And some Then and Nows:

1927: Looking north on Griffith Park Blvd. at Hyperion, Silverlake
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1...nhyperiona.jpg
USC archive

2010: Looking north on Griffith Park Blvd. at Hyperion, Silverlake
http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/417...ngriffithp.jpg
Photo by Me

1930s: 6000 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. I'm surprised to learn this used to be a market.
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/638...tblvd1930s.jpg
USC archive

2010: 6000 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood. This is now part of the Sunset Gower Studios, I think.
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/5649/p1090617.jpg
Photo by Me

1930s: 8423 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. This was a market and gas station, a pre-cursor to the gas station mini-marts that exist today, perhaps? It could also be a proto-strip mall too.
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9...lvdbeverly.jpg
USC archive

2010: 8423 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills. It is now a Porsche dealership.
http://img36.imageshack.us/img36/4544/p1090630.jpg
Photo by Me

Sopas_ej, your before/after photos are great.

I love that old photo of the Cashis King Market on Sunset. It's too bad they covered up the graceful art deco details,
and added those strange gold squares with stars.

It's also great the market/gas station in Beverly Hills has survived all these years.

The Westminster Hotel at 4th & Main in 1900.


http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/916...sterhotelw.jpg
usc digital archive




Below: A lunch menu from the Westminster Hotel dated 1901.



http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/214...instermenu.jpg
NYPL



"Hmmm......I can't decide if I should have the pickled lamb's tongue or the pig's feet in jelly".

Here are a few more menus from the Westminster Hotel.


http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/497...nstermenu2.jpg
NYPL






http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/218...stermenubr.jpg
NYPL






http://img63.imageshack.us/img63/297...stermenudi.jpg
NYPL

I think for breakfast, I'd like the fried mush.

The Mayan Theater 1927.


http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/546...eaterbuilt.jpg
usc digital archive


Above: It looks like human sacrifices took place in this building. I love it.






Below: Another great view, also showing the Belasco Theater to the Mayan's right.



http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/7...heater1925.jpg
ucla archive



You should save these two photos for your sister Johnny Socko.

The first Los Angeles Athletic Club located on the west side of Spring Street between 29th & 31st Streets in 1885.




http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/3...eticsclubo.jpg
usc digital archive


I love the brave kids on the roof. Too bad the one at the peak got his head chopped off in the photo.

The Occidental College Football Team 1894.


http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4...talcollege.jpg
ucla archive



I think the affectionate guys on the upper left are great.
Can you imagine today's football players posing like that.
What happened between then and now?

Thanks, Ethereal. I just looked it up on my work PC, and the "Elsie Janis" photo is the same one I have!

One thing I've always wondered is whether the exterior was painted in bright colors in the early days. I think I may have read someplace that it was. For most of my lifetime, it was your basic sandstone color -- like an actual "ruin". But a couple of years ago, the street-level panels were repainted in intricate, Mexican (or Oaxacan) style colors:

http://www.you-are-here.com/theatre/mayan.jpg
[You Are Here]

The architects were the incomparable Morgan, Walls & Clements. Julia Morgan is perhaps most notable for being William Randolph Hearst's personal architect, and is responsible for some of L.A.'s most wonderful buildings -- including Hearst's Herald-Examiner building:

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...3716C4214?v=hr
[USC Digital Archive]

I posted this photo of the Title Guarantee Building on the 'Park Fifth' thread.


http://img683.imageshack.us/img683/9...aranteebld.jpg
ucla archive

Here is a photo of the Herald-Examiner Building that Johnny Socko had mentioned earlier.
I didn't realize it was designed by Julia Morgan

This is actually showing the back of the building (and it's still beautiful).




http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/1...aminerbldg.jpg
usc archive



I like the miniature 24hr. gas station.

Who knows what happened; in many 19th Century portraits, men who were buddies are often shown arm-in-arm. If you've ever seen the silent film "Wings" which came out in the late 1920s but was set during World War I, at the end of the film in the death scene, you see the one main male character kiss the other main male character on the mouth (because they were buddies in the film and the one gets mortally wounded).

Temple and Figueroa looking south in 1932.




http://img269.imageshack.us/img269/1...ndfigueroa.jpg
usc digital





http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/782...tjunctionb.jpg
usc digital



Above: Temple at the junction between Flower and Figueroa in the 1930s.

What does this intersection look like today?

Mystery photo from 1912.



http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/552...2mysterybw.jpg
ebay


Does anyone have a clue?

Does anyone have a photo of a wonderful old mansion that once stood at 900 West Adams? It was the Russell Waters house (hope I have that right) and
was used to great effect in the 1944 movie "Curse of the Cat People."

Here's another mystery photo.

http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/3...licegarden.jpg
usc archive



Above: "Tropical Ice Garden with 12,000 seats in Westwood circa 1938".
I had some information about this project but I can't seem to locate it.



I just found the answer to my own question.
http://www.squareone.org/PolarPalace/tropical.html

Of all the buildings destroyed in Los Angeles this is one of the most sickening to have lost for me: :wah:

MacArthur Park on July 12, 1954.



http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3...954macarth.jpg
found on ebay



Odd name for a boat.

South side of Market Street... San Francisco. 700 block: JJ Pfister Knitting at 739, McDonald & Collett Tailors at 741, Gallery of Scientific Wonders at 745.

http://berkeleyheritage.com/berkeley...//pfister.html (scroll 3/4 down)

http://books.google.com/books?id=HFQ...street&f=false

http://cdnc.ucr.edu/newsucr/cgi-bin/...ic+wonders-all

oops....my bad.....wrong thread.

Thanks for the information GaylordWilshire.