noirish Los Angeles

[HossC]

This image is a Bill Whyte Photo from the Steve Crise Collection on pacificelectric.org, although someone's cut off the credit. There's no date, but the caption says, "Los Angeles Transit Lines (ex-Los Angeles Railway) Tower Car no. 9350 negotiates the turn at Vermont and Jefferson in this terrific image.".

As broadwy_central_bldg says, the buildings have all gone. Looking at Historic Aerials, the block was empty by 1972, and the current building appears by 1980.

The Pacific Electric site also has this shot showing a different angle on Jefferson and Vermont. The caption for this one says, "Los Angeles Metropolitan Transit Authority PCC car no. 3084 rolls through the intersection of Jefferson and Vermont in J Line service on January 20, 1963.".


www.pacificelectric.org/Alan Weeks Collection

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Since we visited the Shrine Auditorium earlier this afternoon, I thought I'd post this intriguing view. (what's with the faux-minaret?)
That's the Shrine in the distance.

[there's a good possibility that this has been posted before]

https://www.pinterest.com/usceye/usc-history/

At first, I thought the roof-top sign over there on the right------> said P For LAS..................................................................................

but after I enlarged it I believe it says Phelps....but the second word is cut off

This is a Herman Schultheis image from LAPL. They date it as circa 1937. The summary says:

"A white tower on the corner of the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard, Hoover Street and University Avenue, indicated the entrance to USC. Buildings from left to right include the Shrine Auditorium, the original and now lost University Branch Library and Phelps-Terkel mens store (3450 University Avenue)."

Here's a better view of Phelps-Terkel from the same collection.


LAPL

The summary for the image above says, "Both the tower and the building are now gone." The building may be gone, but the tower still stands on 34th Street - does that count as a miracle?


GSV

[Wig-Wag]

Originally Posted by broadwy_central_bldg

I love this photo too! I did a little searching in the city directories and found the "Your Room" at 3114 S Vermont, as well as Dr Felcher (the dentist) at 3124 S Vermont. So I think this must be the spot.

Unfortunately the entire block is now occupied by the Jessie L Terry housing project. I don't even want to post a GSV screencap because it's kind of sad; nothing remains.

What I can't figure out is where those streetcar tracks are curving off to-- presently that little street off of Vermont south of 31st is a dead-end. Maybe one of our RR enthusiasts can tell us if this used to be a rail service yard? Could explain the service-looking vehicle...

EDIT: Maybe this is taken from the corner of Vermont and Jefferson (a little south of the addresses) and those tracks are turning on to Jefferson?)

As HossC noted above, this is Tower Car 9350. She was built in 1907 for LARY and worked through the LATL and LAMTA eras. At the conclusion of rail service in LA in 1963 she was donated along with several other pieces work equipment to the Orange Empire Railway Museum at Perris, CA, where she continues to perform overhead wire maintenance today.

Cheers,
Jack

[HossC]

This is the Planning Professions Building at 2379 Glendale Boulevard. Julius Shulman took these pictures in 1950. The neon is a little hard to read, but just says "Planning Professions Building". It's "Job 883: Neutra Office Building (Los Angeles, Calif.), 1950".





There was (is?) a little garden around the back. I've omitted a second image of the garden as it didn't add anything.



And now the interior shots.







All from Getty Research Institute

The building is still standing, and is now the Neutra Institute Museum of Silver Lake. Sadly, the neon has gone.


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

I wasn't aware of this little Neutra designed office building. Thanks for finding it Hoss


Here's an interesting angle.


http://neutra.org/neutra-center/imag...tra-Office.jpg

Any idea of the purpose of the protruding I-Beam and spokes- (or do you think it's purely ornamental?)

__

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

Here's a better view of Phelps-Terkel.


LAPL

The summary for the image above says, "Both the tower and the building are now gone."

The building may be gone, but the tower still stands on 34th Street - does that count as a miracle?

I think the Phelps-Terkel building is still there too Hoss.

The white building on the left has the same basic shape. (although this view is from a different angle)


gsv





If you look closely you can see where the door and windows used to be.


detail






geegole_aerial

So what do you guys think, is this the old Phelps-Terkel building?

