Here's a shot we were looking at a couple of days ago. The old City Garage used to be just to the right here, where that little triangle of dirt is sitting under that Rice Krispy billboard. If you look closely you can still make out the original Hill Street roadbed where it came out of the tunnel and met Temple at a ninety degree angle.
Hill Street Tunnel at Temple, 1945
Small businesses and dilapidated hotels and apartments are in this view looking north from the top of the Hill Street Tunnel which was bored through a part of Bunker Hill in 1909 and connects Hill Street from First to Temple. The tunnel has two lanes; one for streetcars, left, and one for automotive traffic. A northbound Pacific Red Car stops for passengers. It will continue across Temple and then bend slightly left (west) and enter a tunnel which will carry it under Fort Moore Hill and come out on the north side adjacent to the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Hill Street. A billboard for "Rice Krispies" with its "Snap, Crackle, Pop", right, is across the street in front of the 'Temp-Hill' Hotel (get it? Temp-Hill, Temple and Hill?? Yeah corny). Center, a billboard for "GMC Trucks" borders a parking lot. At the back of the lot is a billboard for "Eskimo Pie". A man climbs the stairs at the side of the tunnel. The broken balustrade on top is held together by a wooden frame.
LAPL
Now here's the intersection about twenty years earlier...notice the 'Temp-Hill Hotel' is there and the roof line of the building behind the billboards is the same and yet with the offset of Hill Street, jogging east as it crosses Temple, it is hard to see where the P&E tracks are. The curbline appears quite solid so where do the tracks cross over? I believe the Hill Street tunnel opened in 1916, so this is well after that date but I can't see where they cross Hill Street. When did tunnel no. 2 open for business? They must be just out of frame to the left.
Los Angeles City Garage with the civic center in the background, 1927
Photograph of the Los Angeles City Garage with the civic center in the background, 1927. The garage can be seen in the foreground at right and many automobiles are visible in a parking lot at center. The Hall of Justice, the Courthouse, the partially completed City Hall and the Hall of Records can be seen from left to right in the background. City Hall has no walls and is made of steel beams. Wide paved streets are visible in the foreground and at left.
Legible signs include, from left: ""Starts Friday April 1 Matinee Ladies", "Now Mats. Tues. Thurs. Sat. Smashing All Records Alias the Deacon with Berton Churchill", "Mother's 'Secret' for wonderful coffee -- Newmark flavor", "Now Playing New Mission Playhouse R. D. MacLean", "Old Gold", "Goodrich", "Rooms $1.00 & Up", "New Hotel Broadway and apartments", "The McCarthy Co. Homes on Terms", "Hotel", and "Private Keep Out".
USCdigital archive/California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960
And another shot of Hill and Temple from up Hill Street showing the back of the Temp-Hill Hotel and the extreme width of the roadbed north of Temple. (I believe these two 1927 shots may have even been taken the same day)
View of the Los Angeles Civic Center with the partially completed City Hall in the background, ca.1927
Photograph of a view of the Los Angeles Civic Center with the partially completed City Hall in the background, 1926-1928. The Hall of Justice, City Hall, the courthouse, and the Hall of Records are visible in the background from left to right. Only a skeleton of the City Hall is visible. In the foreground, several large Victorian houses line a section of Hill Street north of Temple. Early-model automobiles can be seen parked along the curbs on both sides of the street.
USCdigital archive/California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960
I tell ya, that tunnel no. 2 is an elusive thing.
'course we can go all the way back to the Montana Grocery store days...
Montana Grocery Store on the corner of Temple Street and Hill Street, November 1908
Photograph of Montana Grocery Store on the corner of Temple Street and Hill Street, November 1908. A sidewalk is visible in front of the two-story store along the two roads, although neither road is paved. A sign advertising Coca-Cola is legible in huge lettering on the side of the building, below the clapboard veneer. The sign for the grocery store itself advertises "Fresh Fruits, Cigars and Tobacco," and "Laundry Agency". Utility poles line the side of Hill Street. Trees are visible at the top in the background at the top of the hill at the intersection with Court Street.
USCdigital archive/Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960
and we can then step across the street (Temple) turn around and take another snap...(here you get a nice sense of the second Los Angeles High School's location)
View of Hill Street looking north from Temple Street, Los Angeles, ca.1906
Photograph of a view of Hill Street looking north across Temple Street, Los Angeles, ca.1906. A man stands with his hands on his hips in the middle of Hill Street in the center foreground. The Montana Grocery is to his right and bears an advertisement for Western Star Soap. People walk along the sidewalk behind him. A wrought-iron fence stands in front of a two-story house further back, which is partially obscured by trees. In the background, the clock tower on Los Angeles High School on Fort Moore Hill can be seen. More Victorian-style residences line the street to the right. Utility poles enter the frame from the right foreground. The streets are apparently unpaved.
USCdigital archive/Title Insurance and Trust / C.C. Pierce Photography Collection, 1860-1960
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