Hills.

Historical Notes

The La Leyenda Apartment Building exhibits character-defining features of Spanish Colonial Revival architecture including stucco surfaces which predominate over the openings; low-pitched tile roof; limited number of openings; formal garden; use of decorative ironwork; ceramic tile walls and floors; and Churrigueresque cast stone detailing.^

Historical Notes

In 2005, the La Leyenda Apartment Building at 1735-1737 N. Whitley Avenue was dedicated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 817.

Historical Notes

Originally known as the Warner Bros. Theatre or Warner Hollywood Theatre, the Italianate beaux arts building was designed by architect G. Albert Lansburgh with approximately 2,700 seats. It opened on April 26, 1928, showcasing the studio's early Vitaphone talking film Glorious Betsy, starring Conrad Nagel and Dolores Costello.*^

Historical Notes

The  murals were designed by Albert Herter.*^

Historical Notes

The theatre was sometimes called The Warner Hollywood Theatre to avoid confusion with another Warner Theatre in Los Angeles, known as "Warner Downtown Theatre" at 401 W. 7th St.*^

In 1993, the building was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 572 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

Warner Bros. owned radio station KFWB positioned its radio transmitter towers on top of the building, which remain to this day. Though covered by "PACIFIC" lettering, the original "WARNERS" lettering can still be seen inside each tower.*^

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Pacific Theater (previously Warner Bros.) finally closed its doors as a full-time cinema on August 15, 1994. This was mostly due to water damage to the basement caused by the construction of the Hollywood Subway Red Line and structural damage caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake.

The theatre is now occupied by Ecclesia Hollywood Church. Given the recent revitalization of Hollywood Boulevard in the early 21st century, it is often speculated that the theatre will one day be restored as a film palace.*^

Historical Notes

The Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre was the last theater built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages. The palatial Art Deco theater opened on June 4, 1930, as part of the Pantages Theatre Circuit.*^

Historical Notes

The original plans for the Pantages were for a 12-story building: 2 floors dedicated to theater and 10 floors of office space. Completion of the 10 upper floors was halted due to the 1929 stock market crash during construction.*^

Historical Notes

The Pantages Theatre, formerly known as RKO Pantages Theatre was the last theater built by the vaudeville impresario Alexander Pantages. The palatial Art Deco theater opened on June 4, 1930, as part of the Pantages Theatre Circuit.*^

Historical Notes

Alexander Pantages sold the Hollywood landmark in 1932 to Fox West Coast Theaters. In 1949, Howard Hughes acquired the Pantages for his RKO Theatre Circuit and moved his personal offices to the building's second floor.

From 1949 through 1959, the theatre hosted the American motion picture industry's annual Academy Award Ceremonies.*^

Historical Notes

The grand lobby is a magnificent poly-chromatic fan-vaulted space, that is 110 feet wide and 60 feet deep. It is decorated in a zigzag geometric design in gold and henna shades. At each end is a 20 feet wide stairway, lined with vaguely Egyptian and Assyro-Babylonian styled statues, one of which depicts in an Art Deco style, a camera crew filming. The entire area was illuminated by three huge Moderne frosted glass chandeliers hanging from three star-shaped domes.^^#

Historical Notes

The auditorium was designed to seat 3,212, but it opened with extra legroom and wider seats to give more comfort for its 2,812 patrons.^^#

Historical Notes

The crowning beauty of the dazzling Art Deco style decorations which cover almost every inch of the theatre interior, by interior designer/muralist Anthony B. Heinsbergen, is the double ceiling made in a series of ‘busy’ fretwork sunray effects which converge from the center, from which is hung a tremendous frosted glass and bronze chandelier.^^#

Historical Notes

The Pantages Theatre was one of the first movie houses to be built after the advent of talking pictures and once boasted the most elaborate sound system in the world. It opened with Marion Davies in “The Floradora Girl” on screen, and “The Rose Garden Idea” a Franchon & Marco stage revue.^^#

Historical Notes

The Pantages Theater continued to be a major venue for road show movies into the 1970s. From 1965, it was operated by Pacific Theatres. It closed as a movie theater in January, 1977, and re-opened the following month with Bubbling Brown Sugar, the first of the many stage productions that have since become its regular fare.*^

