Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelRyerson
Union Station Construction Begins 1934
(1934) - A steam shovel hissed on April 19, 1934, and bit into Fort Moore Hill at Spring Street and Sunset Boulevard (actually the steam shovels, there are two, are over on Justicia Street and N. Broadway where it exits the tunnel) as a part of ground breaking exercises for the start of work on the new $8,000,000 Union depot for Los Angeles. The photo shows the ceremony in progress, the speakers' stand (with horizontal stripes) between two steam shovels which turned the first shovels-full of earth. In the background is Fort Moore Hill with the (Mary) Banning House at the right and 'the home of Dr. Lemoyne Wills on the upper left--- crammed with treasured antiques from China, razed a few years after this photo was taken. (thanks rick m). The intersection of Spring Street and Sunset Boulevard is in the right foreground. Dirt amounting to 50,000 cubic yards will be moved to fill in at the new depot site.
LAPL
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I checked back through the thread, and I couldn't find that we've looked closely at what is generally referred to as the
home of
Dr. William LeMoyne Wills (
1853-1933):
SCWHR-P-050-9656 at Seaver Center
The home was located at the NE corner of Broadway and Fort Moore Place (formerly Fort Street and Rock Street), but
its address was always on Buena Vista. The 1910 Baist Map shows the home (with the red dot) at 501 Buena Vista, its
address since
1891. On the SE corner of Broadway and Fort Moore Place is the Milo Baker home (with a 6 on it):
Historic Mapworks
In this c. 1900 photo looking south, the Wills home is on the right, and the Baker home is in the middle, with the dome:
00061421 at LAPL
This c. 1898 (or perhaps earlier?) shot looks north across Fort Moore Place at the Wills home, with the Baker home
behind the photographer and Sonora Town in the distance:
00055093 at LAPL
The home was built not by W. L. Wills but by his father,
John Alexander Wills (1819-1891). The elder Wills -- if you haven't read the
bio at the link -- originated the phrase, "those twin relics of barbarism -- polygamy and slavery." The Willses -- William, John, and
John's wife, Charlotte LeMoyne Wills (1824-1908) helped establish the
Cremation Society of Southern California and the first crematory
in Los Angeles (and possibly just the
second one in the United States), at
Rosedale Cemetery in 1887. The Wills family papers are at
the
Huntington Library.
BTW, the first cremation in Los Angeles was on
June 16, 1887. The first body cremated was that of a woman who had died six months
previously; her remains were disinterred to break in the furnace.
Charlotte Wills is also important because she was a close friend of Caroline Severance, who
tells us that the Wills home was designed
by
Mary Alston Channing Saunders, then-wife of
Charles Willard Saunders.
In the fall of 1886 the Willses moved into their new Fort Hill home at 101 Buena Vista (it was later renumbered 501):
September 28, 1886,
Los Angeles Times at ProQuest via LAPL
The 1887-88 Smith & McPhee Los Angeles Directory is the first to show the Wills family on Fort Hill (William LeMoyne
[Wills, not Willis] might be listed twice; the family had been at
209 S. Hill prior to moving to Buena Vista Street):
ProQuest at
LAPL
After John Wills died . . .
November 30, 1891,
Los Angeles Herald @
CDNC
. . . apparently there was some discord in the Wills home that eventually turned into a lawsuit that went to the
California Supreme Court in 1913 (below, the son is William LeMoyne, the mother is Charlotte, and the daughter
is Madeline Frances or "Fanny"):
Casetext.com also
The Pacific Reporter @
GoogleBooks
What I gather from reading the above document is that after John Wills died, ownership of the home on Fort Hill
passed to his widow, Charlotte. In 1895 she put the house in a trust, with William and Fanny "in equal undivided
ownership and interest," but with Fanny as trustee. In 1903 the trust was dissolved and ownership of the home
reverted to Charlotte, who then conveyed the home to Fanny "absolutely and in fee simple." So although 501 Buena
Vista is often called the home of Dr. William L. Wills, he was only half-owner for eight years, through a trust.
Anyway, Fanny lived on in the house until about the end of 1930. This photo is dated c. 1900, but I think it's a lot
closer to 1930. I also believe this side of the house faces Fort Moore Place:
00017225 at LAPL
Fanny didn't want to move:
March 23, 1930,
Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL
December 11, 1930,
Los Angeles Times:
ProQuest via LAPL
This photo, taken December 25, 1930, might show the old adobe wall "crumbling back into the earth" that's
mentioned in the above article:
00026473 at LAPL ("Crumbling adobe structure in the backyard of the Wills home, located at 501 N. Buena Vista")