S_EJ what a great image, i have not ever seen this image looking south before! wow!

lately i've been interested in the extension of broadway south of tenth. prior to the construction of the examiner building in 1914, broadway ended at tenth and veered eastward to hook up with main

here's an image looking south on broadway in 1904. broadway ends by veering off to the east to link up with main street

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4141/...05110980_b.jpg
USC Digital Archives

this 1890 image looking north from tenth street shows how broadway veers west from main between 10th and 11th

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4082/...22c6090f_b.jpg
USC Digital Archives

this 1914 image of the nearly completed L.A Examiner building shows how broadway has yet to be extended south of 1oth street

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/...c0e525af_o.jpg
LAPL

Continually amazed by these fascinating photos. Love the pictures of Chapman Park bungalows and hotel. Are others here familiar with a superb panoramic aerial shot of what looks like East Hollywood, probably taken around 1945-47 (judging by the cars) that appeared in a July 5, 1948 photo essay by Lionel Feininger in Life magazine? Maybe someone here knows how to post the photo (I don't know how.) There is also a panoramic shot of the Cahuenga Pass Highway/Freeway from the same period.
http://books.google.com/books?id=ekY...page&q&f=false
I found it by googling the photo caption: "A familiar pattern fits over a new setting in Los Angeles..Life magazine."

:previous:
Great photos, but I didn't couldn't find a way to link those or save them onto my computer to link them...







_______________________________________

Late 1930s (?), Carl's restaurant. The caption doesn't say where this was located.
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1...ntlate1930.jpg
USC Archive

Fire at the St. George Hotel in 1952.

http://imageshack.us/a/img191/5969/a...ntownstgeo.jpg
http://esotouric.com/mainhotel





Below: Much to my surprise, the St. George Hotel still stands.

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/4...ehotelneed.jpg
willowscottage.blogspot



http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/6...ebysaturni.jpg
saturnine




http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/7...eflickrbye.jpg
Gabor Ekecs





More info on the St. George Hotel.

http://www.housingfinance.com/ahf/ar...6_AHF_12-3.htm

The very 'noir' Rex Apartments (no address given).



http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/2...tmentscali.jpg
calisphere


I imagine it inhabited by aging taxi-dancers.
And perhaps a few peroxide-blonde waitresses waiting by the phone for a bit part in the next Monogram feature.




http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/6...625rexsign.jpg
detail





below: Notice the small boy walking down the street.


http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5...tleboyfarr.jpg
detail

Wilshire before widening.....looking east from Kip Street in 1931.




http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/2...ebeforewid.jpg
Dick Whittington

More 'Wilshire before widening' photos.
As the caption says...looking west from Figueroa in 1931.



http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/2...ebeforewid.jpg
Dick Whittington






below: Looking west on Wilshire from Bonnie Brae in 1931.


http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/2...ebeforewid.jpg
Dick Whittington





below: See caption.


http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/2...ebeforewid.jpg
Dick Whittington

http://www.gonegraphics.com/uglyangel/canoga_park.jpggonegraphics

Canoga Park Noir--complete with classic bathtub Chrysler, and, no doubt, knife-wielding housewives studying the backs of their husbands' necks.



Ethereal-- I love your "Wilshire Before Widening" pics--

and now:

http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=...0.07,,0,-13.89

^^^ It's remarkable that the two large (and beautiful) buildings in the 1931 photo are still standing.

Anyone know the names and history of these two building?

A 1931 view of Wilshire looking east to Figueroa, before Wilshire was extended.



http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7...ilshireloo.jpg
Dick Whittington






below: Same view from a higher angle. Figueroa before the extension of Wilshire, 1931.


http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/6...igueroaatw.jpg
Dick Whittington

In the L.A. Times today there was an article about Warner's releasing a new DVD of rarely seen film noirs.
I was especially intrigued by 'Armored Car Robbery' (1952) because the article says it was filmed on location in Los Angeles.

I've never heard of this movie. Has anyone here seen this film before?