Historical Notes

The 1930 Pantages Theatre can hold claim to two “lasts”: the last movie palace to be built in Hollywood and the last venue erected by vaudeville circuit owner, Alexander Pantages. Designed by B. Marcus Priteca at the epitome of the Art Deco era, from sidewalk to stage, the Pantages dazzles theater-goers with chevrons, zigzags, starbrusts, and exotic figures.^#^

Historical Notes

In 2000, the theater underwent a massive rehabilitation project, uncovering its Art Deco grandeur, receiving a Conservancy Preservation Award in 2001. 

Now operated by a subsidiary of The Nederlander Organization, the fully-restored Pantages is one of the city’s highest-grossing venues for live stage and Broadway-style productions, packing in audiences for such lavish hits as The Lion King, Wicked, and The Book of Mormon. With a location a few steps from “Hollywood and Vine,” a major hotel complex and a subway station directly across the street, and numerous development projects newly-announced or underway, the best years of the Pantages may well lie in the future.^#^

Historical Notes

The site of the Hollywood Bowl was chosen in 1919 by William Reed and his son H. Ellis Reed, members of the newly formed Theatre Arts Alliance who were dispatched to find a suitable location for outdoor performances.*^

Historical Notes

The Hollywood Bowl is known for its band shell, a distinctive set of concentric arches that graced the site from 1929 through 2003, before being replaced with a somewhat larger one beginning in the 2004 season. The shell is set against the backdrop of the Hollywood Hills and the famous Hollywood Sign to the Northeast.*^

Historical Notes

In 1939, the Hollywood Bowl’s “Muse of Music” entrance statue was erected by the WPA. It was designed by sculptor George Stanley, most noted for his design of the “Oscar” statuette.*

Historical Notes

The Greek Theatre, located in Griffith Park, was built in 1929. It was designed by architect Frederick Heath to resemble a Greek temple.*^

Historical Notes

The Greek Theatre was paid for with a donation from Griffith J. Griffith, who also donated the land for the park, named in his honor.*^

Historical Notes

The Greek Theatre’s opening performance was a double bill comprised of the grand operas, "Cavalleria Rusticana" and "Pagliacci."

The map indicates principal highways and the route of the special bus service, which connects on transfers with the yellow "V" line and intersecting red cars and Sunset busses. Parking areas adjoining and near the theater with accommodations for 3,250 automobiles, also are shown, as well as location of playgrounds, pool, picnic grounds and other centers of diversion which are stressed by the park board as constituting the Greek Theatre sector of Griffith Park as an ideal week-end rendezvous.*

Historical Notes

The amphitheatre had a limited concert season during its first two decades and during World War II it was used as a barracks. In 1947, however, the theatre was used for the Broadway show Anything Goes for two weeks. During the 1950s, under the management of James Doolittle, a concert promoter, the amphitheater underwent a series of renovations that allowed the theater to compete with rival 1950s’ theaters.*^

Historical Notes

Although it is owned by the City of Los Angeles, the Greek Theatre is managed, operated and promoted by the Nederlander Organization. The theatre currently has a seating capacity of 5,700.*^

Historical Notes

The school is named after jurist John Marshall, who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States for three decades. It was designed by architect George M. Lindsey in the Collegiate Gothic style, and constructed in 1930.

Historical Notes

John Marshall High School first opened its doors on January 26, 1931, with approximately twelve hundred students and forty-eight teachers. Joseph Sniffen, for whom the auditorium was named, served as the first Principal, while Hugh Boyd and Geraldine Keith acted as Marshall's first Vice-Principals. The football field was named in honor of Mr. Boyd, while the library was named for Mrs. Keith.*^

Historical Notes

Franklin Hills borders Los Feliz proper on the northwest and west; Silver Lake on the northeast, east, and southeast; and East Hollywood on the south. The area is residential, boasting very well-kept homes set on the hills east of Los Feliz Village.

