noirish Los Angeles

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Ebay

No doubt Maddux Airlines, right?

"In 1927 Jack L. Maddux, an owner of a Los Angeles Ford and Lincoln car dealership, founded Maddux Air Lines. The airline’s inaugural flight was on September 22, 1927
when the airline’s Ford 4-AT Tri-motor carrying 12 passengers flew from San Diego, California to Los Angeles, California.[1] This flight was to a small dirt landing strip
that would later become Los Angeles International Airport, although the landing strip, called Inglewood Site, was not suitable for the airline, and Jack Maddux chose instead
Rogers Airport, with improved facilities, and later Grand Central Air Terminal in Glendale. Among the passengers were several notables, and although the event was kept
relatively quiet, it served as a publicity act."

Hmmm...there's no way of knowing [for sure] if the photo shows the Inglewood Site....Rogers Airport....or Grand Central Terminal.
The location in the pic looks rather undeveloped. I'd rule out Grand Central.

Could this photograph show the return flight of the inaugural flight in 1927?
_

That looks like the Rogers Airport just north of the Baldwin Hills, e_r, and I think I can make out Maddux on the side of the plane.
While the photo doesn't show the inaugural flight in 1927, the photo might be from that year.


Here's a 1929 photo looking SW at Rogers Airport (which I believe opened at this location on April 3, 1927) with the Baldwin Hills
in the background:



DW-1929-09-25-124 @ USCDL


In this close-up from the previous photo, see how the plane is sort of in a little corral, behind that low fence? I think that's the same
fence around the plane in the ebay photo, which looks NE, in the opposite direction:




This looks SE at a Maddux Ford Tri-Motor that had just crossed over Crenshaw Blvd. (then called Angeles Mesa [or sometimes just Mesa] Drive)
as it came in for a landing at Rogers Airport in 1929. The utility poles and lines along Crenshaw match up with those in the background of the
ebay photo:



DW-1929-91-10-35 at USCDL


Maddux got his first Ford Tri-Motor in July 1927, when they were still new and attracted a crowd of curious onlookers. Perhaps that's what
the ebay photo shows:





July 28, 1927, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL






September 11, 1927, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL


This article says Maddux began its San Diego-to-LA service about six months previous, which would be September 1927:



March 26, 1928, Los Angeles Times @ ProQuest via LAPL

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

This looks SE at a Maddux Ford Tri-Motor that had just crossed over Crenshaw Blvd. (then called Angeles Mesa [or sometimes just Mesa] Drive)
as it came in for a landing at Rogers Airport in 1929. The utility poles and lines along Crenshaw match up with those in the background of the
ebay photo:

This definitely looks like the same airport! Thanks FW.


Just for fun..here's a map.


http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/...doned airfield repeat for nla?

Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug

Fare in 1927 was $10........that would be $145 in 2018.

Thanks CBD.

[ethereal_reality]

Here's a photograph of Maddux pilot Lawrence Fitz when he was young.

FW


dmairfield




And the Maddux Airlines Ticket Office downtown....first posted 7 years ago!

Originally Posted by sopas ej

Maddux Airlines, located at 636 S. Olive in downtown LA.


LAPL

Beautifully designed window. It must have looked great at night. (backlit and all)

[ethereal_reality]

Earlier I had asked if this ad was referring to Native-Americans [Indians].

Originally Posted by odinthor

Edited
This probably refers to one of the pseudo-military companies which were formed at the time to protect the community from bad guys.

"Native" in "Native Cavalry Company" probably refers to "us locals" rather than to Indians.

One such company--called the Rifle Company--was organized in L.A. in March, 1857.

Thanks for answering my questions odinthor. It must be somewhat of a busman's holiday for you.


Here's some information on another quasi-military group, the 'California Rangers' (which you have no doubt covered in your books on old California)


PAYMENT



Information found HERE


AND FROM usc / dornsife

from usc / dornsife

It looks like the graph stops right before the Chinese Massacre.

__

[ethereal_reality]

Flash forward to 1947.


LAPL

[GaylordWilshire]

Loving the detail

ER: From your post of June 18, 2015 here


Looks good even in clothes (he's at right)

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

Just for fun..here's a map.


http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/...doned airfield repeat for nla?

