After yesterday's mention of the Monarch Hotel, I also went looking for more pictures. In the process, I stumbled across this set of 10 photos of the Harbor Freeway under construction in 1951. It seems to pre-date most of the construction photos we've seen, including a great 1952 set posted by
e_r in
post #2295. I originally planned to post a selection, but couldn't decide which ones to leave out!
NB. I adjusted the contrast of the background in several of these images to show more detail.
The building under construction in this first image must be the Statler Hotel.
The intersection with the Hollywood Freeway.
Here are several of the buildings from yestersday's Julius Shulman post.
Looking through to City Hall. That ladder near the bottom looks a little short!
The Lobban Apartments on the right were at 1030 W 8th Street. As far as I can tell, they survived the freeway construction.
This must be the 3rd Street bridge.
Another shot of the Statler with the Rex Arms in front.
This one shows LAPL and the Richfield Building amongst others.
At last, the Monarch Hotel I was looking for in the first place! It is actually visible in the shot above, but blends into the Richfield.
The final image also shows the Monarch. There's a wealth of familiar buildings in the background, which I'm sure I don't need to name.
All from
USC Digital Library