I DID FIND A PHOTO OF IT.
Let’s review… A hundred years on one corner of Hollywood & Vine, give or take a decade or two! A look at the buildings on the Northwest Corner of Hollywood & Vine.
(…and also a look at billboards through the years!)
(1887)
This is an 1887 map, produced by the town’s founders, the Wilcoxes. Hollywood and Vine is the small circle in pencil.
You’ll notice the streets were originally named Prospect and Weyse Avenues.
(1907)
(one source lists the photo c. 1903, another 1907) – Weyse Ave. (Vine Street) headed north into the hills from Prospect Ave. (Hollywood Boulevard). The home of George Hoover is on the far left and the Bartlett residence is at the right. The empty field in right foreground is now the Pantages Theatre.
LA Public Library Image Archive
To give an idea of these homes, here’s a postcard view of the home of Jacob Stern, across the street on the Southwest corner (where the Broadway Dept. store is located).
Hollywood Photographs
Weyse was the first street to be renamed (Vine Street) and when Hollywood consolidated with Los Angeles in 1910 Prospect Ave. became Hollywood Blvd. and Hollywood & Vine was now on the map.
(1920)
Here’s a great 1920 aerial of the intersection. You can see that Jacob Stern’s home entailed a lot more land than George Hoover’s home across the street!
Hollywood Photographs
The building on the Southeast corner is a church that was built in 1903 and remained until 1923. In the following aerial dated 1921 you can see it in the intersection of Hollywood & Vine (to the right of the street banner).
KCET
(1931)
By this 1931 aerial (facing northeast) we have the Equitable, Taft and Broadway buildings erected (lower right) in the intersection.
Hollywood Photographs
But Carl Laemmle’s vision of a 900 seat theatre and office tower on the Northwest corner was thwarted by the depression. Instead, he opened the
CoCo Tree Café and used the top of the building to advertise his Universal Pictures.
tlc
(1932)
USC Digital
(1936)
Here’s a 1936 shot of some filming in front of the restaurant. (Equitable Building in background.)
It seems that Lon Chaney’s ghost was reportedly seen sitting on a public bench at the corner of Hollywood and Vine, in front of the Coco Tree!
Story
HERE.
(Story says corner was northeast, but someone corrects that in the comments.)