noirish Los Angeles v2.0

[ethereal_reality]

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A mystery location. . .

. . .somewhere along the Wilshire corridor.


Los Angeles California Wilshire Blvd Street Scene CA 1960s 35MM Slide Kodachrome


eBay


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[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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A mystery vantage point currently on eBay


"Original slide 1970's Los Angeles skyline view downtown"


eBay




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____________________________

I believe that we're looking westward from the Santa Ana Freeway overcrossing at East First St., e-r.

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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A mystery location. . .

. . .somewhere along the Wilshire corridor.


Los Angeles California Wilshire Blvd Street Scene CA 1960s 35MM Slide Kodachrome


eBay


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Not too mysterious.

That's University Bible Church at the corner of Wilshire and Malcolm in Westwood.

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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A mystery vantage point currently on eBay


"Original slide 1970's Los Angeles skyline view downtown"


eBay

1970s, eh? When exactly were the downtown Gasometers removed? I always thought it was earlier than the '70s.

[Alkapone]

Originally Posted by Lwize

Not too mysterious.

That's University Bible Church at the corner of Wilshire and Malcolm in Westwood.

And as seen down by the corner a few years hence: https://martinostimemachine.blogspot.com/2016/12/ships-coffee-shop.html



source: Martinostimemachine (as above)

[HossC]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

1970s, eh? When exactly were the downtown Gasometers removed? I always thought it was earlier than the '70s.

It was sometime in the mid-70s. They're still clearly visible on the 1972 image at Historic Aerials, but gone by 1980.

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

A mystery vantage point currently on eBay

"Original slide 1970's Los Angeles skyline view downtown"


eBay

Originally Posted by HenryHuntington

I believe that we're looking westward from the Santa Ana Freeway overcrossing at East First St., e-r.

The skyline looks rather different 50 or so years later. The tip of City Hall is now only just visible above the Edward R Roybal Federal Building.


GSV

[HossC]

Originally Posted by odinthor

If that's where USC locates it, USC has some 'splaining to do. Mr. A.I. says, via Google image search, that this is Ocean Avenue looking north from Green's Pond (Lake Takanassee) in Long Branch, New Jersey, circa 1875.

Reverse image search can be a great tool, but when I tried it on this photo, AI told me it was an aerial of Austin, TX. None of the links provided gave me images even vaguely resembling the original.

[odinthor]

Hmmm, quite so, thanks Hoss. And when I searched on a detail of the photo just now, AI told me it was the Old Naples Hotel in Naples Florida (which it isn't). So much for that.

[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by HossC

It was sometime in the mid-70s. They're still clearly visible on the 1972 image at Historic Aerials, but gone by 1980.

Thanks, HossC!

I thought that I remembered seeing the gasometers as a kid, when my mom would drive me out to see my grandmother. We visited my grandmother every week, and would pass this location on the freeway every time.

If they were still there in 1972, then I definitely saw them.

[ethereal_reality]

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Glimpse of a gasometer that I don't remember seeing before/on NLA.





Loading - or unloading- a truck in front of the ‘Grocery and Meat Market’ on the northeast corner of Garey and Jackson Streets in downtown Los Angeles.
A sign on the side of the truck reads, “Give to your Victory Chest.” In the background, two massive gas storage tanks (gasometers) tower over the scene.




It must have been a rough neighborhood because it looks like someone threw a couple of rocks through one of the upstairs windows.



. .and there's graffiti on the door down below.



Can anyone make out what the sign says?



Photograph from waterandpower

[ethereal_reality]

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The following photographs were all being sold separately on eBay. (which it too bad because together they tell a story)

They show squatters(?) at 3966 Mission Road in the 1920s. (I would have guessed during the depression)

#1






#2







#3


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[ethereal_reality]

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This last one is especially intriguing because, unless I am seeing things, there is a large sign made out of cut letters on top of the hill in the background!





Am I seeing things?
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[Scott Charles]

Originally Posted by Scott Charles

1970s, eh? When exactly were the downtown Gasometers removed? I always thought it was earlier than the '70s.

Originally Posted by HossC

It was sometime in the mid-70s. They're still clearly visible on the 1972 image at Historic Aerials, but gone by 1980.

I just spent about 90 minutes trying to discern the exact dismantling date of the gasometers.

Information is quite scarce, but here's what I found:

Soil and Groundwater Evaluation and Modeling at Large MGP Site, Los Angeles, California

The 256-acre former Aliso Street manufactured gas plant (MGP) site is located in downtown Los Angeles. MGP operations began in 1874 and used both coal-based processes and oil-based processes. When natural gas became available in 1922, the gas plant was placed on standby. In 1942, the facilities were converted to produce butadiene, a raw material for synthetic rubber, which was operated for the US government by SCG from 1943 to 1947.

Most of the facilities were demolished in 1952, except for the large gasholders and associated equipment that were removed in 1973. The property was then sold and redeveloped for other industrial and commercial activities including a gasoline and diesel fuel terminal, bus maintenance facility, metal cleaning plant, mannequin manufacturing plant and vehicle refueling centers with multiple fuel USTs.

https://rd.tetratech.com/?proj=XXX-Aliso&pursuit=WaterQuality

TetraTech (the source of the above quote) appears to be a company that removes toxic remnants from the soil. The article continues:

Remedial investigations and site cleanup operations by Tetra Tech began in 1998 and continue through the present. Remediation to date has removed over 510,000 tons of soil, which eliminated over 34 tons of naphthalene, other PAHs, and VOCs. Baseline and cost-remediation risk assessments were conducted in addition to clean-up goals for soil. This work includes evaluation of groundwater data for the entire Aliso Site. Groundwater quality has been monitored on a quarterly basis since 1996 at a network of up to 122 wells. A comprehensive Groundwater Quality Management Plan was prepared that includes data evaluation, development of risk-based goals, flow and transport modeling, and review of potential remedial options. A total of 42 organic chemicals, including BTEX, MTBE, and PAHs; TPH as gasoline, diesel, and heavy hydrocarbons; and two trace metals (boron and zinc) were detected in the shallow wells. Risk-based goals were developed for industrial workers to provide protection from indoor air inhalation and drinking or contacting the groundwater.

The article also features this photograph:

[Lwize]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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This last one is especially intriguing because, unless I am seeing things, there is a large sign made out of cut letters on top of the hill in the background!





Am I seeing things?
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Photo #2 clearly shows NEW.

Looks like NEWMARK in the above.

Where is that?

[Alkapone]

Given the letter spacing before the “S”, possibly for NEWMARK’S Coffee by the Newmark Brothers of Los Angeles? But what’s this lower on the hill…

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

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A mystery vantage point currently on eBay


"Original slide 1970's Los Angeles skyline view downtown"


eBay




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I think the pic would be 1972, since the City National (formerly ARCO) towers (1972) appear to be finished, but the AON Center (formerly First Interstate, 1973) does not appear. The tall building on the left is the Crocker-Citizens Bank Building, which would obscure most of the AON tower from this angle, but not its top. If the AON tower was near completion it would be the tallest building in the picture, but the ARCO towers are still tallest here.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Alkapone

Given the letter spacing before the “S”, possibly for NEWMARK’S Coffee by the Newmark Brothers of Los Angeles? But what’s this lower on the hill…

I truly couldn't see what you were talking about until I enlarged it.


You're talking about this, right?




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[ethereal_reality]

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I double checked my file and found one more of the '3966 Mission Road' photographs...They obviously made great strides by this point in time.



eBay


um. . .office of WHAT?





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[odinthor]

e_r, this was the Shadybrook Auto Camp:


LA Times, 10/18/1924