Franklin Hills is also home to the Shakespeare Bridge, a small 1926 built bridge on Franklin Avenue east of Talmadge Street that links Franklin Avenue between two tall, steep hills. To the east of the bridge begins the Franklin Hills public stairway system, which provides pedestrian linkages among the curvy streets, a series of 14 staircases originally built in the 1920s to provide hillside homeowners pedestrian access to the trolley lines below.*^

Historical Notes

The school's mascot is the "Barrister." The school's service organization is the Continentals. A bust of John Marshall stands in the center of the Senior Court.*^

Historical Notes

Following the Sylmar earthquake of 1971, some of Marshall's buildings were condemned. The cafeteria was torn down, but the Los Feliz community organized a group called "Citizens to Save Marshall" and campaigned to save the unique Collegiate Gothic Main Building. In 1975, this building was closed for structural strengthening and all classes moved to temporary bungalows. In September 1980 the refurbished Main Building was opened.*^

Historical Notes

The beautiful 1920s 'French Norman revival' building was located on the southeast corner of Sunset Blvd. and Crescent Heights Blvd., just east of the Garden of Allah apartments. The structure faced Sunset Blvd.

Historical Notes

Today, the 8000 Sunset Strip Shopping Center stands at the northeast corner of Sunset and Crescent Heights. The center includes Trader Joe's, CB2 (Crate & Barrel), Sundance Cinema, Crunch Fitness and several offices.

Historical Notes

Established in 1897 as a substitute for the university education that women were largely denied, the Ebell club had 2,500 members in its heyday in the 1920s, and activities included Shakespeare, gardening and art appreciation.

The Ebell was named after Adrian Ebell, a German professor who traveled around California forming study groups for women. In the beginning of the 20th century, the Ebell was one of the largest and most elite clubs in the nation, rivaled only by the Friday Morning Club in downtown Los Angeles.^#^#

Historical Notes

The club’s home — not its original but by far the longest serving — is an enormous, meandering building designed by the architect Sumner Hunt. It has an elaborate coffered ceiling with gilded rosettes, a grand entrance on Wilshire Boulevard made from 200 separate pieces of wrought iron, and all sorts of fancy sitting rooms.

The stairs maintain their original risers, which were built to allow women to hold their dresses while climbing them with grace.^#^#

Historical Notes

Since 1927, the Wilshire Ebell Theater has hosted musical performances and lectures by world leaders and top artists. Among other events, the Ebell was the site of aviator Amelia Earhart's last public appearance before attempting the 1937 around-the-world flight during which she disappeared, and the place where Judy Garland was discovered while performing as Baby Frances Gumm in the 1930s.*^

In 1982, the Ebell of Los Angeles Building was designated LA Historic-Cultural Monument No. 250 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

In 1908, architect John C. W. Austin was hired by by Ida Hancock, widow of Major Henry Hancock, to create Villa Madama, which was based on Florence’s Villa Medici. In 1909, the Villa Madama was by built in a subdivision called Shatto Place.*

Hancock Park was developed in the 1920s by the Hancock family with profits earned from oil drilling in the former Rancho La Brea. The area owes its name to developer-philanthropist George Allan Hancock, who subdivided the property in the 1920s. Hancock, born and raised in a home at what is now the La Brea tar pits, inherited 4,400 acres, which his father, Major Henry Hancock had acquired from the Rancho La Brea property owned by the family of Jose Jorge Rocha.*^

Historical Notes

After the passing of Ida Hancock in 1913, her son Captain George Allan, with his first wife, Genevieve, moved into the mansion and stayed there until 1938, when it was decided that Villa Madama would be razed. Prior to the demolition, four rooms, the Reception Hall, the Dining Room, the Music Salon, and the Library, of the mansion were dismantled and relocated in the Allan Hancock Foundation Building (1941) on the campus of the University of Southern California.*

Historical Notes

The gas station was demolished the following year to make way for the construction of the E. Clem Wilson Building. The brick-clad building facing La Brea Avenue in the left background housed an office and switching station for the Southern California Telephone Company, completed in 1925 to serve the city’s western neighborhoods. It was enlarged from three to five floors in 1942 and given a complementary Art Deco facade by architects John and Donald Parkinson. It continues to operate today under the ownership of AT&T.**#*