Rogers Airport had me confused until I re-read FW's post above and BifRayRock's post from 2012. I was only familiar with the Wilshire/Fairfax/San Vicente location shown above (those are the current street names), but as you can see from the aerial below, these was nothing left by 1927 (I can't imagine that airplanes would've been popular neighbors of the 1926 Carthay Circle Theater).


mil.library.ucsb.edu

The site at Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard and Crenshaw (current names again) is also triangular, so that may have been what confused me. I can't see a defined runway in this 1927 view, but I think there's a single plane there.


mil.library.ucsb.edu

[Flyingwedge]

Originally Posted by HossC

The site at Martin Luther King Jr Boulevard and Crenshaw (current names again) is also triangular, so that may have been what confused me. I can't see a defined runway in this 1927 view, but I think there's a single plane there.


mil.library.ucsb.edu

The line of buildings that ends about where the d in MLK Jr Boulevard is . . . those are the buildings at Rogers Airport, which
I don't think ever got its runway paved. In fact, I don't think any of the five airports that once lined the west side of Crenshaw
between MLK on the south and Exposition on the north had a paved runway:



October 3, 1929, Department of Commerce Airway Bulletin No. 225 (Revised) for Rogers Airport @ Hathitrust


[EDIT: A review of my files shows that a note in the December 30, 1928, LA Times mentions that the field at Lincoln has been
"surfaced," but with what is not specified. My guess is the field was oiled, rather than paved with concrete.]



This 1929 image doesn't show Rogers Airport, but it shows the other four airports to the north (each row of buildings = one airport).
Above the lower right corner is Audubon Middle School, with Leimert Blvd. running diagonally near the bottom of the photo:



DW-10-206-5-ISLA at USCDL


From what I've found, P. A. T. Airport (for Pacific Air Transport; initially called Ryan Airport) opened first, either in late 1925
or very early 1926. Rogers was next in April 1927. American was open by November 1927 (the August 21, 1927, LA Times
describes P. A. T. and Rogers as being the only two open at the time). Lincoln was probably next (no later than May 1928),
but Sperl was definitely the last of the five to open, around October 1928.


There are a few more images that show the Baldwin Hills Rogers Airport here.

[Lomara]

LA Curbed just posted an article with 9 Ansel Adams photos of 1940's Los Angeles

https://la.curbed.com/2018/2/20/1703...angeles-photos

The article says the photos can be found in the LAPL collection, and were first put on display in February 2012. Have we seen them before on NLA?

Ansel didn't like them at all apparently, and didn't want them back. He valued them at $100 minimum, but that's in 1940 dollars. What's that worth now? I'd think it would be quite a bit of money.

ETA: http://www.in2013dollars.com/1940-do...018?amount=100 gives the current value of $100 in 1940 as $1806.32, which would buy me a new appliance or two.

The photos were donated to the Los Angeles Public Library by Adams in the early 1960s, shortly after he rediscovered them. According to drkrm, a letter included with the donated photos indicated that Adams was less than impressed with his own work photographing the city.

“The weather was bad over a rather long period and none of the pictures were very good,” Adams wrote. “I would imagine that they represent about $100.00 minimum value... At any event, I do not want them back.”

Looks like we already saw the Princess Hotel image in the article.

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=37015

And there are more here of the Olympic trailer court at 2121 Bundy:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=24388


court_flight_ansel_adams by Kimberly, on Flickr


ansel_adams_hill_street_overlook by Kimberly, on Flickr


Coastline_in_Santa_Monica_view_1 by Kimberly, on Flickr

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

October 3, 1929, Department of Commerce Airway Bulletin No. 225 (Revised) for Rogers Airport @ Hathitrust

WOW... I didn't realize there were five airports right in a row.

Originally Posted by Flyingwedge

From what I've found, P. A. T. Airport (for Pacific Air Transport) was initially called Ryan Airport.

If I'm not mistaken, Ryan Airport was named after the Ryan M-1 monoplane. [shown below: flying over, what looks like, Baldwin Hills]


September 1926: a RYAN M-1 of Pacific Air Transport carries passangers and mail between Los Angeles and Seattle. FLYING MAGAZINE

FW, was there ever a beacon on the top of Baldwin Hills?...or is this just the artist's imagination?

