[BifRayRock]

Originally Posted by Los Angeles Past

There did used to be an old marble-fasciaed office building on the NE corner of Grand and Fifth. I don't recall its name, but I paid a business call there in the 1970s, and I never forgot the splendid white marble interior in the lobby.

Anyway, I just emailed Beaudry to request his help. I also believe our past contributor SilentMovieLocations (I think that was his username) might know. He seemed to be particularly knowledgeable about Chaplin film locations.-Scott

"Shoulder Arms" photos strongly tie the subject photo to around 1918. But there is even another reason for believing that date to be quasi-accurate: "The Korin."

"The Korin" appears to have been a short-lived photographic supply house which probably served as photo lab for the subject photo. It is not clear that someone affiliated with "The Korin" actually took the photograph. The only reference I have found is in the 1923 Directory for a location at 522 S. Hill. http://rescarta.lapl.org:8080/ResCar...arch_doc=korin "The Korin" does not seem to be listed in earlier or later directories, and that includes 1915 and 1932 - and a 6th Street address.

Other musings.
Were the onlookers in two of the photos, bystanders or extras?
When did Los Angeles begin requiring permits for commercial motion picture photography, or perhaps the better inquiry is when did the City enforce any permit requirements? Permits, and records kept thereof, could answer many questions.

Lastly, I return to the original photograph and wonder about the street's composition and width. The composition seems different from so many other streets in the pictures posted here. (Poured concrete slab construction or paving stones?) Whatever their composition, many Downtown streets were made to last. This includes areas of what is now known as Little Tokyo. (See below)

It could be just the perspective of the lens and camera placement, but the proximity of the surrounding buildings smacks of being on a smaller side street or on an outdoor set. I rather doubt the latter, but I am hardly immune from surprises.

Plenty of side streets to consider as well as those known to have used paving stones.

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Food for thought. Griffith Construction was one of many contractors responsible for paving Los Angeles' streets. It's been around for a century.http://www.griffithcompany.net/news/news_0602.html

google

Granite-block paving.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7294653...3639/lightbox/


Street paving, Beachwood and Westshire, 1923 (Hollywoodland)
lapl

Granite curb saved for Heritage Square 1980

"Approximately 50,000 vintage bricks, made by the Los Angeles Paving Brick Company, along with vintage curbing and hand-hewn granite drains, were salvaged from a construction site on Weller St., north of 2nd St. in Little Tokyo. Workmen for the Damon Construction Company skimmed pavement off the bricks first, then lifted and shook the bricks out and freed them of excess mortar. These bricks were then delivered to Heritage Square to be recreated into historic-cultural paving. Heritage Square Museum is located on the east side of the Pasadena Freeway north of downtown Los Angeles, in Highland Park."http://photos.lapl.org/