Historical Notes

Built in 1929, the E. Clem Wilson Building was designed by architects Meyer and Holler in Art Deco (Zigzag) Moderne style. It is also known as the Wilson Building.*

Historical Notes

Elihu Clement Wilson was born on July 5, 1870 in Harrison, Darke County, Ohio to Andrew Porter Wilson, Jr., a farmer, and Arabella Josephine Wiley. He lived for a time, ca. 1880, in Parsons, Kansas, where his father was an insurance agent. By 1888, the family was in LA, where Andrew was a bookkeeper and miner. Elihu was also a bookkeeper, though briefly, in the early 1890s, was a professor at Woodbury Business College. After doing bookkeeping for an iron works, he became a manufacturer of oil well tools (Wilson & Willard Mfg. Co./Wilson Oil Tools Corp.), held several patents and became wealthy. In addition to erecting the Wilson Building, he built a lavish residence on Fremont Place.^**

The Wilson Building portrayed the Daily Planet building in the first Superman TV series.*^^

Historical Notes

Because of its height and prime location on the northeast corner of Wilshire and La Brea, the Art Deco Wilson Building has attracted prominent signage over the years.

Historical Notes

Corporate names that adorned The Wilson Building included (in chronological order): General Insurance, Mutual of Omaha (until 1990), Asashi, and Samsung.

Historical Notes

The Dominguez-Wilshire building (also called the Myer-Siegel Building) was designed in 1930 by architects Morgan Walls and Clemens.   The property was named after its developers, the Dominguez family, the heirs to the first land grant given in California by King Carlos III of Spain.*^

The same setup was used in the Wilshire Tower, two blocks west, with the symmetrical facade facing Wilshire Blvd, rounded corners on the intersections, and a parking lot with an entrance around the back. The 10 stories don't rise as high as the Wilshire Tower, but the building does make a statement among the other low rises along Wilshire Boulevard.*^*#

Historical Notes

The building was built in 1930 just before Black Monday hit, and the Miracle Mile came crashing down as Angelinos fled from the city. Stores closed and the streets were again barren. In 1934, rebuilding efforts resurrected the Mile, and brought moneymen back to the city.*^*#

Historical Notes

The building consists of an eight-story Art Deco tower placed on a two-story base.

Historical Notes

Today, the Art Deco elements are still visible; especially the entrance has remained perfectly intact. Even the bronze chandelier and the bronze entrance door with many cross-decorations are still present.*^*#

Historical Notes

Not to be confused with today’s McDonald’s fast food restaurants, McDonnell’s Restaurant and Drive-in sandwich stands were part of a chain of restaurants found in LA during the 1930s.

The McDonnell's restaurants throughout Los Angeles were: McDonnell's Monterey (7312 Robertson Boulevard); McDonnell's Wilshire (Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue); McDonnell's Fairfax (Fairfax Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard); McDonnell's Gates Hotel (Sixth and Figueroa streets); McDonnell's Hill Street (454 S. Hill Street); McDonnell's Figueroa (4012 S. Figueroa Street); McDonnell's Adams and Figueroa (2626 S. Figueroa Street); and McDonnell's Pico Street (Pico and Hope streets).

McDonnell's "Drive-Ins" were located at Beverly Boulevard & Western Avenue, Wilshire and Robertson Boulevards, Yucca Street and Cahuenga Boulevard, Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, and Sunset Boulevard and La Brea Avenue.*

Historical Notes

In 1929, architect Claude Beelman designed the Eastern-Columbia Building (aka the Eastern Building, Columbia-Eastern Building, or Eastern Outfitting Retail Store Building) in the Art Deco Moderne stepped-back style and is clad in green and gold terra-cotta.*

Historical Notes

The Eastern Columbia Building opened on September 12, 1930, after just nine months of construction. It was built as the new headquarters of the Eastern Outfitting Company and the Columbia Outfitting Company, furniture and clothing stores. With the construction of this lavish structure, the companies could also boast one of the largest buildings constructed in the 1930s.*^