__




I almost forgot, here's a vintage aerial from Alumni Review vol. 45 no.1, Oct. 1963. (I've circled the column) the P-Terkel is just below the circle


usc

Unless I'm looking at this wrong; the large diagonal street (Hoover?) appears to be missing now. Could that be?

-also note the large Shrine Auditorium at upper right.

__

[HossC]

I think you're right about the Phelps-Terkel building, e_r. Because the description of the LAPL image said it was at the intersection of Hoover and Jefferson, I assumed that the tower had been moved when the road layout changed. Looking again, it appears that both the tower and Phelps-Terkel building have stayed right where they were. The "now lost University Branch Library" also appears to still be standing. Here's an aerial from 1948.


Historic Aerials

Incidentally, there's a plaque at the base of the tower, but it's not readable from the Googlemobile.

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Unless I'm looking at this wrong; the large diagonal street (Hoover?) appears to be missing now. Could that be?

Hoover Street was blocked off and gradually eliminated. I thought we'd covered the subject, so I'll go looking for old posts.

[CityBoyDoug]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I wasn't aware of this little Neutra designed office building. Thanks for finding it Hoss


Here's an interesting angle.


http://neutra.org/neutra-center/imag...tra-Office.jpg

Any idea of the purpose of the protruding I-Beam and spokes- (or do you think it's purely ornamental?)

__

Knowing about Mr. Neutra, as I do, its all ornamental.

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by HossC

The "now lost University Branch Library" also appears to still be standing.

You're correct Hoss; here it is.



Today, It's somewhat hidden behind all the trees and bushes.

You could see it much more clearly in 1937. (see below) I wonder if those are the same two trees?


lapl

Originally Posted by HossC

Incidentally, there's a plaque at the base of the tower, but it's not readable from the Googlemobile.

I saw that little plaque & tried to read it too.

Like you, I was under the impressive the 'column' had been moved. In my google-searches several different sources said it had been moved.

*I can't see your 1948 aerial Hoss.

[ethereal_reality]

I just happened across this very interesting photograph on eBay.

"1944 Photo Beverly Hills High School with Oil Well on Property, Back of School."


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1944-Photo-B...0AAOSwCypWpTS5


It somewhat resembles a prison with that wire fence around it.


Have we discussed that oil well before? -it seems vaguely familiar.
__

[Bristolian]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

I think the Phelps-Terkel building is still there too Hoss.

The white building on the left has the same basic shape. (although this view is from a different angle)


gsv





If you look closely you can see where the door and windows used to be.


detail



__

Some more information about the Phelps-Terkel building from a USC sports blog:

http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/2015/...prints-solved/

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

*I can't see your 1948 aerial Hoss.

After all my recent missing images, I was ready to blame Photobucket, but this one was entirely my fault. I uploaded a revised image and deleted the old one, but forgot to change the link. Hopefully you can see it now.


-------------------


Here's a quick then-and-now. The first image shows the Surv-All Market, complete with Van de Kamps Bakery sign. It's dated circa 1941-1948. On the left is an un-named jeweler, while there's a Thrifty and a Karl's Shoes on the right. Near the center is a van with "Sada's Flowers" on the side.


USC Digital Library

The USC description includes the address, 4411 West Slauson Avenue, and says that the building survives as Budget Storage. In fact, it looks like most of the block is intact.


GSV

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Since we visited the Shrine Auditorium earlier this afternoon, I thought I'd post this intriguing view.
That's the Shrine in the distance.


https://www.pinterest.com/usceye/usc-history/
__

Originally Posted by HossC

Historic Aerials

At first, I was confused with the photo because it makes the Shrine Auditorium look a lot closer than it is, as you can see in the aerial.

[Martin Pal]

Originally Posted by Bristolian

Some more information about the Phelps-Terkel building from a USC sports blog:
http://www.insidesocal.com/usc/2015/...prints-solved/

Thanks for the link, I had never heard of George Tirebiter before!

[broadwy_central_bldg]

Originally Posted by HossC

I thought I'd read the answer on NLA, but then I remembered I saw it in a video.

