Quote:
Originally Posted by odinthor
A kind correspondent is asking me for "a photo of the Portland Boarding House or Portland Rooming House at 444 1/2 South Spring Street. It was sold in 1905 and continued past 1931." It must be shown very obliquely on my site for that stretch of Spring; but uselessly obliquely. I am otherwise coming up dry. Does anyone have anything on the Portland Boarding House so that my correspondent can live a happier and more complete life?
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It's not entirely clear to me, but it appears 444-1/2 is in 446-450 S. Spring, rather than in 442-444, on the
1906 Sanborn Map below. Please note the Barker Bros. building at far right (north is also on the right):
ProQuest via LAPL
Here are some of the the buildings on the 1906 Sanborn, from Barker Bros. south. We're looking north on Spring
from 5th, c. 1903. Was the Portland in the building at far right with the bay windows (446-450), or was it in the
building to the north with the flat windows (442-444)? Perhaps the Portland comprised the upper floors of both
buildings:
2003-0470 at CA St Library
USC has a zoomable version (dated c. 1905) of the previous photo. This is a closer view of the lower right corner;
look in the middle above the woman on the bike ("444 1/2 - The Portland - Furnished Rooms"):
CHS-6725 at USCDL
This is roughly the same view from 1939. It appears that 446 through 452 S. Spring from the 1906 Sanborn
have been torn down and replaced with the parking lot south of the Bette Davis billboard. There is also a
parking lot between the Delta Bldg. (426) and 438-440 S. Spring:
DW-B5-53-39 at USCDL
Those same two buildings flanked by parking lots in the 1939 photo above are still flanked by them on the
1950 Sanborn. Have we discussed that tunnel to the Alexandria Hotel at upper left?:
ProQuest via LAPL
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odinthor, I hope this modest post on 444-1/2 S. Spring brings a little extra Christmas cheer to your correspondent.
And I hope all NLAers have a wonderful Christmas -- just don't overdo it!
"Jail cell filled with sleeping men arrested for drunkenness on Christmas Day in Los Angeles, Calif., 1950"
uclalat_1387_b156_52368 -- Los Angeles Daily News Negatives, UCLA Library. Copyright Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library