Historical Notes

The Eastern Columbia building was built of steel-reinforced concrete and clad in glossy turquoise terra cotta trimmed with deep blue and gold trim. The building's vertical emphasis is accentuated by deeply recessed bands of paired windows and spandrels with copper panels separated by vertical columns. The façade is decorated with a wealth of motifs—sunburst patterns, geometric shapes, zigzags, chevrons and stylized animal and plant forms. The building is capped with a four-sided clock tower emblazoned with the name "Eastern" in neon and crowned with a central smokestack surrounded by four stylized flying buttresses.*^

Historical Notes

In 1985, the Eastern Columbia Building was designated Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 294 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

The Claude Beelman designed Bankers Building (now the International Center) was built between 1929-1930.  The Art Deco/Streamlined Moderne style leans slightly toward the verticality of Gothic.  The Moderne marquee has been removed, but the entrance and elevator lobby still retains its Moderne elegance.  The building is now used by jewelers.*#^#

Historical Notes

The three tiered Art Deco design above the entryway is a Frozen Fountain, an architectural and interior design motif introduced in France around the time of the 1925 “Art Deco” Exposition.

Historical Notes

Built in 1930-1931, on the site of the California Club, the Title Guarantee Building was designed by The Parkinsons who also designed many Los Angeles landmarks, including Los Angeles City Hall and Bullock's Wilshire.*^

Historical Notes

For the detailing, architects John and Donald Parkinson followed the lead provided by the much-publicized 1926 Chicago Tribune Tower. In addition to such Gothic touches as shields and gargoyle-like drain spouts, the building is crowned with a Gothic tower complete with stylized flying buttresses.

The steel-framed building is clad in glazed terra cotta and rises from a granite base. Piers surround the recessed windows, accentuating the verticality of the structure and extending above the roofline to create a parapet effect.^#^

Historical Notes

The Title Guarantee building's interior elevator lobby is decorated with six murals by Hugo Ballin celebrating various phases of Southern California history. Saber-toothed cats are shown at the La Brea Tar Pits, and one panel illustrates the 1876 arrival of the railroad. The ‘modern’ panel depicts the elements that led to Los Angeles’ rise to power: the Owens Valley aqueduct, derricks, machinery, and a modern building – the Title Guarantee & Trust.^#^

Historical Notes

Everything above the twelfth floor is unoccupied space, a design feature that allowed the building to extend beyond the 150-foot height limit in effect at the time of construction.^#^

Historical Notes

In 1984, the Title Guarantee & Trust Company Building was declared Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 278 (Click HERE for complete listing). The building is also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The building is now loft-style apartments and is known as the Title Guarantee Building Lofts.^#^

Historical Notes

Location shots of the building were featured in the CBS television drama series Lou Grant (1977–82), in which it was purported to house the Los Angeles Tribune, the fictional newspaper around which the series was based.

Vampire P.I., Mick St John purportedly lived and maintained his office on the top floor of the building in CBS' Vampire P.I. Drama, Moonlight (2007-2008).*^

Historical Notes

Located on the northeast corner of Hollywood and Vine, the 12-story Equitable Building was built in 1929.  The Gothic Deco commercial tower was designed by Aleck Curlett.*^

When the Equitable Building was planned in 1927, it would be required to conform to a certain height limit of 150 feet on the NE corner which was for many years the site of a house and later a used auto lot. In 1926 a one-story bank building was built on the site and served the intersection there until the property was cleared for construction in 1929. +**

Historical Notes

The Equitable Building of Hollywood was the second high-rise office building built at the intersection of Hollywood and Vine and would be a symbol of the new money that was being invested in Hollywood. The Taft Building across the street was the first (built in 1927).

