noirish Los Angeles

[ethereal_reality]

Here are a group of tourist snapshots from the 1940s.

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#2

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#3

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#4

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#6

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[ethereal_reality]

and now something more colorful....


"Kodachrome Slide, Banners on 7th Street, Los Angeles"


found 1_22_2015 on eBay

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' location

I don't believe we have seen this photograph on NLA......I would have remembered the unique hotel with the 'rounded' corners.



eBay

I guessed that it might be the intersection of N Figueroa Street and Marmion Way, and when I Googled that intersection I found the photograph above in the Metro Library and Archive on Flickr. Their description is "W line - 1389 southbound on Marmion Way crossing Figueroa. Alan K. Weeks photo." They say the photo was taken on November 11, 1954. Below is an aerial from 1952 which shows the hotel on the north-west corner of the intersection.


Historic Aerials

As far as I can see, the hotel disappeared between 1972 and 1980. Here's the view today. The railroad tracks on the right of the original picture have now been routed under Figueroa.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

Thanks Hoss. I was really hoping the hotel was still there. (I wonder what the name of it was?)
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[ethereal_reality]

One lonely driver. I'm guessing this might have been taken on a Sunday morning.


eBay

"Wilshire Blvd. thru West Lake Park, Los Angeles."

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[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Thanks Hoss. I was really hoping the hotel was still there. (I wonder what the name of it was?)

The CDs from 1942 to 1964 list the Marmion Hotel at 3903 Marmion Way. So far that name hasn't yielded any pictures.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

One lonely driver. I'm guessing this might have been taken on a Sunday morning.


eBay

"Wilshire Blvd. thru West Lake Park, Los Angeles."

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Great find, ER--appears to have been taken very soon after the causeway opened on December 7, 1934. Hidden behind the palms near the center is Harrison Gray Otis's 2401 Wilshire, which he famously called "The Bivouac" and gave to the county to establish the Otis Art Institute. Across Wilshire and just visible through the trees is the tower of Henry Martz's 655 Park View Street:


http://wilshireboulevardhouses.blogs...lease-see.html

[ethereal_reality]

'mystery' mansion



After HossC identified the location of my LARy street-car photograph earlier today, I started snooping around in the Marmion Way area.

I happened across this large house that we haven't seen on NLA. It is situated on Woodside Drive between Marmion Way and N. Figueroa.


GSV


below: I have to say, it's quite impressive!


GSV



below: rear view -showing the chimney.


GSV


Here's an aerial showing the location.

google_earth



and a closer view.

google_earth

The angular green shapes in the aerials appear to be outdoor tarps shielding playground equipment. (is it a Day-Care now?) Does anyone know the history of this impressive house?


below: One last view.

The tower of the Southwest Museum is visible behind (and above) the house.


GSV

I love the old stones used in the retaining wall and the ornamental pillars.

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[ethereal_reality]

We've seen Aimee Semple McPherson's Angelus Temple countless times on NLA,

but I believe this is the first photograph of the Angelus Temple under construction.


eBay


As most of you know, the temple still stands at Glendale Boulevard and Park Avenue in Echo Park.


google_earth


To see the completed Angelus Temple go here:
http://skyscraperpage.com/forum/show...ostcount=20120

To see Sister Aimee climb the dome and unveil the rooftop cross go here:*
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...postcount=3133

*I had all but forgotten that the cross on top of the dome rotates!! How noirish is that? I'm surprised it didn't show up in any 1940s film noirs. -or did it?

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[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

One lonely driver. I'm guessing this might have been taken on a Sunday morning.


eBay

"Wilshire Blvd. thru West Lake Park, Los Angeles."

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Thanks for posting this ER.
West Lake Park, Los Angeles. Here I am at the Lake.

[City Boy] Doug - brother Tom -my mom, Suzanne, [age 24]. It appears they sold popcorn there. We can see the steep sloping ground around the lake.


per.album file

[unihikid]

Ive been looking up old rail lines and stumbled across this pic. Its a brand new Sante Fe on PE track on Exposition...


Chas Robinson Photo
Lariverrailroads.com

[HenryHuntington]

Originally Posted by Handsome Stranger

This may be of no interest to anyone but myself, but I'll pass it along anyway.

I was saddened to see recently that the last little bit of streetcar tracks still visible in Hollywood (on Santa Monica Blvd, just west of the gas station at Highland Avenue) has now been paved over.

Here's what it used to look like:


[source: GSV]

Not much to look at, I know, but I always enjoyed the fact that there was some little bit of visual evidence remaining of the Pacific Electric streetcars after all these years. Alas, it is no more.

Count me in with yourself and tovangar2, Handsome Stranger. Looking for abandoned rail lines and related structures got me hooked on the general subject of Urban Archeology long ago. "Can't stop, won't stop..!"

Thanks for sharing the news, however sad.

[C. King]

To tie two recent subjects together, here is a shot of rails in the roadway near the Arroyo Seco Bank Building. The bank is in the background on the right. Looking west along York Blvd., just east of Figueroa. Tracks curved off of Figueroa to the east, through what is now the Highland Park Senior Center's parking lot, and crossed over the Arroyo Seco on the York Blvd bridge.


https://goo.gl/maps/ttZ9N
gsv

[ProphetM]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' mansion



After HossC identified the location of my LARy street-car photograph earlier today, I started snooping around in the Marmion Way area.

I happened across this large house that we haven't seen on NLA. It's situated on Woodside Drive between Marmion Way and N. Figueroa.


GSV


below: I have to say, it's quite impressive!