YOU CAN READ MORE ABOUT PACIFIC AIR TRANSPORT HERE

__

[ethereal_reality]

At first, this was a mystery home...


1986 santa monica library

since then...I've found out that it's the old Kyte(?) House that once stood at the corner of Washington Blvd. and Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.

In 1973 it was moved to 2640 Main Street, Santa Monica.



I believe the home is behind the trees in this GSV.


GSV


I could only get a side-view of the house.

FROM MAIN STREET



The home was built by wealthy dowager Mary Kyte in 1894.

I searched NLA for "Kyte" but nothing turned up. Has anyone heard of this woman before?

__

[ethereal_reality]

This one is a mystery.


Ebay

I thought for sure there'd be a house number...but nooooooooo.

BUT (and it's a BIG BUT)...there's information on the reverse.

Written on the back is "Mrs. Simond's home in Hollywood where we staid."[sic] *

I wouldn't put too much faith in the spelling of "Simond's"...as you can see, stayed was mispelled.

Good Luck sleuths!



EDIT:

Any idea what's written on the tire? (another clue perhaps?)

blurry


The first word on the bottom appears to start with the letter V.

* The seller didn't include a photograph of the back of the photo.


_

[nealberke]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

From an article titled Naughty Los Angeles in the 1890s.

We have discussed (and seen) Los Angeles' first City Hall many times on NLA...but this is the first time I've heard
there were prostitutes working inside of it.


VERSO Huntington Blog

Was anyone, here on NLA, aware of this?
_







SIDENOTE:

I might have mentioned flue #5 before, but I don't recall the other four!



What's going on in the second floor (besides prostitution) that required so many flues. Did the architect forget to include chimneys?

p.s. perhaps Ms. Morton ran a massive opium den as well... thus the flues.


__

Is it possible that this building was retrofitted for hot water heating and that this picture was taken closer to the 1890's? Edwin Ruud developed the automatic hot water heater in 1889 according to this Wikipedia article. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_heating. By the way, flues #1 and 4 originate from the first floor and go to the roof.

[GaylordWilshire]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

This one is a mystery.


Ebay

I thought for sure there'd be a house number...but nooooooooo.

BUT (and it's a BIG BUT)...there's information on the reverse.

Written on the back is "Mrs. Simond's home in Hollywood where we staid."[sic] *

I wouldn't put too much faith in the spelling of "Simond's".....the author spelled stayed as "staid".

Good Luck sleuths!



EDIT:

Any idea what's written on the tire? (another clue perhaps?)

blurry


The first word on the bottom appears to start with the letter V.

* The seller didn't include a photograph of the back of the photo.


_

Well, the Hollywood Tire Shop at 6528-30 Hollywood Blvd sold Pennsylvania Vacuum Cup tires.... Nothing yet on the house....

[Tourmaline]

Originally Posted by HossC

Rogers Airport had me confused until I re-read FW's post above and BifRayRock's post from 2012. I was only familiar with the Wilshire/Fairfax/San Vicente location shown above (those are the current street names), but as you can see from the aerial below, these was nothing left by 1927 (I can't imagine that airplanes would've been popular neighbors of the 1926 Carthay Circle Theater).


mil.library.ucsb.edu

Not sure we will ever resolve the confusion regarding exactly which quadrant of the Wilshire-Crescent/Fairfax intersection each "strip" occupied. It appears that landing strips may have been a moving target through the years. In one of the images (4), hangars are on the left (SW) side of Wilshire and there are airplanes on the right side (NW) side of Wilshire. The first oft-posted image (1) contains a barely visible pencil note indicating the location we assume to be Wilshire-Cresent as "Wilshire and La Brea." Wilshire appears to be running horizontally in the foreground and we are looking toward the northwest. Although the intersection of the two streets does not appear exactly square, the asymmetry could possibly be attributed to the camera angle so that the striped hangars paralleled Crescent/Fairfax. San Vicente, the street bisecting Wilshire at an angle, presumably had a set of street car tracks when the photo was taken, and this may have precluded parked cars. Of course, the image appears to have been taken on a special occasion, when perhaps the street cars were on temporary holiday.