Check out 'Visiting with Huell Howser': 'Subway Terminal Update' at kcet.org. Skip to about 43 minutes in to see what appears to be the partly-restored streetcar #1435. If you have a spare hour, the whole video is worth watching.


www.kcet.org

I found this better picture at www.rrpicturearchives.net. The description says "This is a St. Louis Car (California Car Class H-3 or Type H) narrow gauge streetcar built in 1924. It was originally delivered to the Los Angeles Railway (42" gauge, LARy). After that, it served for Tahoe Valley Lines before going to Orange Empire. Today it sits in the Pacific Electric Subway Terminal, undergoing restoration to become a static display. "


www.rrpicturearchives.net/Charles Freericks

I'm not sure if it's been discussed recently; I tried searching and this was the best post I could find.

Does anyone know where they moved this old LARY car? Until a few weeks ago it was still here in the old garage adjacent to the Subway Terminal Building near 5th and Hill-- I walked by it every weekend morning. But it was moved away, presumably while they begin work on the new mall that's going in on this site, and in advance of the Park Fifth development that is supposedly finally happening...

I'm hoping someone on this thread knows what happened to car 1435-- maybe it ended up at a museum? Does anyone have any clues?

[HossC]

We've seen the outside of the Citizens National Bank at 5th and Spring many times, but now, thanks to Julius Shulman, we can look inside too. This is "Job 308: Stiles Oliver Clements, Citizens National Bank (Los Angeles, Calif.),1948".



The first interior shot looks back out through the entrance above.



Due to the exposure times, we get some interesting ghostly figures.







A headless bank worker?





All from Getty Research Institute

Both entrances look very similar, but the one on Spring Street has part of the fire escape above it, so the first shot above must show the 5th Street side. Does anyone know how the interior looks today?


GSV

[ethereal_reality]

Did you notice this guy posing?


detail

[MichaelRyerson]

Aerial of Cahuenga Pass and the Barham bypass, 1957

Nice, clear overhead of the northern section of Cahuenga Pass with the Barham Bridge just about in the center of the image. And I do believe we can see some remnants of Monkey Island.

waterandpower.org

[ethereal_reality]

Let's briefly return to Phelps-Terkel one more time.


detail


Last night I found an issue of the Daily Trojan, dated December 8, 1953 with an article about the Phelps-Terkel store moving to a new location.

The Phelps-Terkel store started off as the 'Music Box' back in the 1920s.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/70876/rec/1





Here's an excerpt from the article. (that isn't cut off)





below: I've been trying to figure what part of the campus this photograph from the 1920s is showing.


http://digitallibrary.usc.edu/cdm/co...id/70876/rec/1

It appears to show a corner of a quad.

I'll use my 1963 aerial again (it's the only one I have).
I've placed a blue arrow at a quad that has diagonal sidewalks similar to the one in the 1920s pic. Do you think this is where the photographer was standing back in the 1920s?


Alumni Review 1963

Of course there could be more than one quad on campus.

(the 'mystery column' and the Phelps-Terkel store are at the very top, dead center)
__




Here is Phelps-Terkel's moving ad in the same 1953 issue.



Daily Trojan 1953


Here's the same 1963 map again, adjusted northward.

Can anyone pick out the new Phelps-Terkel store (by using the map in the ad above)?

the blue arrow points to the old Phelps-Terkel

Alumni Review 1963

To me, it seems like it should be at that empty lot. -so I'm a bit confused.

_

[broadwy_central_bldg]

Originally Posted by HossC

All from Getty Research Institute

Does anyone know how the interior looks today?

GSV

The interior today is occupied by the Last Bookstore. It looks like this:


Source: The Last Bookstore's website

As you can see, they did a better job preserving certain features (the ceiling and columns) than others (the original clocks, the large central desk and teller stations).

Still it's a terrific bookstore, and well worth visiting if you're ever downtown. The mezzanine level is still there as well, occupied by various vendors/booths and spillover from the bookstore's inventory. There are more photos of the Last Bookstore on their website (and plenty to be found on Google image search).