The planning and financing of the building was the work of Sam Kress of the drug store chain and he wanted to include a brokerage office that would connect Hollywood directly to Wall Street. The architectural plan designed by architect Aleck Curlett, would include a bank on the ground floor and its design would include gargoyle details and a copper roof. +**  

Historical Notes

The Equitable Building was completed at the end of 1930 and in November the powerful agent, Myron Selznick (brother of David O. Selznick) moved his agency into the building bringing with him such clients as Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, Boris Karloff, Carole Lombard, and others. +**

Historical Notes

By 1939 with the success of radio in Hollywood, many advertising agencies leased space in the building. The giant Williams Esty and Company were responsible for the Camel cigarette ads and the sponsorship of the radio version of Blondie with Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake on CBS. +**

Historical Notes

By 1942, Young and Rubicam Company moved into the building and did the advertising for the U.S. War Department on the radio. In 1945 Rudy Vallee had offices in the building along with the advertising agency, Benton and Bowles who sponsored the popular Glamour and Manor Show. By 1949 Belasco’s Restaurant opened at 1710 N. Vine Street on the ground floor of the building and remained there into the late 1980s until Collectors Bookshop took over the space. +**

Historical Notes

By 1951 the ground floor of the California Bank was taken over by Bernard Luggage Company and four years later by American Airlines. +**

Historical Notes

Throughout the 1950s-1970s the Equitable Building went through many changes and tenants. With the coming of 2000 Tom Gilmour purchased the building and began a restoration program of two years. In 2002 The Hollywood and Vine Diner opened early in the year with a motif of vintage Hollywood. The interior was designed like the old Hollywood restaurants of yesteryear with wood paneled rooms and booths reminiscent of Musso and Frank and Henry’s. +**

Historical Notes

Today, the mixed-use building is also known as The Lofts at Hollywood and Vine. The building underwent a $50 Million condo conversion in 2007 and is now 60 residential units.

Historical Notes

The six-story apartment building, designed by C.W. Powers, was built in 1928.*

In 2007, the Val D'Amour Apartment Building was dedicated as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument No. 875 (Click HERE for complete listing).

Historical Notes

This example of the Zigzag (Art Deco) Moderne, exhibits a wide array of characteristic cast ornament. At each side of the entrance two kneeling male figures (in relief) hold the heavy and elaborate ornament entablature on their shoulders and back. Other cast concrete decorative works occur in the recessed spandrels and upon the principal parapet. The vertical row of open fire escape balconies provide additional areas of sculpture and the major vertical piers terminate above the roof in stylized male figures.^*#*

Historical Notes

The church building stands on a v-shaped corner of Occidental Blvd. and Hoover St.  This one of the archdiocese's architectural gems, showing a beautiful rose window above the main entrance. It was dedicated in November 1926.*^

Historical Notes

The Italian Romanesque structure has three rose windows that offer a dim and religious life. Twelve large stained glass windows, six yellow windows and the Stations of the Cross Mosaics are over the nave.*^

Historical Notes

Completed in 1931, the hall is named for William G. Kerckhoff, a successful lumber and energy magnate, who died prior to the building's completion. Mr Kerckhoff's widow spent $815,000 to build and completely furnish Kerckhoff Hall.*

The Kerckhoffs visited the Westwood campus under construction in early 1929 and were told by the provost of the need for a student union. On his deathbed a month later, Kerckhoff told his wife that he wanted to build such a building.^***^

Historical Notes

Today, Kerckhoff Hall is one of the main student union buildings of UCLA. Among its offerings are: study lounges, an art gallery, a coffeehouse, meeting rooms, a salon and the student government offices.^***^

Historical Notes

The Van de Kamp's Bakery headquarters, designed to resemble a 16th -century Dutch farmhouse, located at 2930 Fletcher Drive in Glassell Park, served as the headquarters for the chain of bakeries and coffee shops whose trademark "windmill" buildings and neon signs prevailed throughout mid-20th century Los Angeles. The building was designed by New York architect J. Edward Hopkins in 1930 in the Dutch Renaissance Revival style, reflecting the company's Dutch corporate image.*^

Historical Notes

The Van de Kamp's Bakery building remains the only example of an industrial plant in the Dutch Renaissance Revival style. The bakery closed in October 1990 after Van de Kamp‘s filed for Chapter 11. The building was declared city of Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monument No. 569 in 1992. Click HERE to see the Los Angeles Historic Cultural Monuments Listing.