Some sources place Rogers aka Crescent Field on the "NW" corner of Wilshire and Crescent/Fairfax, as depicted in the ("Hobbs") image (5). If the street map (2) is accurate, Crescent/Fairfax intersects Wilshire but does not appear south of Wilshire, also suggesting impending development.

Map (2) contains interesting directions. "Get off on Airdrome Station on Flying field." Curious if other streetcar maps depict "Airdrome Station" and whether there is any available photographic evidence of the same. Along those lines, image 6, of the Carthay Center, supposedly depicts the first Rogers Airport. San Vicente appears to run in the foreground. Note the parallel white lines that seem to depict an elevated crossing, possibly at Wilshire.

1.

According to K.O. Eckland, Rogers Airport opened in 1918 at the northwest corner of Wilshire Boulevard & Crescent Avenue (now Fairfax Avenue). It was an unpaved field measuring 3,681' x 1,500'. http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/...ds_CA_LA_W.htm

2.
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/..._m57f779f5.jpg



3.
Rogers circa 1920
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Rogers_CA_20.jpg



Appears that Wilshire runs perpendicular in this image and this is a view toward the west. At top, where San Vicente crosses Wilshire, is there an overpass? (blurry white image)
4.
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/..._m3387827e.jpg




5.
~`1922
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/...m_3c4ea29c.jpg


6.

Aerial view of Carthay Center, looking west across field of the first Rogers Airport at Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue. Wilshire Boulevard is the tree-lined street seen in the center of the image

https://tessa.lapl.org/cdm/singleite...hotos/id/96299

7. Striped Hangars? (bottom right)

[SweetLosAngeles]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

From an article titled Naughty Los Angeles in the 1890s.

We have discussed (and seen) Los Angeles' first City Hall many times on NLA...but this is the first time I've heard
there were prostitutes working inside of it.


VERSO Huntington Blog

Was anyone, here on NLA, aware of this?
_







SIDENOTE:

I might have mentioned flue #5 before, but I don't recall the other four!



What's going on in the second floor (besides prostitution) that required so many flues. Did the architect forget to include chimneys?

p.s. perhaps Ms. Morton ran a massive opium den as well... thus the flues.


__

This story in particular is a hot button for me! Someone wrote a fiction story set in Los Angeles "based on true events." In the book they say prostitution went on in the "old courthouse", but of course don't mention WHICH courthouse or the location. So fans of the book look up old courthouse Los Angeles, and see this photo and attribute the prostitution to it.

I think it would have been an older building closer to the plaza back when a building wasn't dedicated to being a courthouse. Though now the internet is filled with this rumor as everyone pins it on Pinterest. >.<

[HossC]

Originally Posted by ethereal_reality

At first, this was a mystery home...


1986 santa monica library

since then...I've found out that it's the old Kyte(?) House that once stood at the corner of Washington Blvd. and Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.

In 1973 it was moved to 2640 Main Street, Santa Monica.

...

I could only get a side-view of the house.

2640 Main Street, Santa Monica is now an event venue called The Victorian. I found this 2016 image of the original front side.


Aaron Johnson/Google Maps

[Handsome Stranger]

A tantalizing announcement...



Here's the linked article from the tweet:

NHPRC Awards $278,000 Grant to Digitize Unseen Photos of 1930s and '40s L.A.

[ethereal_reality]

[ethereal_reality]

Originally Posted by SweetLosAngeles

This story in particular is a hot button for me! Someone wrote a fiction story set in Los Angeles "based on true events."
In the book they say prostitution went on in the "old courthouse", but of course don't mention WHICH courthouse or the location.
So fans of the book look up old courthouse Los Angeles, and see this photo and attribute the prostitution to it.

I think it would have been an older building closer to the plaza back when a building wasn't dedicated to being a courthouse.
Though now the internet is filled with this rumor as everyone pins it on Pinterest. >.<

Thank you for the clarification SweetLosAngeles, I should have looked into the 'rumor' more diligently. [before I posted about it]
Perhaps the author of the book confused Temple's 'cupola' building with Temple's two story adobe at the intersection of Spring, Main and Temple.
(the same block as the first city hall 'cupola' building)

THIS ONE

goldenrulelodge


the goldenrulelodge
link is interesting.