GSV



below: rear view -showing the chimney.


GSV


Here's an aerial showing the location.

google_earth



and a closer view.

google_earth

The angular green shapes in the aerials appear to be outdoor tarps shielding playground equipment. (is it a Day-Care now?) Does anyone know the history of this impressive house?


below: One last view.

The tower of the Southwest Museum is visible behind (and above) the house.


GSV

I love the old stones used in the retaining wall and the ornamental pillars.

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That is the Ziegler Estate. It's on the National Register of Historic Places.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ziegler_Estate

As a matter of fact I passed by it on a Route 66 walking tour a couple of weeks ago and snapped this pic:

Originally Posted by C. King

To tie two recent subjects together, here is a shot of rails in the roadway near the Arroyo Seco Bank Building. The bank is in the background on the right. Looking west along York Blvd., just east of Figueroa. Tracks curved off of Figueroa to the east, through what is now the Highland Park Senior Center's parking lot, and crossed over the Arroyo Seco on the York Blvd bridge.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Fi...12aaa064?hl=en

gsv

I also visited this spot on that same Route 66 walking tour, and I took pics of it as well.

[C. King]

ProphetM,

Thanks for the close up shots. I remembered that the tracks belonged to the Union Pacific and they were known as the Pasadena Branch. Here is a site I stumbled upon about it. The line ran from near Figueroa and Ave 19 in Lincoln Heights, all the way up to near Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) on the east side of the Arroyo. Crossed Colorado Blvd in Pasadena, at about where the center divider of the 710 Freeway stub is today.

http://abandonedrailroads.homestead....sadena_br.html

[tovangar2]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

'mystery' mansion
I happened across this large house that we haven't seen on NLA. It's situated on Woodside Drive between Marmion Way and N. Figueroa.
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http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsvi...tour-august-30

ProphetM pegged it. The 1904 Zeigler Residence, 4601 North Figueroa, was designed by Charles Hornbeck and Alfred P Wilson for Charles Hornbeck in a combination of the Queen Anne, Craftsman and Shingle styles (the paint color is original). However the home was soon sold to meat and grocery man Louis B Ziegler.

The Southwest Museum gained title to it in 1959, intending to permanently integrate it into its complex of buildings (Casa de Adobe is right next door, as shown in your aerial, with SWM across the street), but the museum made the decision to sell in the late 80s. A combination of historical societies and Sycamore Grove neighbors convinced the city to buy it in 1991. Three million was spent for seismic upgrades, new mechanical systems etc. starting in 1999. Its estimated value now is about 2 million.

During the restoration and rehab, the 5,000 + sq ft house was reconfigured into three separate units, including the space leased, since 2002, to La Casita Verde daycare facility.

The estate was added to the local register in 1989 and in 1993, the national register.

Casa de Adobe under construction w/ Ziegler house at right, 1917. Casa de Adobe opened in the late 1920s:

kcet

The height of the nice clinker-brick chimneys was not restored.

Historic photos of the Ziegler Estate exterior remain elusive, as well as shots of the interior, from any era.

[oldstuff]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

While I was researching for my last post, I happened across this renovation on York Boulevard that has exposed some rather interesting brick work.


GSV

Here's the building's previous life as the Verdugo Pet Shop.

GSV


The building will eventually be home to the Recess Eatery (interior below).


http://la.eater.com/2014/12/23/74430...-highland-park


below: One last look at the impressive brickwork that was covered up for years.






t2, I had no idea about the loss of A.C. Martin's Oswald Barlett house. Truly sad and disappointing.

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That brickwork is great. Hopefully Recess will keep the front visible. There is a Recess on Brand in Glendale, above Glenoaks in another, not as fancy, but old, brick building. Their food is great. I hope they don't close the Glendale location when they open the new place.

[MichaelRyerson]

Little did she know this (and the cutting room floor) would be the peak of her professional life.

Phillip Marlowe encounters the Vixen

'She tried to sit in my lap while I was standing up.' Humphrey Bogart and Martha Vickers (Carmen Sternwood), The Big Sleep, Howard Hawks, 1946


Vickers divorce, 1951

Vickers divorce, 24 September 1951. Martha Vickers (divorcing Mickey Rooney). Still a beautiful girl here although looking a bit drawn and tired perhaps. Women in Gloves collection.

USCdigital archive/Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection, 1950-1961



Mickey Rooney and Martha Vickers in court, 1961

Mickey Rooney and Martha Vickers share a row in the courthouse and little else. This must have been about child support as Vickers and Rooney had been divorced for ten years by this time. Sadly, Mickey looks at ease in these surroundings as he should, seeing as how he was going to be and had been a frequent visitor to these parts.

USCdigital archive/Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection, 1950-1961



Martha Vickers in court, 1961

Martha Vickers (ex of Mickey Rooney) in court, 23 June 1961. Martha, no longer the beautiful child-woman of The Big Sleep and looking a bit gaunt and drawn but still with the great face, looking pensive. She has ten years. She'll die in 1971 at 46.

USCdigital archive/Los Angeles Examiner Negatives Collection, 1950-1961

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Here are a group of tourist snapshots from the 1940s.

#1

eBay
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Sometimes you wonder why tourists take the photos they do, like the one of the A-1 Market! Nice sidewalk shot of Tom Breneman's on Vine Street. Nancy's stood out in the photo above because it was searched for and located in mid-January earlier this year.

[Martin Pal]

Combining two recent subjects: Martha Vickers & street signage:

http://iv1.lisimg.com/image/6716120/600full-martha-vickers.jpg