Here's a link to the article.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment...,7268769.story

Oh yes, I saw it several years ago, either on AMC (when they showed mostly RKO films) or TCM. Don't remember much about it except that Charles McGraw ("The Narrow Margin") and William Talman (sp?) (Hamilton Berger from "Perry Mason") were in it. I vaguely recall scenes around Signal Hill or some such oil well area, unless I'm confusing it with another film.
There was also "Bunco Squad," (1950) another campy RKO programmer (about phony psychics) shown on AMC, featuring shots around L.A., particularly a gothic/tudor house in Beverly Hills that was used constantly as a location in the 40's in such films as "Night and Day," "The Falcon and the Co-Eds," and "My Name is Julia Ross," where it was supposed to be an English seaside mansion.

I haven't seen this film, but here is some more info on it... I can't wait to get a copy of this.

http://www.noiroftheweek.com/2008/10...bery-1950.html

Wilshire Boulevard post widening looking east from kip street 1934

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-42202?v=hr
USC Digital Archives


not only was wilshire widened going west of figueroa, it needed to be slammed through figueroa.

View of Wilshire Boulevard, looking east from a point 150 feet west of Figueroa Street, 1931

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-42211?v=hr
USC Digital Archives

View of Wilshire Boulevard at Kip Street, looking east toward downtown, showing road widening and improvement, December 1934

http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/assets...CHS-31229?v=hr
USC Digital Archives

if you think the front of the Rex looks Noirish, the rear certainly confirms it's pure noir status

http://jpg1.lapl.org/pics28/00033582.jpg
LAPL

and just to make sure that it's noirish stature is complete, here's the caption from the Los Angeles Public Library site;

Exterior view of the rear of the Rex Apartments. Building is identified by a sign at the front of the building, and is owned by Lawrence Young. It is 4 floors plus a penthouse, with 12 units on each floor for a total of 49 units. There are 3 toilets and 2 baths per floor except the third floor which has only 2 toilets and one bath. 40 units (1 room plus kitchen) rent for $20 per month, 4 units rent for $22, and 4 units (2 rooms plus kitchen) rent for $34. Total income per month is approximately $1059. Electricity is included in the rent but not gas. No hot water.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4150/...3369c871_b.jpg

i did a print screen of the linked page, then cropped the image with photoshop

(JD, this is the particular photo you were referencing in your post.....right?)

O'Conner Electro-Plating Explosion
 

At 9:45am on February 20, 1947, Downtown was rocked by a blast the L.A. Times called the worst in the city's history. The explosion leveled the O'Conner Electro-Plating Corporation's building at 926 E. Pico, killing 15 people, injuring 151 and demolishing nearby houses.

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics24/00046678.jpg
LAPL

The force of the explosion sent debris hurtling through the air and created a sound that could be heard miles away. 116 buildings in the area suffered damage.

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics24/00046687.jpg
LAPL

Investigators blamed the devastation on a tank of perchloric acid that the plant's chief chemist, Robert M. Magee, had been tending at the time of the blast. The bodies of Magee and his assistant, Miss Alice Iba, were never found and were believed "blown to bits."

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics24/00046686.jpg
LAPL

The O'Connor Electro-Plating Co. had been in business in the same one-story brick building for almost 20 years. The plant was managed by Robert J. O'Connor, son of the company's founder. O'Connor knew little about chemistry, so he had hired Robert M. Magee, 35, who presented impressive credentials. But in truth, Magee had been working as a foreman at a local dairy and was only an aspiring chemist without even a high school diploma.

For almost a year, Magee worked on a revolutionary process for polishing aluminum, anxiously waiting to get it patented. He was using a mixture of 140 gallons of acetic anhydride, nearly as volatile as nitroglycerin.

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics24/00046660.jpg
LAPL

At an inquest held in March, prosecutors alleged that Magee, who claimed to have a PhD from M.I.T., had manufactured his credentials and had in fact never graduated from high school. The jury found that his mixing of acids and oxidizing materials led to the blast.

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics24/00046685.jpg
LAPL

http://assets.blogdowntown.com/images/misc/oconnor1.jpg
UCLA Digital Library

http://jpg2.lapl.org/pics24/00046664.jpg
LAPL

for further reading about the blast, go here

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...854621,00.html

:previous:
Very fascinating. I'm surprised no movie has ever been made about this incident, or even a movie inspired by this incident.

Good job gsjansen......VERY interesting post.

Corner of N. Main St. and Elmyra St. in 1952.



http://img541.imageshack.us/img541/4...lmyra1952a.jpg
calisphere






below: A close-up of the store front.

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/1...lmyra1952b.jpg
detail