This building underwent a $72-million renovation by the Los Angeles Community College District with the intent of being a Los Angeles City College satellite campus. The site is instead leased to charter school and job-training groups.*^

Historical Notes

Theodore J. Van de Kamp and brother-in-law Lawrence L. Frank were the owners and originators of the Van de Kamp Bakeries. Fondly known as the "Taj Mahal of all bakeries". Van de Kamp and Frank also founded both the Tam O'Shanter's (1922) and Lawry's The Prime Rib (1938) restaurants.*^

J. Edward Hopkins designed Van de Kamp’s headquarters in Glassel Park.  Harold Griffith “Harry” Oliver, a set designer by profession, designed the windmill stores.  Oliver also designed the Spadena Home/“Witch’s House” (1921) in Beverly Hills and the altered Montgomery’s Country Inn/Tam O’Shanter Inn of Los Feliz (1922).  The stores were portables!, designed to be moved from location to location if business just wasn't there.

Click HERE to see Van de Kamp's 1st Windmill Bakery Shop.

Historical Notes

The bakery was sold by the Van de Kamp family and acquired by General Baking Co. in 1956. The company was sold to private investors in 1979, and closed in bankruptcy in 1990. The Van de Kamp's brand is now owned by Ralphs supermarket chain and used for their line of private-label baked goods.*^

Historical Notes

The Pacific Mutual Building, located at 523 W. 6th Street, are actually three interconnected buildings built between 1908 and 1929. The original structure was designed and built between 1908-1912 by John Parkinson and Edwin Bergstrom.

The original structure has seen many changes over the years: a North Side addition was built in 1916 by William J. Dodd; a twelve-story structure was built in 1921 by William J. Dodd and his associate William Richards; the Garage Building was added in 1926 by Schultze and Weaver; and the West Side addition was erected in 1929 by Parkinson and Parkinson. The building underwent Moderne remodeling in 1936 by Parkinson and Parkinson.*

Historical Notes

In 1974, the building underwent an extensive restoration by Wendell Mounce and Associates, with Bond and Steward, which brought it back to its Beaux Arts revival. And in 1985, the entire building was renovated again by the Westgroup, Inc.*

The Pacific Mutual Building is still there today, but the facade of the building on the corner has been modernized. It is listed as Historic-Cultural Monument No. 398 (Click HERE to see complete listing).

Historical Notes

In 1906, Horace Boos and three siblings opened one of Los Angeles' first cafeterias. Their idea of a fast food, self-service restaurant consisted of unheard-of impositions for that time: patrons would wait on themselves and return their trays and dishes to the kitchen. The brothers' downtown cafeteria was the first link, in a chain of seven that ultimately stretched from Los Angeles to San Francisco. They opened four more in the downtown area one in Santa Catalina Island, and two in San Francisco.

By the 1920s, the chain of cafeterias had become widely known. When Horace Boos died in 1926, the surviving brothers sold the seven cafeterias for a record $7 million to the Childs Corp. In turn, Childs sold two of the cafeterias to Clifford E. Clinton, who launched the Clifton's Cafeteria Chain. Eventually, Henry Boos bought back two, one on Hill Street (seen above) and the other in Avalon on Catalina Island.*

Historical Notes

The Boos Brothers offered inexpensive fare of a "40-cent dinner", but would call it quits in the late 1940s, before cafeterias began losing popularity due to the arrival of luncheonettes, soda fountains, and fast-food restaurants.*

Historical Notes

The California State Office Building was designed by the John C. Ausin & Frederic M. Ashley.^^

Historical Notes

The State Building was completed in 1931 at a cost of more than $2 million. It was dedicated the day before the opening of the 1932 Olympics in a ceremony that featured Amelia Earhart.*#

Historical Notes

The State Building was damaged in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake, and in May of 1973 the state authorized an "orderly evacuation" after testing found the building unsafe. The empty building was torn down in early 1976.*#

Historical Notes

Originally built in 1931, the Wiltern was designed by architect Stiles O. Clements of Morgan, Walls & Clements, the city’s oldest architectural firm.

The Wiltern Theatre was originally designed as a vaudeville theater and initially opened as the Warner Brothers Western Theater, the flagship for the theater chain. Quickly closing a year later, the theater reopened in the mid-1930s and was renamed the Wiltern Theatre for the major intersection which it faces (Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue.)*^